Dyer and Rice measured the effects of weeding, increased soil depth, grazing and prescribed burning on the competitive relationship between the native perennial, purple needlegrass (Nassella pulchra), and invasive annual species to determine if use of these management tools could restore the native plant community in the California annual grasslands. Burning and weeding both reduced the effects of diffuse competition with annual species, however, the effects of fire only lasted one season. Soil depth and grazing did not have direct effects on plant growth or survival, however grazing tended to increase survival of purple needlegrass plants due to the reduced gopher activity in grazed plots. The authors concluded that the long term domination of invasive annual species in the California annual grasslands has created an alternative state that is not suitable for the survival of the native purple needlegrass.
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