Do soil factors predict the distributions of three California bunchgrasses among Channel Island and Mainland populations?
Hufford, Kristina*,1, Mazer, Susan 1, Schimel, Joshua1, 1 Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, Santa Barbara, CA, USA ABSTRACT- California grasslands have been dramatically altered by the invasion of Old World grasses, which have displaced many native perennial grass species throughout the state. Efforts to restore native grasslands require knowledge of the ecological preferences and the tolerance range of native grasses to a variety of environmental variables. As part of a larger study of plant ecotypic variation in three native bunchgrass species, we compared soil characteristics among California Channel Island and mainland populations of Bromus carinatus (N = 33 Island + 15 Mainland populations), Elymus glaucus (N = 18 + 10), and Nassella pulchra (N = 38 + 15). Soil samples from each population were analyzed for pH, nitrogen mineralization, water holding capacity, total nitrogen and carbon, and exchangeable cations. Logistic regression analysis suggested that the distrib
