2026-04-14T04:12:24Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:20.500.12327/30162025-10-22T11:21:17Zcom_2072_4428com_2072_4427col_2072_487898

California perennial grasses are physiologically distinct from both Mediterranean annual and perennial grasses Vaughn, Kurt J. Biel, Carmen Clary, Jeffrey J. de Herralde, Felicidad Aranda, Xavier Evans, Richard Y. Young, Truman P. Savé, Robert Producció Vegetal Fructicultura Protecció Vegetal Sostenible In the Central Valley of California, native perennial grass species have been largely replaced by Eurasian annual species, while in many parts of the Mediterranean Basin native perennial grasses continue to dominate, even on disturbed or degraded sites. We assessed whether differences in summer rainfall patterns have lead to the development of different plant-water strategies between grasses from these two regions. We compared six measures of plant-water physiology for three guilds of grasses: California perennial grasses, Mediterranean perennial grasses, and Mediterranean annual grasses. Discriminant analysis distinguished between the three guilds; Mediterranean perennial grasses were characterized by a more conservative water-relations physiology than Mediterranean annual grasses, whereas California perennial grasses were in some ways intermediate between the two Mediterranean grass guilds. For individual traits, California perennial grasses were either intermediate or more like Mediterranean annuals than Mediterranean perennials. Our results suggest California perennials are more drought tolerant than Mediterranean annuals but less drought tolerant than Mediterranean perennials, despite the fact that California’s Central Valley has a more intense summer drought than the Mediterranean Basin. These patterns may help explain why Mediterranean annuals, but not Mediterranean perennials, have been more successful invaders of interior California grasslands. 2025-10-22T11:21:17Z 2025-10-22T11:21:17Z 2025-10-22T11:21:17Z 2011-03-05 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Vaughn, Kurt J., Carmen Biel, Jeffrey J. Clary, Felicidad De Herralde, Xavier Aranda, Richard Y. Evans, Truman P. Young, and Robert Savé. 2011. “California Perennial Grasses Are Physiologically Distinct From Both Mediterranean Annual and Perennial Grasses.” Plant and Soil 345 (1–2): 37–46. doi:10.1007/s11104-011-0757-3 0032-079X http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/3016 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0757-3 eng Plant and Soil http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Springer