Cheatgrass Seed Growth in Burned and Unburned Soil in Relation to Burned and Unburned Seeds

By Nic Carlson

What is Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)?

C3 annual plant species Magnoliophyta

Invasive Species to United States

Native to Europe and parts of Africa

Purpose?
The overall purpose of this study was to compare the rate of cheatgrass growth in burned areas to the rate of cheatgrass growth in unburnt areas.

Methods
Planted in identical growing pots 5 cheatgrass seeds planted 1 cm below the surface of soil 4 treatments 3 replicates Both soils ran through a sieve pH and nitrogen levels of all soil was taken using a simple soil testing kit (Mosser Lee) 50 mL of water Monday, Wednesday and Friday Placed under a grow light for12 hours a day Allowed 3 weeks to grow All plants will be measured from the soil to the tip in cm. The combined length of all the plants in each pot is the total amount for that pot

pH Levels
Unburned Soil: 7 Burned Soil: 8

Nitrogen Levels
Unburned soil: Low Burned soil: High

4 Treatments
Unburned seeds in burned soil Burned seeds in unburned soil Burned seeds in burned soil Unburned seeds in unburned soil

Hypothesis
Unburned seeds in burned soil would show the most growth after a 3 week growth period.

Results
Unburned seeds in burned soil
No Growth

Burned seeds in unburned soil

Replicate 1: 29 cm total. 4 Cheatgrass plants 25.5 cm, 10 Dicot plants 3.5 cm. Replicate 2: 4 cm total. 1 cheatgrass plant Replicate 3 13.1 cm total. 2 cheatgrass plants

Burned seeds in burned soil

Replicate 1: 0 Replicate 2: 0 Replicate 3: 17 cm total. 3 Cheatgrass plants

Unburned seeds in unburned soil

Replicate 1: 6 cm total. 2 cheatgrass plants. 1 dicot Replicate 2: 6 cm total. No cheatgrass plants. 6 dicot plants Replicate 3: 3.4 cm total. 1 cheatgrass plant. 2 dicots

Average Growth

Growth in cm

15 cm 10 cm

5 cm

15.37

5.7

5.13

UNS BS

BS UNS

BS BS

UNS UN

Growing Pots
Figure 1.

DATA Summary
Treatment 1 Treatment 2 Treatment 3 Treatment 4 Total N X Mean - X2 Variance Std.Dev. Std.Err. 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 46.1 15.3667 1028.61 160.1033 12.6532 7.3053 3 17 5.6667 289 96.3333 9.815 5.6667 3 12.4 4.1333 72.16 10.4533 3.2332 1.8667 12 75.5 6.2917 1389.77 83.159 9.1192 2.6325

ANOVA Summary
Source Treatment Error Ss/Bl Total 914.7492 11 SS 380.9692 533.78 df 3 8 MS 126.9897 66.7225 F 1.9 P 0.208090

Discussion
Burned seeds in unburned soil showed most growth Unburned seeds in burned soil showed least amount of growth Hypothesis refuted Variables such as amount of light may have played a role

Where to go from here?