Achievement

In recent years, agricultural producers and conservation organizations have converted thousands of hectares of cropland to grassland in the Great Plains. However, little is known about the relationship between diversity and seeding density in these conservation programs and restorations and resistance to invasive and weedy plant species. We assessed the effects of diversity and seeding density on resistance to invasive and other unsown weedy plant species in experimental tallgrass prairie plots in central Nebraska. We found a significant negative relationship between diversity and basal cover of unsown perennial forbs/legumes and unsown perennial/annual grasses, abundance of Cirsium vulgare, and the number of inflorescences removed from Bromus inermis transplants. Increasing the plant diversity of a seed mix may be more effective than increasing the seeding density for decreasing invasion by unsown perennial species and C. vulgare.