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The challenge of restoring grassland legumes: Testing the role of spatial patterns of seed arrival
Schuman, Caelan R
Schuman, Caelan R
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2025-05
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Legumes are vital to grassland function, and are often under-represented in modern grasslands compared to historic observations. We hypothesized some legume species will have greater establishment and persistence under conspecific seeding, and the advantage of conspecific seed arrival will decrease with seed size. We utilized a grassland; community assembly experiment located in south-central Kansas to test the role of conspecific and heterospecific seed arrival treatments that were crossed with soil manipulations (Homogenous and Heterogenous) and scale treatments (large and small patches). We quantified establishment and persistence of 11 native legumes from 2018-2024 using plant cover. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to test for effects on total legume cover within experimental plots and individual species. Results showed limited support for some species performing better under conspecifics than heterospecific seed arrival. Amorpha canescens and Chamaecrista fasciculata had higher cover when seeds arrived with conspecifics, while Desmodium canadense and Lespedeza capitata performed better under heterospecific seeding. Our results support the idea that seed arrival patterns influence legume establishment, but the direction and strength of these effects are context dependent or species specific. Our findings suggest that restoration practitioners may improve outcomes by tailoring seeding strategies to the life history or traits of individual legume species.
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Thesis (M.S.)-- Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Biological Sciences
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Wichita State University
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© Copyright 2025 by Caelan R. Schuman
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