Habitat relationships and management implications for Lesquerella filiformis Rollins (Missouri bladderpod) on a xeric limestone prairie1,,2

Abstract

Abstract In xeric limestone prairies (XLPs, also known as “glades”), soil depth and fire are commonly posited to affect plant community composition and structure. Through mediating plant competition, these factors may explain plant distribution in XLPs, including mechanisms driving edaphic endemism. In a XLP in southwest Missouri, the abundance of Lesquerella filiformis Rollins (Missouri bladderpod), a rare winter annual, was higher in open sites, where competition was presumably low, than in Juniperus virginiana L. (eastern redcedar) or hardwood canopy cover types; L. filiformis density in the latter two cover types varied among years. Open, J. virginiana, and hardwood canopy cover types were distributed along an increasing soil depth gradient. During flowering of L. filiformis in April, photosynthetically active radiation was highest in open sites, intermediate below hardwood canopy (prior to leaf-out), and lowest below J. virginiana canopy. Removing J. virginiana was associated with greater increases i...