DOI: 10.5061/dryad.d6c07
title: Data from: Integrating local knowledge and research to refine the management of an invasive non-native grass in critically endangered grassy woodlands

description: 1. Globally the prevalence and impact of invasive non-native plant species
 is increasing rapidly. Experimentally-based research aimed at supporting
 management is limited in its ability to keep up with this pace, partly
 because of the importance of understanding historical abiotic and biotic
 conditions. Contrastingly, landholders are in unique positions to witness
 species turnover in grasslands, adapt management practices in response,
 and learn from successes and failures. 2. This local knowledge could be
 crucial for identifying feasible solutions to land degradation, and
 ecological restoration, but local knowledge is rarely explicitly embedded
 in ecological research. 3. In this study, we use a sequential exploratory
 strategy where we first interview (semi-directive approach) 15 landholders
 within the Bega region of New South Wales, Australia concerning the
 changing ecological characteristics of both extensively and intensively
 managed grassy woodlands and perceived impacts following arrival of the
 invasive exotic introduced species, African lovegrass, Eragrostis curvula.
 4. Based on the results of these interviews, we then conducted a field
 study at 57 sites where we tested seven landholder-generated hypotheses.
 5. The field study validated many of the landholder management perceptions
 including: African lovegrass was negatively correlated with species
 richness, canopy cover and dominant grasses like Themeda trianda.
 Mechanical slashing increased exotic African lovegrass abundance. The
 prevalence of African lovegrass in the soil seed bank was positively
 correlated with its abundance aboveground. Study observations that
 contradicted landholder perceptions included: African lovegrass was not
 more palatable nor did its’ abundance decline in response to increasing
 soil fertility. Spot spraying with herbicides was effective at controlling
 abundance, despite its reputation as ineffective. Landholder observations
 also highlighted key hypotheses concerning modes of spread that require
 long-term studies including the roles of drought and overgrazing. 6.
 Synthesis and applications. Overall, we found local knowledge coupled with
 scientific methods can act in tandem as a highly effective approach for
 developing management recommendations. This approach identifies local
 perceptions that are not substantiated by scientific data to halt
 potentially harmful practices, and observations that are insightful
 predictions about the dynamics and impacts of non-native species that need
 long-term experiments to corroborate scientifically.
description: Site and plot level
 dataThe data file includes
 two sheets one which provides the site level data and one which provides
 the plot level data. The data provided includes, species richness, seed
 bank richness including the germinants from the seed bank of the invasive
 species African lovegrass, estimated kg per dry weight of key species,
 cover estimates for key species, detailed soil nutrient data and site and
 plot-level descriptions.data
 submission.xlsx