Invasive annuals respond more negatively to drought than native plant species
In a newly published study, a team of UCLA researchers including La Kretz postdocs Justin Valliere and Gary Bucciarelli explores whether invasives show greater growth and reproductive responses to water availability compared with the native wildflowers they displace. The authors find that invasives may be more negatively impacted by drought compared with natives, but they are also able to capitalize on high resource conditions and greatly increase reproductive output.