Regulative effect of dodder (Cuscuta nevadensis Jtn.) on the vegetation of the northern Mojave Desert

Authors

A. Wallace, Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024
E. M. Romney, Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024
R. B. Hunter, Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024

Abstract

On two separate transects in the Rock Valley area of the northern Mojave Desert in the spring of1976, 4 percent to 17 percent of the perennial plants were infested with the parasite Cuscuta nevadensis Jtn. (dodder), and dead pieces of dodder from previous years were on dead plants equivalent to another 5 percent, indicating that the dodder had a regulating effect on the plant population and may be an important cause of perennial plant death.

Recommended Citation

Wallace, A.; Romney, E. M.; and Hunter, R. B. (1980) "Regulative effect of dodder (Cuscuta nevadensis Jtn.) on the vegetation of the northern Mojave Desert," Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs: Vol. 4, Article 13.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbnm/vol4/iss1/13