Ithaca College

Jake Brenner (Environmental Studies & Sciences) and Leann Kanda (Biology) collaborated on a paper, titled "Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) Invades Lands Surrounding Cultivated Pastures in Sonora, Mexico," that will be published soon in Invasive Plant Science and Management, a journal of the Weed Science Society of America.

The paper examines the relationships between land disturbance and the prevalence of buffelgrass, an invasive species that is displacing native vegetation in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico. Buffelgrass was introduced from Africa by the government decades ago as forage for cattle. The highly invasive and flammable grass threatens the desert ecosystem and is prompting massive eradication efforts.