Consequences of reduced light for flower production in conifer-invaded meadows of the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A

Woody-plant encroachment threatens the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of grasslands and meadows worldwide. An important but rarely described consequence of the transition to woody-plant dominance is the reduction in flowering of herbaceous species. We modeled community-wide relationships between flowering and light in two tree-invaded meadows (BG and M1) in the western Cascade Range, Oregon (USA). At BG, trees established over two...