Data and code for: Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) invasion reduces plant diversity and influences carbon pools in the southwestern U.S.

Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) is a perennial bunchgrass, invasive in arid ecosystems of the United States, Australia, and Mexico. Buffelgrass invasion detrimentally affects ecosystems, but it is unclear how the amount of invasion (i.e., buffelgrass percent cover) affects ecological impact. Here, we investigated the impacts of buffelgrass invasion on: plant diversity, aboveground biomass carbon, and surface soil (0-10 cm) carbon. We established 13 plots in areas without evidence of recent fire, across a range of buffelgrass cover (0-68%) in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, USA. Shannon diversity significantly decreased with buffelgrass cover (p