Stream pollution by nutrient loading is a chronic problem in the Midwest, United States, and greater impacts on water quality are expected as agricultural production and urban areas expand. Remnant riparian forests are critical for maintaining ecosystem functions in this landscape context, allowing water infiltration and capture of nutrients before they are lost from the system. Our objective was to identify linkages between riparian forest plant community composition and water quality in remnant forested headwater streams. We identified watersheds with embedded headwater streams in three land use categories: grazed, urban, and preserved. We assessed plant community composition and nutrient storage. We sampled the forest streams to monitor discharge rates and sediment, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) loads. Herbaceous communities in preserved riparian forests had more native specialist species than urban or grazed sites. Plant N content was higher in preserved forests (17. Stream water nitrate (NO 3 -N) concentration and total P delivery were highest for streams in urban areas. The most pronounced differences for plant composition and stream discharge and pollutant loads were between preserved and urban forests. Seasonal patterns were variable. We detected a weak negative but seasonally important relationship between plant N content and stream water N. We did not detect a similar relationship for P, which may indicate saturation of this nutrient in the watershed system. Detailed knowledge about relationships between land use, plant community composition, and water quality outcomes could be used to target forest restoration efforts in landscapes highly impacted by humans. Human land use has had far-reaching effects on natural systems. There is increasingly extensive and intensive pressure for arable land to produce food, fiber, and fuel (Secchi et al. 2008), which are then translocated globally, effectively decoupling natural cycles of water and nutrients. Likewise, the places where people live and work are expanding, with exurban sprawl and pressure intensifying due to growing populations in urban areas. This in turn leads to an increase in the importation and concentration of water and nutrients and disrupts ecosystem processes (Groffman et al. 2003;Bernhardt et al. 2008). Abstract: Stream pollution by nutrient loading is a chronic problem in the Midwest, United States, and greater impacts on water quality are expected as agricultural production and urban areas expand. Remnant riparian forests are critical for maintaining ecosystem functions in this landscape context, allowing water infiltration and capture of nutrients before they are lost from the system. Our objective was to identify linkages between riparian forest plant community composition and water quality in remnant forested headwater streams. We identified watersheds with embedded headwater streams in three land use categories: grazed, urban, and preserved. We assessed plant community composition and nutrient storage. We sampled the forest st...
Ecosystem services provided by forests (e.g., nutrient cycling) are critical in midwestern landscapes. We conducted collaborative workshops with forest landowners and management professionals using specific strategies to provide information about nutrient dynamics in forests and learn about goals/obstacles for forest management in Iowa. Preparticipation surveys assessed knowledge and goals and postparticipation surveys measured learning and potential for forest management. Landowners' goals included conservation, aesthetics, recreation, and water quality, whereas lack of management activities (e.g., harvesting), insufficient funding, and invasive species were cited as obstacles. Education and restoration of ecosystem integrity were identified as means to achieve goals. The collaborative learning framework contributed to increased participant knowledge about ecosystem structure/ function and plans for invasive species control, timber stand improvement, and restoration of desirable species. Facilitators learned that resources on invasive species management, as well as "easy-to-use" information about understory plants, would support additional restoration education and action.
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