Applying ecological research to improve long-term outcomes of wilding conifer management

Dickie, Ian A.; Sprague, Rowan; Green, Joanna; Peltzer, Duane A.; Orwin, Kate H.; Sapsford, Sarah J.

doi:10.20417/nzjecol.46.23

Cited by 4 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Invasive conifers in New Zealand have well-characterised abiotic and biotic impacts, and most of these impacts are negative. For abiotic impacts, invasive conifers affect ecosystem hydrology, soil nutrient cycles, and erosion rates (Mark and Dickinson, 2008;Dickie et al, 2011Dickie et al, , 2022. Conifers also increase fuel loading and thus fire hazard (Clifford et al, 2013;Taylor et al, 2017).…”

Section: Impacts Of Conifer Invasionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, in 2016 the 'Winning Against Wildings' research programme received $16 million over 5 years to understand where and how management could minimize the spread of invasive conifers, reduce control costs and avoid adverse environmental effects through early detection and prevention of conifer spread. This research also quantified spread risk and identified the impacts and legacies of invasive conifers on biodiversity and ecosystems (e.g., Sapsford et al, 2020;Wyse and Hulme, 2021;Dickie et al, 2022). Subsequently, additional funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has been secured for a further 5 years to assess the effectiveness of control operations and the drivers of reinvasion at previously-managed sites.…”

Section: Supporting An Applied Research Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predicting the likely population trajectory of existing invasions is crucial to prioritise control efforts regionally (Sprague et al, 2021). Research from the 'Winning Against Wildings' programme supports this approach, as findings on the impacts and legacies of invasive conifers suggest that even at low densities, conifers can start to alter an ecosystem (Sapsford et al, 2020;Dickie et al, 2022). Monitoring and surveillance are critical at this invasion stage as well.…”

Section: Adaptive Management Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to link people, government, and science in effective large-scale management of invasive trees

Sprague¹,

Hulme

Núñez

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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A common limitation for the effective management of widespread non-native species is translating and implementing the latest scientific knowledge for practitioners. Non-native tree invasions are no exception to this problem. We illustrate how the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme in New Zealand has worked to overcome these limitations through a partnership approach, ensuring affected communities are connected to on-the-ground responses, and facilitating the transfer of new scientific knowledge to practitioners. By ensuring the overarching management strategy was developed collaboratively with clear, mutually-agreed goals, the programme has helped to unite diverse stakeholders with a common purpose. Although coordinated by a central government body, the governance structure is sufficiently flexible to address the specific management needs of each affected community. The programme takes an adaptive management approach that enables multiple lines of research and management to be developed together; this is essential to improve management across different regions and stages of invasion. A co-developed strategy, partnership structure, and adaptive management were each critical components of the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme. However, there are ongoing challenges to overcome, such as securing long-term funding and reducing risks of re-invasion, to meet the ultimate goal of containing conifer invasions nationally. We suggest that lessons from this programme provide general insights into how linking people, government, and science could be used to improve the effectiveness of large-scale invasive non-native species management elsewhere.

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Section: Impacts Of Conifer Invasionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Supporting An Applied Research Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Adaptive Management Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to link people, government, and science in effective large-scale management of invasive trees

Sprague¹,

Hulme

Núñez

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Preliminary work has demonstrated that available nitrogen (AvailN) and bacterial dominance (measured by PLFA) increase following removal of pines (Dickie et al, 2014). Tree removal can cause a sudden influx in organic nutrients in the form of leaf litter, fine roots and deadwood, depending on the method used for tree removal (Dickie et al, 2022). These residues are a resource for saprotrophic organisms but also those species of ectomycorrhizal fungi with the ability to breakdown OM (Romero‐Olivares et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a major knowledge gap is how long pine legacies persist in the environment and how the effects of density of pines at removal affect legacies. Understanding the time and density element of legacies would provide important information for decisions on the management of invaded ecosystems (Dickie et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slow soil enzyme recovery following invasive tree removal through gradual changes in bacterial and fungal communities

Sapsford,

Dickie

2023

Journal of Ecology

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Biological invasions of plants have profound effects on ecosystem functioning by directly and indirectly altering soil microbiota, especially when invasive plants co‐invade with their associated microbiomes. Ecosystem functions may recover slowly following invader removal, with implications for restoration. We investigated the recovery of soil ecosystem function (measured as soil enzymes) following the removal, at different densities and times, of invasive Pinus spp. in New Zealand, and how different enzymatic activities responded to pine legacies. Enzymatic activities were driven by pine legacies via both abiotic (soil nutrients) and biotic (fungi and bacteria) soil properties, with different enzymes showing distinct patterns. The activity of the enzymes cellobiohydrolase (cellulose degrading), β‐glucosidase (cellulose degrading), N‐acetyl‐glucosaminidase (chitin degrading), laccase (lignin oxidising) and acid phosphatase (organic phosphate hydrolysing) were influenced by time since pine removal and by pine density at removal via effects on biotic communities. In comparison, Mn‐peroxidase (lignin oxidising) was positively correlated with density of pines at removal and was negatively correlated with time since removal and was only influenced by fungal communities. Synthesis. The recovery of soil enzymatic function following invasive species removal is slow and dependent on pine legacies through the gradual changes in fungal and bacterial communities. The cascading effects of these changes suggest potential implications for the success of future plant establishment and restoration of co‐invaded ecosystems.

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Range reshuffling: Climate change, invasive species, and the case of Nothofagus forests in Aotearoa New Zealand

Mathias,

van Galen,

Jarvie

et al. 2023

Diversity and Distributions

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AimThe impact of climate change on forest biodiversity and ecosystem services will be partly determined by the relative fortunes of invasive and native forest trees under future conditions. Aotearoa New Zealand has high conservation value native forests and one of the world's worst invasive tree problems. We assess the relative effects of habitat redistribution on native Nothofagus and invasive conifer (Pinaceae) species in New Zealand as a case study on the compounding impacts of climate change and tree invasions.LocationAotearoa New Zealand.MethodsWe use species distribution models (SDMs) to predict the current and future distribution of habitat for five native Nothofagus species and 13 invasive conifer species under two 2070 climate scenarios. We calculate habitat loss/gain for all species and examine overlap between the invasive and native species now and in future.ResultsMost species will lose habitat overall. The native species saw large changes in the distribution of habitat with extensive losses in North Island and gains mostly in South Island. Concerningly, we found that most new habitat for Nothofagus was also suitable for at least one invasive species. However, there were refugia for the native species in the wetter parts of the climate space.Main ConclusionIf the predicted changes in habitat distribution translate to shifts in forest distribution, it would cause widespread ecological disruption. We discuss how acclimation, adaptation and biotic interactions may prevent/delay some changes. But we also highlight that the poor establishment capacity of Nothofagus, and the contrasting ability of the conifers to invade, will present persistent conservation challenges in areas of both new habitat and forest retreat. Pinaceae are problematic invaders globally, and our results highlight that control of invasions and active native forest restoration will likely be key to managing forest biodiversity under future climates.

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Applying ecological research to improve long-term outcomes of wilding conifer management

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

How to link people, government, and science in effective large-scale management of invasive trees

How to link people, government, and science in effective large-scale management of invasive trees

Slow soil enzyme recovery following invasive tree removal through gradual changes in bacterial and fungal communities

Range reshuffling: Climate change, invasive species, and the case of Nothofagus forests in Aotearoa New Zealand

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