Evaluation of restoration success in alluvial grasslands under contrasting flooding regimes

Bissels, Stephanie; Hölzel, Norbert; Donath, Tobias W.; Otte, Annette

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2003.10.013

Cited by 69 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Similarly to other studies (Hölzel and Otte 2001;Bissels et al 2004), the effect of flooding on the species richness of the seed bank was not significant. However, in our flooded meadows, the frequency distribution of the seed bank composition over Ellenberg N-values is almost equally distributed and does not reach a clear optimum.…”

Section: Seed Bank Compositioncontrasting

confidence: 74%

Impact of flooding on potential and realised grassland species richness

et al. 2007

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In order to reduce flood risk, river management policies advise floodplain restoration and the recreation of water retention areas. These measures may also offer opportunities for the restoration of speciesrich floodplain habitats through rewetting and the restoration of flood dynamics. The potential to enhance biodiversity in such flood restoration areas is, however, still subject to debate. In this paper we investigate whether flooding along a small altered lowland river can contribute to the potential and realised species richness of semi-natural meadows. We compare the seed bank and vegetation composition of flooded and non-flooded semi-natural meadows and test the hypothesis that flooding contributes to an input of diaspores into the meadow seed banks, thereby promoting seed density and potential species richness. Furthermore we hypothesise that, where habitat conditions are suitable, flooding leads to a higher realised species richness. Results showed that seed densities in flooded meadows were significantly higher than in non-flooded meadows. The seed banks of flooded meadows also contained a higher proportion of exclusively hydrochorous species. However, the seed bank species richness, as well as the species richness realised in the vegetation did not differ significantly between flooded and non-flooded meadows. Finally, the seed bank and standing vegetation of flooded sites showed larger differences in species composition and Ellenberg nitrogen distribution than non-flooded sites. From these results we conclude that, although flooding does contribute to the density and composition of the seed bank, most imported seeds belong to only a few species. Therefore, it is unlikely that flooding substantially enhances the potential species richness. Furthermore, even if new species are imported as seeds into the seed bank, it seems unlikely that they would be able to establish in the standing vegetation. However, it is unclear which factors impede the establishment of imported species in the vegetation. The implications of our findings for flood meadow restoration are discussed.

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Section: Seed Bank Compositioncontrasting

confidence: 74%

Impact of flooding on potential and realised grassland species richness

et al. 2007

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“…Although this seed bank contributed to the restoration of the wet prairie community, species composition of each plot indicated that [90% of the propagules of species that became established reached this zone through other dispersal pathways. Relict wetlands and seed dispersal via hydrochory (van der Valk et al 2009) likely were more important sources of propagules for restoration of wet prairie along the Kissimmee River, and than in other comparable floodplain wetlands (Bissels et al 2004;Gerard et al 2008). Establishment of dominant cover by obligate and facultative wetland taxa indicates that the restored flood pulse produced a predictable trait-based context for community assembly (Pywell et al 2003;Fukami et al 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Predictability of flood pulse driven assembly rules for restoration of a floodplain plant community

Toth

Valk

2011

Wetlands Ecol Manage

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Community assembly rules were formulated to evaluate the restoration of wet prairie along the periphery of the floodplain of the Kissimmee River in central Florida. Restoration of this plant community is expected to be driven by the reestablishment of flood pulse hydrology following the ongoing dechannelization of the river. Assembly rules were assessed with plant species composition and cover data from 15 permanent plots on the restored floodplain and 6 control plots on the channelized floodplain. These sites were sampled biannually from 1998 to 2010. Mean annual hydroperiods and depths confirmed that the frequency, duration and amplitude of post-restoration flood pulses at study sites were similar to historic reference locations. Elimination of pasture grasses (primarily Paspalum notatum Flüggé) following restoration of the flood pulse validated the hypothesized deletion rule for initial transformation of the wet prairie zone. Predicted increased dominance of obligate and facultative wetland species, a ''community addition rule'', also was confirmed. An index of weighted averages of wetland indicator taxa showed significant short-term responses to antecedent hydroperiods and depths, and a restoration trajectory for wetland plant species. As predicted, recruitment of wet prairie indicator species from the extant seed bank correlated with reestablishment of the flood pulse, but was greatest when inundation extended from the wet season into the dry season. Restoration of a wetland plant community did not result in the predicted increase in species richness and diversity. Colonization and expansion of the exotic grass, Hemarthria altissima (Poir.) Stapf & C.E. Hubb., disrupted community reassembly processes. By summer 2007, mean cover of this species and several other exotic grasses increased to 24%, and necessitated herbicide treatments. Assembly rules provided useful predictions for the initial restoration of wet prairie vegetation, but were eventually confounded by the spread of an exotic species that was new to the regional flora.

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“…Amongst others, dispersal constraints received a lot of attention, as the area of target species diminished drastically in the last century (Bischoff, 2002), preventing seeds and other diaspores to be transported to the newly rehabilitated river forelands (Bissels et al, 2004). Also possible hydrodynamical constraints have been studied thoroughly in different studies (Casanova and Brock, 2000;Van Eck, 2004).…”

Section: Consequences For Ecological Rehabilitation and Bottlenecksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional differences in nutrient limitation in floodplains of selected European rivers: implications for rehabilitation of characteristic floodplain vegetation

et al. 2006

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Extremely high river discharges in 1993 and 1995 along the Dutch rivers Rhine and Meuse have increased the public awareness of possible safety threats. As a result the 'Space for Rivers' program was implemented, aiming at restoring physical space for the rivers in combination with ecological rehabilitation. However, the development of species-rich vegetation types in these floodplain areas is lagging behind restoration targets and biogeochemical constraints may play a vital role in this.Biogeochemical, hydrological and vegetation data were collected in 111 plots in both rehabilitated and original floodplains in regulated and more pristine river systems in The Netherlands and Poland. Soil nutrient and soil pore water data were summarized by factor analysis and the subsequent principal components were compared to vegetation and hydrological data by correlation analysis. The correlation analyses between vegetation parameters including nutrient stoichiometry and the biogeochemical soil variables resulted in a remarkable difference between pristine and impacted river systems. The results suggest a clear N-limitation of plant growth in pristine floodplains, and apparent absence of limitation in regulated, impacted floodplains. In addition, results indicate that flooding events do not lead to one-way transport of sediment and nutrients from the river into the floodplains; rather they indicate that highly dynamic hydrological conditions prevent soils from accumulating organic matter and nutrients.This study shows that nutrient limitation in regulated floodplains shifted from distinctly N-limited plant growth to no nutrient limitation at all, probably due to decades of high fertilizer and manure application and nutrient input by the rivers during flooding. The consequence of our findings for rehabilitation activities is that it might be necessary to restore nitrogen limitation in floodplain systems in order to create opportunities for a species-rich floodplain vegetation, through nutrient removal by haymaking.

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Evaluation of restoration success in alluvial grasslands under contrasting flooding regimes

Cited by 69 publications

References 29 publications

Impact of flooding on potential and realised grassland species richness

Impact of flooding on potential and realised grassland species richness

Predictability of flood pulse driven assembly rules for restoration of a floodplain plant community

Regional differences in nutrient limitation in floodplains of selected European rivers: implications for rehabilitation of characteristic floodplain vegetation

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