Invasive plant ecosystem engineer facilitates community and trophic level alteration for brackish marsh invertebrates

Wigginton, Rachel D.; Pearson, Jessica; Whitcraft, Christine R.

doi:10.1890/es13-00307.1

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Terrestrial vertebrates, such as feral cats (Felis catus) and house mice, affect the species through predation and competition, respectively. Invasive plants are a large concern (USFWS 2013); species such as smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), common reed (Phragmites australis), and perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) alter habitat structure and may displace native flora and fauna (Takekawa et al 2006;Estrella and Kneitel 2011;Wigginton et al 2014). Aquatic invasive plants can alter flows and displace native species in the estuary, which affects SMHM habitat (Moyle et al 2010).…”

Section: Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Smith¹,

Riley²,

Barthman–Thompson³

et al. 2018

SFEWS

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The salt marsh harvest mouse (SMHM, Reithrodontomys raviventris) is an endangered species, endemic to the San Francisco Estuary. Despite being protected for almost half a century and being included in a large number of recovery, restoration, and management plans, significant data gaps hinder conservation and management of the species, a challenge further complicated by developing threats such as climate change. In this review, we present the current state of knowledge; highlight research gaps on habitat requirements and distribution, taxonomic status and genetic structure, physiology, reproduction and demographics, population dynamics, and behavior and community interactions; and present an overview of threats to the species. Our review indicates that substantial data gaps exist; although some aspects of SMHM ecology, such as habitat use, have been addressed extensively, others, such as the effects of environmental contamination, are largely unaddressed. We suggest that conservation and restoration-planning processes consider experimental approaches within restoration designs to address these deficiencies. Continued investment in basic and applied SMHM ecology to collect baseline and longterm data will also be beneficial. Additionally, further coordination among managers and researchers can facilitate more effective responses to uncertainties and emerging threats, especially climate change, which threatens the SMHM and its habitat throughout its range.

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Section: Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Smith¹,

Riley²,

Barthman–Thompson³

et al. 2018

SFEWS

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“…, Wigginton et al. ), they can introduce or reduce biologically driven heterogeneity to the landscape (Beisner et al. , Rodriguez ), and spread rapidly across landscapes (Havel et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Invasive species provide a unique opportunity to study metacommunity dynamics in regard to ecological disturbances and landscape heterogeneity, because invasive species are often very influential in structuring the communities in which they invade (Mack et al 2000, Wigginton et al 2014), they can introduce or reduce biologically driven heterogeneity to the landscape (Beisner et al 2003, Rodriguez 2006, and spread rapidly across landscapes (Havel et al 2015). Furthermore, the impacts that invader-induced heterogeneity can have on regional scales is largely unknown (Melbourne et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal mitigates biologically induced disturbances in heterogeneous metacommunities

Mausbach

Dzialowski

2019

Ecosphere

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The global increase in anthropogenic disturbances has introduced patterns of heterogeneity across many landscapes. Local disturbances are often studied from the perspective of the local habitat patch, where their direct effects on local community composition are more evident. However, local disturbances can have regional implications when connected to other patches within a metacommunity. Invasive species provide a unique opportunity for studying the influence of biologically induced disturbances on metacommunity dynamics, because invasive species are influential in structuring local communities and have a propensity for dispersing across landscapes, producing gradients in disturbance intensity. The invasive zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is widespread throughout the eastern USA and is having negative impacts on native communities. Using zebra mussels to induce disturbances in mesocosm zooplankton communities, we tested how the relative abundance of disturbed and undisturbed habitat patches within a metacommunity influenced community and metacommunity biodiversity and composition. The zebra mussels negatively affected pelagic zooplankton species richness, while facilitating the population growth of littoral species. Undisturbed communities mitigated disturbance‐induced local and regional pelagic species loss in heterogeneous metacommunities, while the fully disturbed metacommunity experienced significant losses of pelagic zooplankton at local and regional scales. Disturbed communities influenced undisturbed communities in heterogeneous metacommunities by increasing the densities of littoral zooplankton species. Overall, these results highlight the important effects that undisturbed habitat patches can have on mitigating species loss in locally disturbed patches and maintaining regional biodiversity in heterogeneous metacommunities.

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“…Urbanized estuaries are hotspots of invasion because they are exposed to high propagule pressure and nutrient inputs, which facilitate invasion (Carlton andGeller 1993, Zedler andKercher 2004). In wetland systems, plant invaders can alter community diversity Bertness 2004, Minchinton et al 2006), physical structure (Reynolds et al 2017), nutrient cycling (Farrer andGoldberg 2009, Nie et al 2017), and trophic structure (Levin et al 2006, Wigginton et al 2014. One of the most vigorously expanding plant invaders throughout the western United States is Lepidium latifolium (henceforth Lepidium; DiTomaso and Healy 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time‐lagged impacts of extreme, multi‐year drought on tidal salt marsh plant invasion

2020

Self Cite

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Climate change is projected to increase the frequency of extreme drought events, which can have dramatic consequences for ecosystems. Extreme drought may interact with other stressors such as invasion by non-native species, yet little research has explored these dynamics. Here, we examine the physical mechanisms and temporal scale underlying a dieback of an invasive non-native plant, Lepidium latifolium, in tidal salt marshes of the San Francisco Bay, California, USA, during an extreme, multi-year drought occurring from 2012 to 2015. Using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs), we explored the relationship between eight years of estuarine salinity data and five years of L. latifolium density data from three marshes spanning a gradient of salinity across the San Francisco Bay. We found a significant time-lagged (3 yr) effect of estuarine salinity on L. latifolium density, with high salinities preceding reductions in L. latifolium densities and low salinities preceding increases. The most dramatic change in stem density, a 54% reduction in 2015, was preceded by a salinity increase of 43% from 2011 to 2012. We found the L. latifolium decline was driven by impacts on mature, rather than young, plants. Additionally, we tested the importance of local precipitation in driving L. latifolium densities in a one-season rain exclusion experiment. We found 100% exclusion of precipitation during one rainy season (January-mid-May) did not have a significant impact on densities of mature stands of L. latifolium. Our finding that estuarine salinity was a key driver of L. latifolium invasion dynamics suggests sea level rise, like extreme drought, may hinder L. latifolium invasion, as it will also raise estuarine salinities. Further, our study highlights the importance of temporal lags in understanding climate change impacts on biological invasions, which has received very little study to date.

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Invasive plant ecosystem engineer facilitates community and trophic level alteration for brackish marsh invertebrates

Cited by 14 publications

References 50 publications

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Dispersal mitigates biologically induced disturbances in heterogeneous metacommunities

Time‐lagged impacts of extreme, multi‐year drought on tidal salt marsh plant invasion

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