Long-term vegetation development of restored prairie pothole wetlands

Aronson, Myla F. J.; Galatowitsch, Susan M.

doi:10.1672/08-142.1

Cited by 97 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1). The lower richness and diversity of restored sites than reference wetlands is a commonly observed phenomenon (Seabloom and van der Valk 2003, McLachlan and Knipsel 2005, Aronson and Galatowitsch 2008, Rey Benayas et al 2009, Pfeifer-Meister et al 2012. Somewhat surprisingly, we found no differences in native species richness and diversity on a m 2 scale, but the solarization treatment did have fewer native species when totaled across the 15 subplots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 42%

“…Despite this goal, evaluations of wetland restoration success frequently take only a limited number of criteria into account (e.g., high native plant cover), and many functions are ignored (Mitsch and Wilson 1996, National Research Council 2001, Zedler 2003, Matthews and Endress 2008. Additionally, restored or created wetlands may not have similar function or structure to those of 'natural' wetlands (National Research Council 2001, Turner et al 2001, Aronson and Galatowitsch 2008, Rey Benayas et al 2009). The net result of these concerns is while the conterminous U.S. experienced no change in wetland area from [2004][2005][2006][2007][2008][2009] (Dahl 2011), the nation may still be experiencing a net loss of wetland function.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Restoring wetland prairies: tradeoffs among native plant cover, community composition, and ecosystem functioning

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Despite a U.S. goal of 'no-net-loss' of wetland structure and function, restoration performance standards are typically based on limited criteria, with soil carbon, nutrient, and microbial criteria being particularly rare. We examined plant community composition, diversity, and various soil functional variables for two different restoration techniques, topsoil-removal and solarization, in wetland prairies in Oregon, USA. We compared three site-level replicates of each treatment to three high-quality remnant wetland prairies. We found significant tradeoffs among diversity, native cover, and ecosystem functioning between restoration treatments. Wetlands with topsoil removed had similar diversity to remnants, but lower productivity, soil carbon and nitrogen, microbial biomass, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal infection rates. Solarization sites had the highest native cover, but diversity was approximately half that of remnant wetlands. We attribute this to both a priority effect of seeded native perennial bunchgrasses establishing early in the restoration process and competitively excluding other species, and to a lack of microtopographic variation in the restored sites. Our results suggest that restoration projects should evaluate both structural and functional processes, since they may reveal tradeoffs among important goals. Mitigation efforts should strive to understand the mechanisms causing these tradeoffs among structure and function and try to minimize these in restoration designs.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 42%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoring wetland prairies: tradeoffs among native plant cover, community composition, and ecosystem functioning

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Because RCG is the most dominant plant in 74% of the wetlands it occurs in across Illinois (Spyreas et al 2004), it is found in more than onehalf of Illinois' wetlands (CTAP, unpublished data), and it has been reported as comparably dominant across its North American range (Lavoie et al 2003;Mulhouse and Galatowitsch 2003;Tanner et al 2002), this species is likely decreasing community diversity and biological integrity in a similar fashion across large areas of its range. The extent to which local or community-level homogenization by invasions are decreasing regional plant diversity (i.e., beta and gamma diversity) by the cumulative effects of local extirpations (for RCG, see Aronson and Galatowitsch 2008; for other invasive plants, see Hulme and Bremner 2006;Hejda et al 2009) is cause for considerable concern given this invaders widespread dominance (Gaston and Fuller 2007).…”

Section: Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological consequences of invasion by reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea)

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although they are typically assumed to be negative, the consequences of plant invasions for native diversity or biological integrity are seldom broadly quantified (i.e., for multiple taxa or across large regions). We investigated the impacts associated with invasion of wetlands by reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.; RCG) on plants and several animal groups. In a local study, we compared plants, arthropods, and small mammals on treatment plots with reduced RCG dominance to those on highly invaded plots. We also conducted a companion study, where we measured RCG dominance and plants, arthropods, and birds in 82 randomly selected wetlands across Illinois (USA) to determine if our experimental results were consistent in communities across the region. Plant diversity, floristic quality, and diversity and abundance of Homopteran insects decreased with RCG dominance in all instances. Richness and abundance of all other arthropods decreased with increasing RCG in the local study, but no trend was detected in communities statewide. No relationship between total abundance or richness of small mammals (local) or birds (statewide) with RCG was detected. However, voles and shrews were more abundant, and mice less abundant, in RCG-dominated plots. These results support the hypothesis that there are negative effects for multiple taxa from RCG invasion. Because negative effects observed in the local study either corroborated, or were neutral with respect to results from statewide surveys, they suggest that native biodiversity and biological integrity are being dampened across wide areas of this invader's range.

show abstract

“…Studies of Northern prairie pothole wetlands have found passive methods inadequate for restoring plant diversity (Seabloom and van der Valk 2003;Aronson and Galatowitsch 2008). That region is characterized by widespread intensive agriculture and substantial historic wetland loss, so restored potholes may be isolated from source wetlands and easily colonized by invasive plants.…”

Section: Ecological Outcomes Of Passive Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach can re-establish wetland vegetation through species filtering and selection by the restored hydrologic regime (van der Valk 1981; "self-design" of Mitsch and Wilson 1996). A possible shortcoming is that passively restored sites may lack characteristic plant species or guilds that are absent in seed banks or dispersal-limited (Galatowitsch and van der Valk 1996b;Seabloom and van der Valk 2003;De Steven et al 2006); the reasons may include site disturbance history, adjacent land use, or distance from source habitats (Zedler 2000;Aronson and Galatowitsch 2008). Recovering the absent floristic elements may take more time or require more costly active reintroductions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Outcomes and Evaluation of Success in Passively Restored Southeastern Depressional Wetlands

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Depressional wetlands may be restored passively by disrupting prior drainage to recover original hydrology and relying on natural revegetation. Restored hydrology selects for wetland vegetation; however, depression geomorphology constrains the achievable hydroperiod, and plant communities are influenced by hydroperiod and available species pools. Such constraints can complicate assessments of restoration success. Sixteen drained depressions in South Carolina, USA, were restored experimentally by forest clearing and ditch plugging for potential crediting to a mitigation bank. Depressions were assigned to alternate revegetation methods representing desired targets of herbaceous and wet-forest communities. After five years, restoration progress and revegetation methods were evaluated. Restored hydroperiods differed among wetlands, but all sites developed diverse vegetation of native wetland species. Vegetation traits were influenced by hydroperiod and the effects of early drought, rather than by revegetation method. For mitigation banking, individual wetlands were assessed for improvement from pre-restoration condition and similarity to assigned reference type. Most wetlands met goals to increase hydroperiod, herb-species dominance, and wetland-plant composition. Fewer wetlands achieved equivalence to reference types because some vegetation targets were incompatible with depression hydroperiods and improbable without intensive management. The results illustrated a paradox in judging success when vegetation goals may be unsuited to system constraints.

show abstract

Long-term vegetation development of restored prairie pothole wetlands

Cited by 97 publications

References 34 publications

Restoring wetland prairies: tradeoffs among native plant cover, community composition, and ecosystem functioning

Restoring wetland prairies: tradeoffs among native plant cover, community composition, and ecosystem functioning

Biological consequences of invasion by reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea)

Ecological Outcomes and Evaluation of Success in Passively Restored Southeastern Depressional Wetlands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About