Passive Restoration Potential of Riparian Areas Invaded by Giant Reed (Arundo donax) in Texas

Racelis, Alexis; Rubio, Amede; Vaughan, Thomas C.; Goolsby, John A.

doi:10.3368/er.30.2.103

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Nevertheless, there were not significant differences between quarterly and monthly mowing on restoration success. Despite the lack of studies assessing the effectiveness of repeated mowing in combination with the plantation of native species, this approach was able to reduce A. donax height (−80%), density (−50%) and cover (−35%), which was similar to the results obtained in the evaluation of just repeated mowing [78][79][80].…”

Section: Riparian Vegetationsupporting

confidence: 62%

Short-Term Responses of Aquatic and Terrestrial Biodiversity to Riparian Restoration Measures Designed to Control the Invasive Arundo donax L.

Bruno

Zapata

Guareschi

et al. 2019

Water

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Invasive species are among the top five causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Arundo donax has progressively colonized the riparian zones of Mediterranean rivers with detrimental effects on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, being catalogued as one of the 100 worst invasive species. In order to control this invasive species and restore native riparian vegetation, different methods have been traditionally used, depending on the environmental, economic and social context. Here, the effect of repeated above-ground removal of A. donax on aquatic and terrestrial communities was assessed by testing two different frequencies of mowing (monthly-intensive and quarterly-extensive), combined with the plantation of native species. Specifically, it was evaluated if riparian vegetation, birds and aquatic macroinvertebrates showed significant responses throughout time and between restoration treatments based on 4-year annual biomonitoring data (2015–2018). Changes in taxonomic diversity and ecological quality indices for the different biological communities were tested using mixed-effect models (LMEs). Similarly, comparisons between restored and reference sites were also performed. LMEs were also applied to assess how riparian variables were related to bird and aquatic macroinvertebrate indices. NMDS and MGLM-Mvabund analyses were performed to detect significant post-treatment differences in taxa composition compared to the initial state and reference sites. During this short-term assessment, increases in riparian and aquatic macroinvertebrate richness and quality indices were found, as well as significant decreases in A. donax height, density and cover, without significant differences between restoration treatments. However, differential effects between extensive (positive-neutral effect) and intensive treatments (neutral-negative effect) were detected for bird richness, density and abundance. After three years of restoration actions, restored sites are still far from reference values in terms of taxa composition, species richness and ecological quality, especially for riparian vegetation and birds. Given the high cost and the great efforts required for restoration, extensive repeated mowing, together with native species plantation, are only recommended on river reaches not fully invaded by A. donax and with a high ecological interest.

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Section: Riparian Vegetationsupporting

confidence: 62%

Short-Term Responses of Aquatic and Terrestrial Biodiversity to Riparian Restoration Measures Designed to Control the Invasive Arundo donax L.

Bruno

Zapata

Guareschi

et al. 2019

Water

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“…Further, our observations of increasing NDVI, habitat heterogeneity, mesic woody cover, and forb and grass cover at our older burned sites compared with recently burned sites reinforce findings from another study in BIBE that documented the recovery of early successional, primarily native, riparian vegetation after the application of prescribed burn and herbicide treatments (Briggs et al 2021). In other regions of the southwestern United States, floodplain vegetation responded quickly to giant reed removal, with increased native herbaceous plant richness and woody shrub establishment within 2 years after removal and management efforts (Giessow et al 2011, Racelis et al 2012, Howe 2014). Our results support the conclusion that aggressive management of large, monodominant giant reed stands can allow the establishment of riparian vegetation not dominated by giant reed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Removing invasive giant reed reshapes desert riparian butterfly and bird communities

et al. 2023

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Giant reed (Arundo donax) is a prevalent invasive plant in desert riparian ecosystems that threatens wildlife habitat. From 2008 to 2018, under a United States-Mexico partnership, prescribed burns and herbicide applications were used to remove giant reed and promote native revegetation along the Rio Grande-Río Bravo floodplain in west Texas, USA, and Mexico. Our goal was to explore the effects of the removal efforts on butterfly and bird communities and their habitat along the United States portion of the Rio Grande-Río Bravo floodplain in Big Bend National Park, Texas. During spring and summer, 2016-2017, we surveyed butterflies, birds, and their habitat using ground-collected and remotely sensed data. Using a variety of generalized linear and N-mixture modeling routines and multivariate analyses, we found that the initial giant reed removal efforts removed key components of riparian habitat leading to reduced butterfly and bird communities. Within several years following management, giant reed levels remained low, while riparian habitat conditions and butterfly and bird communities largely rebounded, including many disturbance-sensitive butterfly species and riparianassociated bird species. Butterflies were most consistently associated with forb and grass cover, and birds with a remotely sensed index of greenness (the normalized difference vegetation index), several vegetation cover types, and habitat

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“…In south Texas, cover provided by arundo increases survival of the cattle fever tick (Racelis et al, 2012a), a disease-vectoring pest along the US-Mexico border. Dense arundo populations are associated with reduced biodiversity of plants (Quinn and Holt, 2008;Racelis et al, 2012b), arthropods (Herrera and Dudley, 2003;Going and Dudley, 2008), fish (McGaugh et al, 2006), and some birds (Bell, 1997;Giessow et al, 2011). Control by chemical and mechanical methods is sometimes effective (Spencer et al, 2011), but shoots often regenerate from rhizomes, which contain more than 50% of total plant biomass (Thornby et al, 2007;Spencer et al, 2008).…”

Section: Arundo Donax As An Invasive Weedmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mass Rearing of the Stem-Galling Wasp Tetramesa romana, a Biological Control Agent of the Invasive Weed Arundo donax

Moran

Goolsby

Racelis³

et al. 2014

Mass Production of Beneficial Organisms

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Passive Restoration Potential of Riparian Areas Invaded by Giant Reed (Arundo donax) in Texas

Cited by 14 publications

References 8 publications

Short-Term Responses of Aquatic and Terrestrial Biodiversity to Riparian Restoration Measures Designed to Control the Invasive Arundo donax L.

Short-Term Responses of Aquatic and Terrestrial Biodiversity to Riparian Restoration Measures Designed to Control the Invasive Arundo donax L.

Removing invasive giant reed reshapes desert riparian butterfly and bird communities

Mass Rearing of the Stem-Galling Wasp Tetramesa romana, a Biological Control Agent of the Invasive Weed Arundo donax

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