Spatiotemporal patterns and environmental drivers of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) abundance along the Missouri River, USA

Carbon Emissions and Vegetation Dynamics: Assessing the Spatiotemporal Environmental Impacts of Hydropower Dams in the Lancang River Basin

“…Dam construction has been linked with negative environmental impacts in m vious studies [14][15][16][17][18], such as reduced vegetation [49], ecological invasion [50], tion of original vegetation [51], and so on. The diminution in vegetation adversel the basin's carbon sequestration abilities, lowering its effectiveness as a carbon sin Accordingly, our research does not completely contradict earlier studies.…”

Vegetation associations of riparian birds in successional woodlands along the regulated Missouri River

“…Davis (2005) suggested that replacement of cottonwood-willow forests with eastern red cedar and Russian olive in riparian forest in the central United States may eventually result in the loss of cavity nesting species from riparian habitats, so our data are consistent with this suggestion. Eastern red cedar reaches the northwest extent of its range in southeastern South Dakota, occurring naturally in upland areas, but has markedly increased its coverage in South Dakota and throughout the midwestern United States in recent decades (Schmidt and Leatherberry 1995, Briggs et al 2002, Meneguzzo and Liknes 2015, including invasion of the cottonwooddominant riparian forests along the Missouri River in eastern South Dakota (Spencer et al 2009, Greene and Knox 2014, Illeperuma et al 2023. Effects of increasing red cedar coverage on woodland bird community structure in the central United States are varied, with both negative (Frost and Powell 2011) and non-significant (Heinan and O'Connell 2009) effects on species richness.…”

“…We also hypothesized that early successional bird species would respond positively to shrubland and negatively to mature forest in the landscape, whereas the opposite would be true for mature forest species (Brawn et al 2001, Hanberry andThompson 2019). Finally, we hypothesized that Russian olive and eastern red cedar, both invasive tree species on the middle Missouri River floodplain (Dixon et al 2012, Illeperuma et al 2023, would decrease bird abundance and richness in native cottonwood forests (Knopf and Olson 1984, Davis 2005, Bateman and Paxton 2010, Frost and Powell 2011. Some studies, however, suggest positive or nonsignificant effects of Russian olive or eastern red cedar on breeding bird species richness and abundance in riparian habitats (Fleishman et al 2003, Heinen and O'Connell 2009, Fischer et al 2012, so an alternative hypothesis is that species richness and abundance will be similar between Russian olive and cottonwoodwillow early successional riparian forest stands and between forest stands with and without eastern red cedar present.…”

“…The importance of such early successional vegetation for bird biodiversity represents an underappreciated aspect of riparian forest management (Swanson et al 2011). Another complication to biodiversity conservation is that altered riparian successional trajectories from river management and land-use change have resulted in the occupation of western riparian habitats by upland or invasive tree species (Friedman et al 2005, Illeperuma et al 2023, with varying effects on breeding and migratory bird populations (Cerasale and Guglielmo 2010, Fischer et al 2012, Sogge et al 2013.…”

“…In addition to the shift toward older forests, river management has also contributed to invasion of floodplain forests by native upland tree species (eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana) and non-native species (e.g., Russian olive Elaeagnus angustifolia, and common buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica; Katz and Shafroth 2003, Frost and Powell 2011, Greene and Knox 2014, Illeperuma et al 2023. Control of invasive woody species is a major management focus by natural resource agencies, and there are also some efforts to restore native species such as cottonwood through planting.…”