Testing the Efficacy of Species Richness and Floristic Quality Assessment of Quality, Temporal Change, and Fire Effects in Tallgrass Prairie Natural Areas

Bowles, Marlin L.; Jones, Michael

doi:10.3375/0885-8608(2006)26[17:tteosr]2.0.co;2

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The declines in Mean C and FQI observed in the chronosequence of this study were consistent with studies of prairie restorations (Sluis ; Camill et al. ; McLachlan & Knispel ) and remnants (Bowles & Jones ). Nevertheless, our study suggests higher values of Mean C and especially FQI among the younger restoration sites relative to the older restoration sites may indicate that prairie restoration characterized by high floristic quality is possible in the early stages of restoration.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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Use of multiple criteria in an ecological assessment of a prairie restoration chronosequence

Hansen¹,

Gibson

2013

Applied Vegetation Science

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Abbreviations ANPP = annual net primary productivity; FQA = floristic quality assessment; FQI = floristic quality index; Mean C = mean coefficient of conservatism; N = nitrogen; NMDS = nonmetric multidimensional scaling Swink & Wilhelm (1994) Abstract Questions: Was ecological fidelity (structure/composition, function and durability) restored in a series of tallgrass prairie restorations? Which factors influenced success? Can success be assessed in prairie restoration using indices of ecological fidelity? NomenclatureLocation: Nachusa Grasslands in Lee and Ogle Counties, Illinois, USA.Methods: To assess restoration of ecological fidelity, mean coefficient of conservatism (Mean C), floristic quality index (FQI), above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP), soil bulk density, total soil nitrogen (N) and total soil carbon of 19 restoration sites were recorded from 20 9 50 m modified Whittaker plots across a chronosequence, and compared to benchmark values acquired from both the literature and field observation of remnant prairies. Following assessment, multiple factors were examined through correlation analysis, Akaike's information criterion and multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship of these factors to restoration success.Results: All restoration sites attained the benchmark value for Mean C, while only four attained the benchmark value for FQI. Mean C and FQI both decreased across the chronosequence. Frequency of prescribed fire and soil bulk density had significant positive relationships to Mean C. FQI was best explained by the FQI value of the seed mix sown. Thirteen restoration sites attained the benchmark value for ANPP, which remained stable across the restoration chronosequence. Abundance of exotic species and soil drainage had a negative relationship to ANPP. Few restoration sites attained benchmark values for soil bulk density, total N and total carbon, and none of the sites showed a trajectory towards benchmark values across the chronosequence. Conclusions:Our study demonstrates that high-quality seed mixes may aid in establishing prairie restorations with high scores of floristic quality. However, restoration of vegetation does not guarantee the successful restoration of ecological function. Long-term monitoring is needed to more effectively assess durability and the multiple factors that influence restoration quality. Overall, the three components of ecological fidelity related to structure/composition, function and durability provide a useful framework to assess restoration success and guide management. Our study can serve as a model for future research and assessment of restoration success.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…; McNicoll & Augspurger ; Sivicek & Taft ; Spyreas et al. ), despite the subjective nature of assigning C values to species and a potential bias towards rare species (Bowles & Jones ; Landi & Chiarucci ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of multiple criteria in an ecological assessment of a prairie restoration chronosequence

Hansen¹,

Gibson

2013

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…They have been developed for over 12 states and provinces, most recently South Florida (2009), Minnesota wetlands (2010), the flora of the Northeastern US (2010) and coastal Louisiana (2011). Although a few studies (e.g., [24,25]) have found limitations in the effectiveness of C-values to reflect habitat quality based on other measures, C-values have been independently confirmed to reflect habitat quality and integrity and degree of anthropogenic habitat disturbance in other studies. Plant communities for which C-values have proved efficacious include tallgrass prairie (e.g., [26,27]) and wetlands (e.g., [28][29][30][31]).…”

Section: -10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Living More Than Just Enough for the City: Persistence of High-Quality Vegetation in Natural Areas in an Urban Setting

2011

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Urban environments pose special challenges to flora, including altered disturbance regimes, habitat fragmentation, and increased opportunity for invasion by non-native species. In addition, urban natural area represents most people's contact with nature, given the majority of the world's population currently live in cities. We used coefficients of conservatism (C-values), a system that ranks species based on perceived fidelity to remnant native plant communities that retain ecological integrity, to quantify habitat quality of 14 sites covering 850 ha within the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, in the Midwestern United States. All sites contained significant natural area and were inventoried via intensive complete censuses throughout one or two growing seasons within the last 15 years. Mean C-values for five sites were high, especially when compared to values reported for the highest quality preserves in central Indiana. However, for most sites the difference in mean C-value with and without non-natives was rather high, meaning that natural quality is likely to have been compromised by the presence of non-natives. Sites receiving the highest levels of stewardship and those with the least public access via trails had the highest mean native C-values. A total of 34 invasive non-native species were found across all 14 sites. Most were woody species. Mean C-value over all sites was significantly negatively correlated with the number of non-natives present, especially those considered invasive. These results demonstrate for the Indianapolis area, and likely other urbanized OPEN ACCESSDiversity 2011, 4 612Midwestern cities, remnant natural areas can retain high ecological value, especially if they receive regular environmental stewardship.

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“…Grade A prairies had higher total richness (F = 4.91, P = 0.029) and higher plot species richness (F = 12.0, P < 0.001) than Orade B prairies. This indicates that species richness can be an important factor in ranking vegetation qua lity (Bowles and Jones 2006). Most species were rare at the landscape level, with 33% occurring in single communities and 70% found in less than five communities (Figure 4) .…”

Section: Species Distribution Species Richness and Spatial Abundancementioning

confidence: 97%

The Prairie-Wetland Vegetation Continuum in the Chicago Region of Northeastern Illinois

Bowles¹,

Jones²

2007

Ecological Restoration

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We conducted a floristic ordination and gradient analys is of plant communities extending from prairie through graminoid-dominated wetlands in the Chicago region of northeastern Illinois. Data represented about 450 species from 103 stands sampled across a grad ient of six soil moisture classes ranging from dry to hydric, and included sand, gravel, dolomite and loam prairies, as well as fen, sedge meadow, floating mat, marsh, and bog. As found in other midwestern grassland studies, vegetation aligned most strongly along a soil moisture gradient, with individualistic species distributions forming a hierarchical continuum, and lower species richness at the dry and wet extremes of the moisture gradient. Most species were infrequent, with about 70% occurring at less than 20% frequency and present in less than five communities. Species that were more frequent within communities were also more widespread among communities, fitting the niche-based mode l of species distribution. Moreover, less than 20% of a ll species sampled were significant indicators of so il moisture grad ient classes, with most representing mesic and hydric habitats. Dominant prairie grasses extended from dry to wet habitats, merging with wetland species in graminoid fen, calcareous seep and sedge meadow habitats. Hydric habitat, represented by calcareous floating mat, marsh and bog, had fewer dominant prairie species and was dominated by a wetland flora. These results provide compositional and structural models for managing and restoring vegetation across the prairie-wetland vegetation gradient of the Chicago region.

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Testing the Efficacy of Species Richness and Floristic Quality Assessment of Quality, Temporal Change, and Fire Effects in Tallgrass Prairie Natural Areas

Cited by 24 publications

References 16 publications

Use of multiple criteria in an ecological assessment of a prairie restoration chronosequence

Use of multiple criteria in an ecological assessment of a prairie restoration chronosequence

Living More Than Just Enough for the City: Persistence of High-Quality Vegetation in Natural Areas in an Urban Setting

The Prairie-Wetland Vegetation Continuum in the Chicago Region of Northeastern Illinois

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