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Love DT, Fill JM, Zee A, Tevlin S, Pérez HE, Crandall RM. Competition limits first-year growth and flowering of wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana) at a sandhills restoration site. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297795. [PMID: 39226260 PMCID: PMC11371212 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Uncertainty in ecosystem restoration can be mitigated by information on drivers of variability in restoration outcomes, especially through experimental study. In southeastern USA pine savannas, efforts to restore the perennial bunchgrass wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana) often achieve variable outcomes in the first year. Although ecotypic differentiation and competition with other native vegetation are known to influence wiregrass seedling establishment and growth, to our knowledge, no studies have examined interactions between these drivers. We experimentally quantified individual and interactive effects of competition, seed source, and soil type on wiregrass density, size, and flowering culm production in the field. We sowed seeds from dry and wet sites reciprocally into dry and wet soils and weeded half of the plots. We found that competition removal resulted in significantly larger plants and a greater proportion of flowering plants with more culms on average, regardless of seed source or soil type. Seeds sourced from a wet site resulted in more plants per plot than seeds from a dry site, which might have been influenced by the greater number of filled seeds from the wet site. After seedlings become established, competition contributes to variation in growth and reproduction. Although competition removal could help start wiregrass populations, the necessity of mitigation depends on fire management needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debriana T. Love
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Jennifer M. Fill
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - April Zee
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Sarah Tevlin
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Héctor E. Pérez
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Raelene M. Crandall
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
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2
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MacColl KA, Tosi M, Chagnon PL, MacDougall AS, Dunfield KE, Maherali H. Prairie restoration promotes the abundance and diversity of mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 34:e2981. [PMID: 38738945 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Predicting how biological communities assemble in restored ecosystems can assist in conservation efforts, but most research has focused on plants, with relatively little attention paid to soil microbial organisms that plants interact with. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are an ecologically significant functional group of soil microbes that form mutualistic symbioses with plants and could therefore respond positively to plant community restoration. To evaluate the effects of plant community restoration on AM fungi, we compared AM fungal abundance, species richness, and community composition of five annually cultivated, conventionally managed agricultural fields with paired adjacent retired agricultural fields that had undergone prairie restoration 5-9 years prior to sampling. We hypothesized that restoration stimulates AM fungal abundance and species richness, particularly for disturbance-sensitive taxa, and that gains of new taxa would not displace AM fungal species present prior to restoration due to legacy effects. AM fungal abundance was quantified by measuring soil spore density and root colonization. AM fungal species richness and community composition were determined in soils and plant roots using DNA high-throughput sequencing. Soil spore density was 2.3 times higher in restored prairies compared to agricultural fields, but AM fungal root colonization did not differ between land use types. AM fungal species richness was 2.7 and 1.4 times higher in restored prairies versus agricultural fields for soil and roots, respectively. The abundance of Glomeraceae, a disturbance-tolerant family, decreased by 25% from agricultural to restored prairie soils but did not differ in plant roots. The abundance of Claroideoglomeraceae and Diversisporaceae, both disturbance-sensitive families, was 4.6 and 3.2 times higher in restored prairie versus agricultural soils, respectively. Species turnover was higher than expected relative to a null model, indicating that AM fungal species were gained by replacement. Our findings demonstrate that restoration can promote a relatively rapid increase in the abundance and diversity of soil microbial communities that had been degraded by decades of intensive land use, and community compositional change can be predicted by the disturbance tolerance of soil microbial taxonomic and functional groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin A MacColl
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Micaela Tosi
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Pierre-Luc Chagnon
- Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Andrew S MacDougall
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kari E Dunfield
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Hafiz Maherali
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
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3
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Mutillod C, Buisson É, Mahy G, Jaunatre R, Bullock JM, Tatin L, Dutoit T. Ecological restoration and rewilding: two approaches with complementary goals? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:820-836. [PMID: 38346335 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
As we enter the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and address the urgent need to protect and restore ecosystems and their ecological functions at large scales, rewilding has been brought into the limelight. Interest in this discipline is thus increasing, with a large number of conceptual scientific papers published in recent years. Increasing enthusiasm has led to discussions and debates in the scientific community about the differences between ecological restoration and rewilding. The main goal of this review is to compare and clarify the position of each field. Our results show that despite some differences (e.g. top-down versus bottom-up and functional versus taxonomic approaches) and notably with distinct goals - recovery of a defined historically determined target ecosystem versus recovery of natural processes with often no target endpoint - ecological restoration and rewilding have a common scope: the recovery of ecosystems following anthropogenic degradation. The goals of ecological restoration and rewilding have expanded with the progress of each field. However, it is unclear whether there is a paradigm shift with ecological restoration moving towards rewilding or vice versa. We underline the complementarity in time and in space of ecological restoration and rewilding. To conclude, we argue that reconciliation of these two fields of nature conservation to ensure complementarity could create a synergy to achieve their common scope.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémentine Mutillod
- Avignon Université, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, site Agroparc BP 61207, Avignon Cedex 09, 84911, France
| | - Élise Buisson
- Avignon Université, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, site Agroparc BP 61207, Avignon Cedex 09, 84911, France
| | - Gregory Mahy
- Avignon Université, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, site Agroparc BP 61207, Avignon Cedex 09, 84911, France
- Université de Liège, Biodiversité et Paysage, 27 Avenue Maréchal Juin, Gembloux, 5030, Belgique
| | - Renaud Jaunatre
- Université Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, UR LESSEM, St-Martin-d'Hères, F-38402, France
| | - James M Bullock
- UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, OX10 8BB, Wallingford, UK
| | - Laurent Tatin
- Avignon Université, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, site Agroparc BP 61207, Avignon Cedex 09, 84911, France
| | - Thierry Dutoit
- Avignon Université, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, site Agroparc BP 61207, Avignon Cedex 09, 84911, France
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4
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Haslem A, Clarke RH, Maisey AC, Stewart A, Radford JQ, Bennett AF. Temporal dynamics in the composition of bird communities along a gradient of farmland restoration. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 34:e2947. [PMID: 38305124 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Revegetation plantings are a key activity in farmland restoration and are commonly assumed to support biotic communities that, with time, replicate those of reference habitats. Restoration outcomes, however, can be highly variable and difficult to predict; hence there is value in quantifying restoration success to improve future efforts. We test the expectation that, over time, revegetation will restore bird communities to match those in reference habitats; and assess whether specific planting attributes enhance restoration success. We surveyed birds in 255 sites in south-east Australia, arranged along a restoration gradient encompassing three habitat types: unrestored farmland (paddocks), revegetation plantings (comprising a chronosequence up to 52 years old) and reference habitats (remnant native vegetation). Surveys were undertaken in 2006/2007 and again in 2019, with data used to compare bird assemblages between habitat types. We also determined whether, in the intervening 12 years, bird communities in revegetation had shifted toward reference habitats on the restoration gradient. Our results showed that each habitat contained a unique bird community and that, over time, assemblages in revegetation diverged away from those in unrestored farmland and converged toward those in reference habitats. Two planting attributes influenced this transition: the bird assemblages of revegetation were more likely to have diverged away from those of unrestored farmland (with scattered mature trees) 12 years later if they were located in areas with more surrounding tree cover, and were mostly ungrazed by livestock (compared with grazed plantings). Our results highlight three key ways in which revegetation contributes to farmland restoration: (1) by supporting richer and more diverse bird assemblages than unrestored farmland, (2) by enhancing beta diversity in rural landscapes through the addition of a unique bird community, and (3) by shifting bird assemblages toward those found in reference habitats over time. However, revegetation plantings did not replicate reference habitats by ~40-50 years in our region, and complete convergence may take centuries. These findings have implications for environmental offset programs and mean that effective conservation in farmland environments depends on the retention and protection of natural and seminatural habitats as a parallel management strategy to complement restoration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angie Haslem
- Department of Environment and Genetics, and Research Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Rohan H Clarke
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alex C Maisey
- Department of Environment and Genetics, and Research Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alistair Stewart
- Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
| | - James Q Radford
- Department of Environment and Genetics, and Research Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Andrew F Bennett
- Department of Environment and Genetics, and Research Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
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5
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Ladwig LM, Lucas JR. Seed mucilage in temperate grassland species is unrelated to moisture requirements. PLANT-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS (HOBOKEN, N.J.) 2024; 5:e10135. [PMID: 38384946 PMCID: PMC10880130 DOI: 10.1002/pei3.10135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Myxospermy, the release of seed mucilage upon hydration, plays multiple roles in seed biology. Here, we explore whether seed mucilage occurs in a suite of temperate grassland species to test if the prevalence of species producing seed mucilage is associated with habitat type or seed characteristics. Seventy plant species found in wet or dry North American temperate grasslands were tested for the presence of seed mucilage through microscopic examination of seeds imbibed with histochemical stain for mucilage. Mucilage production was compared among species with different moisture requirements and seed mass. In this study, 43 of 70 of species tested produced seed mucilage. Seed mucilage did not differ based on habitat type, species moisture requirements, or seed mass. Most seed mucilage was non-adherent and did not remain stuck to the seed after extrusion. Seed mucilage was a common trait in the surveyed temperate grassland species and was observed in 61% of evaluated species. Surprisingly, seed mucilage was more common in temperate grasslands than in previous ecological surveys from arid/semiarid systems, which found 10%-31% myxospermous species. Given the high prevalence, seed mucilage may influence seedling ecology in temperate grasslands and requires further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M. Ladwig
- Biology DepartmentUniversity of WisconsinOshkoshWisconsinUSA
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6
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Werner CM, Young TP, Stuble KL. Year effects drive beta diversity, but unevenly across plant community types. Ecology 2024; 105:e4188. [PMID: 37877213 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
Year of establishment can be a critical driver of plant communities with the establishment stage of community development particularly susceptible to factors including ambient rain, temperature, and other temporally variable drivers (e.g., seed and seedling predators). However, while year effects have been shown to drive community structure at local (patch) scales, it is yet unexplored how these within-patch effects scale up to drive landscape-level patterns of biodiversity. These dynamics are likely to be critical but are overlooked in many systems including those with high-frequency disturbance regimes or active management. Here we leveraged a series of field-based grassland mesocosms established identically at three sites across 5 years, and each monitored for 4-8 years. We compared the strength of these temporal and spatial drivers (year effects and site effects) on consequent patterns of spatial and temporal variability (beta diversity and turnover) between plots seeded with native perennial species versus those seeded with nonnative annual species. The composition of plots seeded with perennial species showed strong effects of planting year and consequently exhibited higher beta diversity within sites (across mesocosms established in five different years within sites), while plots seeded with annual species had higher between-site variation but low beta diversity within sites. Plots with annual species were also more temporally variable than plots with perennial species. These findings have important implications for our understanding of key drivers of biodiversity across landscapes. Specifically, we showed that variable trajectories in community composition generated by site and year effects during establishment can promote beta diversity across landscapes dominated by perennial species, but are considerably less impactful in annual-dominated systems. These findings further our understanding of the importance of assembly dynamics on landscape-scale patterns of diversity, and have important management implications for restoration efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chhaya M Werner
- Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Truman P Young
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
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7
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Ager AA, Day MA, Aparício BA, Houtman R, Stinchfield A. Optimizing the implementation of a forest fuel break network. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0295392. [PMID: 38091301 PMCID: PMC10718465 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Methods and models to design, prioritize and evaluate fuel break networks have potential application in many fire-prone ecosystems where major increases in fuel management investments are planned in response to growing incidence of wildfires. A key question facing managers is how to scale treatments into manageable project areas that meet operational and administrative constraints, and then prioritize their implementation over time to maximize fire management outcomes. We developed and tested a spatial modeling system to optimize the implementation of a proposed 3,538 km fuel break network and explore tradeoffs between two implementation strategies on a 0.5 million ha national forest in the western US. We segmented the network into 2,766 treatment units and used a spatial optimization model to compare linear versus radial project implementation geometries. We hypothesized that linear projects were more efficient at intercepting individual fire events over larger spatial domains, whereas radial projects conferred a higher level of network redundancy in terms of the length of the fuel break exposed to fires. We simulated implementation of the alternative project geometries and then examined fuel break-wildfire spatial interactions using a library of simulated fires developed in prior work. The results supported the hypothesis, with linear projects exhibiting substantially greater efficiency in terms of intercepting fires over larger areas, whereas radial projects had a higher interception length given a fire encountered a project. Adding economic objectives made it more difficult to obtain alternative project geometries, but substantially increased net revenue from harvested trees. We discuss how the model and results can be used to further understand decision tradeoffs and optimize the implementation of planned fuel break networks in conjunction with landscape conservation, protection, and restoration management in fire prone regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan A. Ager
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Michelle A. Day
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Bruno A. Aparício
- International Visiting Scholar, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Rachel Houtman
- USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
- Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Forest Ecosystems & Society, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Andrew Stinchfield
- USDA Forest Service, Umatilla National Forest, Pendleton, Oregon, United States of America
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8
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Bertuol-Garcia D, Ladouceur E, Brudvig LA, Laughlin DC, Munson SM, Curran MF, Davies KW, Svejcar LN, Shackelford N. Testing the hierarchy of predictability in grassland restoration across a gradient of environmental severity. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2922. [PMID: 37776043 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Ecological restoration is critical for recovering degraded ecosystems but is challenged by variable success and low predictability. Understanding which outcomes are more predictable and less variable following restoration can improve restoration effectiveness. Recent theory asserts that the predictability of outcomes would follow an order from most to least predictable from coarse to fine community properties (physical structure > taxonomic diversity > functional composition > taxonomic composition) and that predictability would increase with more severe environmental conditions constraining species establishment. We tested this "hierarchy of predictability" hypothesis by synthesizing outcomes along an aridity gradient with 11 grassland restoration projects across the United States. We used 1829 vegetation monitoring plots from 227 restoration treatments, spread across 52 sites. We fit generalized linear mixed-effects models to predict six indicators of restoration outcomes as a function of restoration characteristics (i.e., seed mixes, disturbance, management actions, time since restoration) and used variance explained by models and model residuals as proxies for restoration predictability. We did not find consistent support for our hypotheses. Physical structure was among the most predictable outcomes when the response variable was relative abundance of grasses, but unpredictable for total canopy cover. Similarly, one dimension of taxonomic composition related to species identities was unpredictable, but another dimension of taxonomic composition indicating whether exotic or native species dominated the community was highly predictable. Taxonomic diversity (i.e., species richness) and functional composition (i.e., mean trait values) were intermittently predictable. Predictability also did not increase consistently with aridity. The dimension of taxonomic composition related to the identity of species in restored communities was more predictable (i.e., smaller residuals) in more arid sites, but functional composition was less predictable (i.e., larger residuals), and other outcomes showed no significant trend. Restoration outcomes were most predictable when they related to variation in dominant species, while those responding to rare species were harder to predict, indicating a potential role of scale in restoration predictability. Overall, our results highlight additional factors that might influence restoration predictability and add support to the importance of continuous monitoring and active management beyond one-time seed addition for successful grassland restoration in the United States.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Bertuol-Garcia
- School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Emma Ladouceur
- Institute of Computer Science, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Leipzig-Halle-Jena, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Seth M Munson
- US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | | | - Kirk W Davies
- USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Burns, Oregon, USA
| | | | - Nancy Shackelford
- School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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9
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Funk JL, Kimball S, Nguyen MA, Lulow M, Vose GE. Interacting ecological filters influence success and functional composition in restored plant communities over time. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2899. [PMID: 37335271 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
A trait-based community assembly framework has great potential to direct ecological restoration, but uncertainty over how traits and environmental factors interact to influence community composition over time limits the widespread application of this approach. In this study, we examined how the composition of seed mixes and environment (north- vs. south-facing slope aspect) influence functional composition and native plant cover over time in restored grassland and shrubland communities. Variation in native cover over 4 years was primarily driven by species mix, slope aspect, and a species mix by year interaction rather than an interaction between species mix and slope aspect as predicted. Although native cover was higher on wetter, north-facing slopes for most of the study, south-facing slopes achieved a similar cover (65%-70%) by year 4. While community-weighted mean (CWM) values generally became more resource conservative over time, we found shifts in particular traits across community types and habitats. For example, CWM for specific leaf area increased over time in grassland mixes. Belowground, CWM for root mass fraction increased while CWM for specific root length decreased across all seed mixes. Multivariate functional dispersion remained high in shrub-containing mixes throughout the study, which could enhance invasion resistance and recovery following disturbance. Functional diversity and species richness were initially higher in drier, south-facing slopes compared to north-facing slopes, but these metrics were similar across north- and south-facing slopes by the end of the 4-year study. Our finding that different combinations of traits were favored in south- and north-facing slopes and over time demonstrates that trait-based approaches can be used to identify good restoration candidate species and, ultimately, enhance native plant cover across community types and microhabitat. Changing the composition of planting mixes based on traits could be a useful strategy for restoration practitioners to match species to specific environmental conditions and may be more informative than using seed mixes based on growth form, as species within functional groups can vary tremendously in leaf and root traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Funk
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Sarah Kimball
- Center for Environmental Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Monica A Nguyen
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California, USA
| | - Megan Lulow
- UCI Nature, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Gregory E Vose
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
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10
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Farrell HL, Munson SM, Butterfield BJ, Duniway MC, Faist AM, Gornish ES, Havrilla CA, Larios L, Reed SC, Rowe HI, Laushman KM, McCormick ML. Soil surface treatments and precipitation timing determine seedling development across southwestern US restoration sites. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2834. [PMID: 36864737 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Restoration in dryland ecosystems often has poor success due to low and variable water availability, degraded soil conditions, and slow plant community recovery rates. Restoration treatments can mitigate these constraints but, because treatments and subsequent monitoring are typically limited in space and time, our understanding of their applicability across broader environmental gradients remains limited. To address this limitation, we implemented and monitored a standardized set of seeding and soil surface treatments (pits, mulch, and ConMod artificial nurse plants) designed to enhance soil moisture and seedling establishment across RestoreNet, a growing network of 21 diverse dryland restoration sites in the southwestern USA over 3 years. Generally, we found that the timing of precipitation relative to seeding and the use of soil surface treatments were more important in determining seeded species emergence, survival, and growth than site-specific characteristics. Using soil surface treatments in tandem with seeding promoted up to 3× greater seedling emergence densities compared with seeding alone. The positive effect of soil surface treatments became more prominent with increased cumulative precipitation since seeding. The seed mix type with species currently found within or near a site and adapted to the historical climate promoted greater seedling emergence densities compared with the seed mix type with species from warmer, drier conditions expected to perform well under climate change. Seed mix and soil surface treatments had a diminishing effect as plants developed beyond the first season of establishment. However, we found strong effects of the initial period seeded and of the precipitation leading up to each monitoring date on seedling survival over time, especially for annual and perennial forbs. The presence of exotic species exerted a negative influence on seedling survival and growth, but not initial emergence. Our findings suggest that seeded species recruitment across drylands can generally be promoted, regardless of location, by (1) incorporation of soil surface treatments, (2) employment of near-term seasonal climate forecasts, (3) suppression of exotic species, and (4) seeding at multiple times. Taken together, these results point to a multifaceted approach to ameliorate harsh environmental conditions for improved seeding success in drylands, both now and under expected aridification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah L Farrell
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Seth M Munson
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Bradley J Butterfield
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Michael C Duniway
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, Utah, USA
| | - Akasha M Faist
- College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - Elise S Gornish
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Caroline A Havrilla
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Loralee Larios
- Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Sasha C Reed
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, Utah, USA
| | - Helen I Rowe
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
- McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
| | | | - Molly L McCormick
- Southwest Fire Science Consortium and School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
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11
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Eckhoff KD, Scott DA, Manning G, Baer SG. Persistent decadal differences in plant communities assembled under contrasting climate conditions. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2823. [PMID: 36808677 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Plant community assembly outcomes can be contingent upon establishment year (year effects) due to variations in the environment. Stochastic events such as interannual variability in climate, particularly in the first year of community assembly, contribute to unpredictable community outcomes over the short term, but less is known about whether year effects produce transient or persistent states on a decadal timescale. To test for short-term (5-year) and persistent (decadal) effects of establishment year climate on community assembly outcomes, we restored prairie in an agricultural field using the same methods in four different years (2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016) that captured a wide range of initial (planting) year climate conditions. Species composition was measured for 5 years in all four restored prairies and for 9 and 11 years in the two oldest restored prairies established under average precipitation and extreme drought conditions. The composition of the four assembled communities showed large and significant differences in the first year of restoration, followed by dynamic change over time along a similar trajectory due to a temporary flush of annual volunteer species. Sown perennial species eventually came to dominate all communities, but communities remained distinct from each other in year five. Precipitation in June and July of the establishment year explained short-term coarse community metrics (i.e., species richness and grass/forb cover), with wet establishment years resulting in a higher cover of grasses and dry establishment years resulting in a higher cover of forbs in restored communities. Short-term differences in community composition, species richness, and grass/forb cover in restorations established under average precipitation and drought conditions persisted for 9-11 years, with low interannual variability in the composition of each prairie over the long term, indicating persistently different states on a decadal timescale. Thus, year effects resulting from stochastic variation in climate can have decadal effects on community assembly outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn D Eckhoff
- Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
| | - Drew A Scott
- USDA - Agricultural Research Service - Northern Great Plains Research, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | | | - Sara G Baer
- Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
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12
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Koziol L, McKenna TP, Bever JD. Native Microbes Amplify Native Seedling Establishment and Diversity While Inhibiting a Non-Native Grass. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:plants12051184. [PMID: 36904044 PMCID: PMC10005557 DOI: 10.3390/plants12051184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Although several studies have shown increased native plant establishment with native microbe soil amendments, few studies have investigated how microbes can alter seedling recruitment and establishment in the presence of a non-native competitor. In this study, the effect of microbial communities on seedling biomass and diversity was assessed by seeding pots with both native prairie seeds and a non-native grass that commonly invades US grassland restorations, Setaria faberi. Soil in the pots was inoculated with whole soil collections from ex-arable land, late successional arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi isolated from a nearby tallgrass prairie, with both prairie AM fungi and ex-arable whole soil, or with a sterile soil (control). We hypothesized (1) late successional plants would benefit from native AM fungi, (2) that non-native plants would outcompete native plants in ex-arable soils, and (3) early successional plants would be unresponsive to microbes. Overall, native plant abundance, late successional plant abundance, and total diversity were greatest in the native AM fungi+ ex-arable soil treatment. These increases led to decreased abundance of the non-native grass S. faberi. These results highlight the importance of late successional native microbes on native seed establishment and demonstrate that microbes can be harnessed to improve both plant community diversity and resistance to invasion during the nascent stages of restoration.
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13
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Catano CP, Groves AM, Brudvig LA. Community assembly history alters relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions during restoration. Ecology 2023; 104:e3910. [PMID: 36315030 PMCID: PMC10078356 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning depend on the processes structuring community assembly. However, predicting biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships based on community assembly remains challenging because assembly outcomes are often contingent on history and the consequences of history for ecosystem functions are poorly understood. In a grassland restoration experiment, we isolated the role of history for the relationships between plant biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions by initiating assembly in three different years, while controlling for all other aspects of community assembly. We found that two aspects of assembly history-establishment year and succession-altered species and trait community trajectories, which in turn altered net primary productivity, decomposition rates, and floral resources. Moreover, history altered BEF relationships (which ranged from positive to negative), both within and across functions, by modifying the causal pathways linking species identity, traits, diversity, and ecosystem functions. Our results show that the interplay of deterministic succession and environmental stochasticity during establishment mediate historical contingencies that cause variation in biodiversity and ecosystem functions, even under otherwise identical assembly conditions. An explicit attention to history is needed to understand why biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships vary in natural ecosystems: a critical question at the intersection of fundamental theory and applications to environmental change biology and ecosystem restoration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher P. Catano
- Department of Plant BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and BehaviorMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
| | - Anna M. Groves
- Department of Plant BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and BehaviorMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
- Freelance Science JournalistKansas CityMissouriUSA
| | - Lars A. Brudvig
- Department of Plant BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and BehaviorMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
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14
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Rohal CB, Hazelton ELG, McFarland EK, Downard R, McCormick MK, Whigham DF, Kettenring KM. Landscape and site factors drive invasive
Phragmites
management and native plant recovery across Chesapeake Bay wetlands. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christine B. Rohal
- Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
| | - Eric L. G. Hazelton
- Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Edgewater Maryland USA
| | | | - Rebekah Downard
- Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
| | | | | | - Karin M. Kettenring
- Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah USA
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15
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River dike grasslands can reconcile biodiversity and different ecosystem services to provide multifunctionality. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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16
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Larson CD, Rew LJ. Restoration intensity shapes floristic recovery after forest road decommissioning. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2022; 319:115729. [PMID: 35853306 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Forest roads fragment and degrade ecosystems and many have fallen into disrepair and are underutilized, to address these issues the United States Forest Service is restoring, or "decommissioning," thousands of kilometers of forest roads each year. Despite the prevalence of decommissioning and the importance of vegetation to restoration success, relatively little is known about floristic responses to different forest road decommissioning treatments or subsequent recovery to reference conditions. Over a ten year period, this study assessed floristic cover, diversity, and composition responses to and recovery on forest roads decommissioned using three treatments varying in intensity (abandonment, ripping, recontouring), in Montana, USA. Initially, floristic cover groups were lowest on the recontoured roads, however, they demonstrated the fastest temporal response (e.g. increased litter and vegetative cover). The floristic communities of both active treatments (ripped and recontoured) had more species and were more diverse than the communities of the abandoned (control) treatment. Among the three on-road plant communities, the recontoured treatment was most associated with desirable species, including the native shrubs Rosa woodsii and Spirea betulifolia, while the abandoned treatment was most associated with two non-native species, Taraxacum officinale and Trifolium repens. Assessed using a restoration index, recovery to reference conditions was limited in all treatments, however, the recontoured treatment had a positive restoration trajectory in seven of eight metrics and was the best recovered treatment. Community composition on the recontoured treatment had more native species than the other treatments, and was moving toward, though still substantially different from, reference communities. These findings demonstrate that restoration of forest roads benefit from active restoration methods and, while forest road recontouring facilitates floristic recovery in the first decade after decommissioning, full recovery will likely take years to decades longer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian D Larson
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, Bozeman, MT, 59717, United States.
| | - Lisa J Rew
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, Bozeman, MT, 59717, United States
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17
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Staples TL, Mayfield MM, England JR, Dwyer JM. Drivers of Acacia and Eucalyptus growth rate differ in strength and direction in restoration plantings across Australia. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2636. [PMID: 35404495 PMCID: PMC9539508 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Functional traits are proxies for a species' ecology and physiology and are often correlated with plant vital rates. As such they have the potential to guide species selection for restoration projects. However, predictive trait-based models often only explain a small proportion of plant performance, suggesting that commonly measured traits do not capture all important ecological differences between species. Some residual variation in vital rates may be evolutionarily conserved and captured using taxonomic groupings alongside common functional traits. We tested this hypothesis using growth rate data for 17,299 trees and shrubs from 80 species of Eucalyptus and 43 species of Acacia, two hyper-diverse and co-occurring genera, collected from 497 neighborhood plots in 137 Australian mixed-species revegetation plantings. We modeled relative growth rates of individual plants as a function of environmental conditions, species-mean functional traits, and neighbor density and diversity, across a moisture availability gradient. We then assessed whether the strength and direction of these relationships differed between the two genera. We found that the inclusion of genus-specific relationships offered a significant but modest improvement to model fit (1.6%-1.7% greater R2 than simpler models). More importantly, almost all correlates of growth rate differed between Eucalyptus and Acacia in strength, direction, or how they changed along the moisture gradient. These differences mapped onto physiological differences between the genera that were not captured solely by measured functional traits. Our findings suggest taxonomic groupings can capture or mediate variation in plant performance missed by common functional traits. The inclusion of taxonomy can provide a more nuanced understanding of how functional traits interact with abiotic and biotic conditions to drive plant performance, which may be important for constructing trait-based frameworks to improve restoration outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy L. Staples
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of QueenslandBrisbaneQueenslandAustralia
- CSIRO Land and Water, EcoSciences PrecinctDutton ParkQueenslandAustralia
| | - Margaret M. Mayfield
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of QueenslandBrisbaneQueenslandAustralia
| | | | - John M. Dwyer
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of QueenslandBrisbaneQueenslandAustralia
- CSIRO Land and Water, EcoSciences PrecinctDutton ParkQueenslandAustralia
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18
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Simler-Williamson AB, Germino MJ. Statistical considerations of nonrandom treatment applications reveal region-wide benefits of widespread post-fire restoration action. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3472. [PMID: 35710763 PMCID: PMC9203498 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31102-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurate predictions of ecological restoration outcomes are needed across the increasingly large landscapes requiring treatment following disturbances. However, observational studies often fail to account for nonrandom treatment application, which can result in invalid inference. Examining a spatiotemporally extensive management treatment involving post-fire seeding of declining sagebrush shrubs across semiarid areas of the western USA over two decades, we quantify drivers and consequences of selection biases in restoration using remotely sensed data. From following more than 1,500 wildfires, we find treatments were disproportionately applied in more stressful, degraded ecological conditions. Failure to incorporate unmeasured drivers of treatment allocation led to the conclusion that costly, widespread seedings were unsuccessful; however, after considering sources of bias, restoration positively affected sagebrush recovery. Treatment effects varied with climate, indicating prioritization criteria for interventions. Our findings revise the perspective that post-fire sagebrush seedings have been broadly unsuccessful and demonstrate how selection biases can pose substantive inferential hazards in observational studies of restoration efficacy and the development of restoration theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison B Simler-Williamson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, 1910 W University Dr, Boise, ID, 83725, USA.
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 230 N. Collins Rd., Boise, ID, 83702, USA.
| | - Matthew J Germino
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 230 N. Collins Rd., Boise, ID, 83702, USA
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19
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Simler‐Williamson AB, Applestein C, Germino MJ. Interannual variation in climate contributes to contingency in post‐fire restoration outcomes in seeded sagebrush steppe. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.12737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Allison B. Simler‐Williamson
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Cara Applestein
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Matthew J. Germino
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
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20
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Prieto PV, Bukoski JJ, Barros FSM, Beyer HL, Iribarrem A, Brancalion PHS, Chazdon RL, Lindenmayer DB, Strassburg BBN, Guariguata MR, Crouzeilles R. Predicting landscape-scale biodiversity recovery by natural tropical forest regrowth. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2022; 36:e13842. [PMID: 34705299 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Natural forest regrowth is a cost-effective, nature-based solution for biodiversity recovery, yet different socioenvironmental factors can lead to variable outcomes. A critical knowledge gap in forest restoration planning is how to predict where natural forest regrowth is likely to lead to high levels of biodiversity recovery, which is an indicator of conservation value and the potential provisioning of diverse ecosystem services. We sought to predict and map landscape-scale recovery of species richness and total abundance of vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants in tropical and subtropical second-growth forests to inform spatial restoration planning. First, we conducted a global meta-analysis to quantify the extent to which recovery of species richness and total abundance in second-growth forests deviated from biodiversity values in reference old-growth forests in the same landscape. Second, we employed a machine-learning algorithm and a comprehensive set of socioenvironmental factors to spatially predict landscape-scale deviation and map it. Models explained on average 34% of observed variance in recovery (range 9-51%). Landscape-scale biodiversity recovery in second-growth forests was spatially predicted based on socioenvironmental landscape factors (human demography, land use and cover, anthropogenic and natural disturbance, ecosystem productivity, and topography and soil chemistry); was significantly higher for species richness than for total abundance for vertebrates (median range-adjusted predicted deviation 0.09 vs. 0.34) and invertebrates (0.2 vs. 0.35) but not for plants (which showed a similar recovery for both metrics [0.24 vs. 0.25]); and was positively correlated for total abundance of plant and vertebrate species (Pearson r = 0.45, p = 0.001). Our approach can help identify tropical and subtropical forest landscapes with high potential for biodiversity recovery through natural forest regrowth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo V Prieto
- Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jacob J Bukoski
- The Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science, Conservation International, Arlington, Virginia, USA
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Felipe S M Barros
- International Institute for Sustainability Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Centro de Referencia en Tecnologías de la Información para la Gestión con Software Libre (CeRTIG+SoL), Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM), Misiones, Argentina
- Departamento de Geografía, Instituto Superior Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Misiones, Argentina
- Instituto Misionero de Biodiversidad, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina
| | - Hawthorne L Beyer
- International Institute for Sustainability Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Global Change Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Alvaro Iribarrem
- Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Pedro H S Brancalion
- Department of Forest Sciences, "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
| | - Robin L Chazdon
- International Institute for Sustainability Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
- Tropical Forests and People Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - David B Lindenmayer
- Sustainable Farms, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Bernardo B N Strassburg
- Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Renato Crouzeilles
- Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- International Institute for Sustainability Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Mestrado Profissional em Ciências do Meio Ambiente, Universidade Veiga de Almeida, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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21
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Bugnot AB, Gribben PE, O'Connor WA, Erickson K, Coleman RA, Dafforn KA. Below‐ground ecosystem engineers enhance biodiversity and function in a polluted ecosystem. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ana B. Bugnot
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
- Sydney Institute of Marine Science Mosman NSW Australia
| | - Paul E. Gribben
- Sydney Institute of Marine Science Mosman NSW Australia
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Wayne A. O'Connor
- Port Stephens Fisheries Institute NSW Department of Primary Industries NSW Australia
| | - Katherine Erickson
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Ross A. Coleman
- Sydney School of Architecture Design and Planning, The University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Katherine A. Dafforn
- Sydney Institute of Marine Science Mosman NSW Australia
- School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University North Ryde NSW Australia
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22
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Barak RS, Karimi N, Glasenhardt M, Larkin DJ, Williams EW, Hipp AL. Phylogenetically and functionally diverse species mixes beget diverse experimental prairies, whether from seeds or plugs. Restor Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca S. Barak
- Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action, Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe IL 60022 United States of America
- Plant Biology and Conservation Northwestern University Evanston IL 60208 United States of America
| | - Nisa Karimi
- The Morton Arboretum Lisle IL 60532 United States of America
- Department of Botany University of Wisconsin Madison WI 53706 United States of America
| | - Mary‐Claire Glasenhardt
- The Morton Arboretum Lisle IL 60532 United States of America
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies University of Wisconsin Madison WI 53706 United States of America
| | - Daniel J. Larkin
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota St. Paul MN United States of America
| | | | - Andrew L. Hipp
- The Morton Arboretum Lisle IL 60532 United States of America
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23
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Atkinson J, Brudvig LA, Mallen-Cooper M, Nakagawa S, Moles AT, Bonser SP. Terrestrial ecosystem restoration increases biodiversity and reduces its variability, but not to reference levels: A global meta-analysis. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1725-1737. [PMID: 35559594 PMCID: PMC9320827 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Ecological restoration projects often have variable and unpredictable outcomes, and these can limit the overall impact on biodiversity. Previous syntheses have investigated restoration effectiveness by comparing average restored conditions to average conditions in unrestored or reference systems. Here, we provide the first quantification of the extent to which restoration affects both the mean and variability of biodiversity outcomes, through a global meta-analysis of 83 terrestrial restoration studies. We found that, relative to unrestored (degraded) sites, restoration actions increased biodiversity by an average of 20%, while decreasing the variability of biodiversity (quantified by the coefficient of variation) by an average of 14%. As restorations aged, mean biodiversity increased and variability decreased relative to unrestored sites. However, restoration sites remained, on average, 13% below the biodiversity of reference (target) ecosystems, and were characterised by higher (20%) variability. The lower mean and higher variability in biodiversity at restored sites relative to reference sites remained consistent over time, suggesting that sources of variation (e.g. prior land use, restoration practices) have an enduring influence on restoration outcomes. Our results point to the need for new research confronting the causes of variability in restoration outcomes, and close variability and biodiversity gaps between restored and reference conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Atkinson
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Max Mallen-Cooper
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Angela T Moles
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Stephen P Bonser
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
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Abstract
In response to the global loss and degradation of wetland ecosystems, extensive efforts have been made to reestablish wetland habitat and function in landscapes where they once existed. The reintroduction of wetland ecosystem services has largely occurred in two categories: constructed wetlands (CW) for wastewater treatment, and restored wetlands (RW) for the renewal or creation of multiple ecosystem services. This is the first review to compare the objectives, design, performance, and management of CW and RW, and to assess the status of efforts to combine CW and RW as Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICW). These wetland systems are assessed for their ecological attributes and their relative contribution to ecosystem services. CW are designed to process a wide variety of wastewaters using surface, subsurface, or hybrid treatment systems. Designed and maintained within narrow hydrologic parameters, CW can be highly effective at contaminant transformation, remediation, and sequestration. The ecosystem services provided by CW are limited by their status as high-stress, successionally arrested systems with low landscape connectivity and an effective lifespan. RW are typically situated and designed for a greater degree of connection with regional ecosystems. After construction, revegetation, and early successional management, RW are intended as self-maintaining ecosystems. This affords RW a broader range of ecosystem services than CW, though RW system performance can be highly variable and subject to invasive species and landscape-level stressors. Where the spatial and biogeochemical contexts are favorable, ICW present the opportunity to couple CW and RW functions, thereby enhancing the replacement of wetland services on the landscape.
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25
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle L. Knight
- Graduate Program in Botany Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre RS Brazil
- International Master in Applied Ecology (IMAE) Porto Alegre RS Brazil
| | - Gerhard E. Overbeck
- Graduate Program in Botany Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre RS Brazil
- Department of Botany Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre RS Brazil
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26
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Native soil amendments combined with commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increase biomass of Panicum amarum. Sci Rep 2021; 11:17865. [PMID: 34504201 PMCID: PMC8429433 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97307-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Coastal dune restorations often fail because of poorly performing plants. The addition of beneficial microbes can improve plant performance, though it is unclear if the source of microbes matters. Here, we tested how native soil amendments and commercially available arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi influenced performance of Panicum amarum, a dominant grass on Texas coastal dunes. In a greenhouse experiment, we manipulated the identity of native soil amendments (from P. amarum, Uniola paniculata, or unvegetated areas), the presence of soil microbes in the native soil amendments (live or sterile), and the presence of the commercial AM fungi (present or absent). Native soils from vegetated areas contained 149% more AM fungal spores than unvegetated areas. The commercial AM fungi, when combined with previously vegetated native soils, increased aboveground biomass of P. amarum by 26%. Effects on belowground biomass were weaker, although the addition of any microbes decreased the root:shoot ratio. The origin of native soil amendments can influence restoration outcomes. In this case soil from areas with vegetation outperformed soil from areas without vegetation. Combining native soils with commercial AM fungi may provide a strategy for increasing plant performance while also maintaining other ecosystem functions provided by native microbes.
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27
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Read HJ, Bealey CE. The restoration of heathland and mire from secondary woodland: How realistic are target vegetation communities? J Nat Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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28
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Catano CP, Bassett TJ, Bauer JT, Grman E, Groves AM, Zirbel CR, Brudvig LA. Soil resources mediate the strength of species but not trait convergence across grassland restorations. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Tyler J. Bassett
- Michigan Natural Features Inventory Michigan State University Extension Lansing MI USA
| | - Jonathan T. Bauer
- Department of Biology and the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability Miami University Oxford OH USA
| | - Emily Grman
- Department of Biology Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti MI USA
| | - Anna M. Groves
- Department of Plant Biology Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
- Freelance science journalist Kansas City MI USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
| | - Chad R. Zirbel
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA
| | - Lars A. Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
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29
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Freitag M, Klaus VH, Bolliger R, Hamer U, Kleinebecker T, Prati D, Schäfer D, Hölzel N. Restoration of plant diversity in permanent grassland by seeding: Assessing the limiting factors along land‐use gradients. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Freitag
- Institute of Landscape Ecology University of Münster Münster Germany
| | | | - Ralph Bolliger
- Institute of Plant Sciences University of Bern Bern Switzerland
| | - Ute Hamer
- Institute of Landscape Ecology University of Münster Münster Germany
| | - Till Kleinebecker
- Department of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management Justus Liebig University Gießen Gießen Germany
| | - Daniel Prati
- Institute of Plant Sciences University of Bern Bern Switzerland
| | | | - Norbert Hölzel
- Institute of Landscape Ecology University of Münster Münster Germany
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30
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars A. Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824 U.S.A
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824 U.S.A
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31
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Werden LK, Holl KD, Chaves‐Fallas JM, Oviedo‐Brenes F, Rosales JA, Zahawi RA. Degree of intervention affects interannual and within‐plot heterogeneity of seed arrival in tropical forest restoration. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leland K. Werden
- Lyon Arboretum and School of Life Sciences University of Hawaii at Mānoa Honolulu HI USA
| | - Karen D. Holl
- Environmental Studies Department University of California Santa Cruz CA USA
| | - José Miguel Chaves‐Fallas
- Department of Biology and Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center University of Missouri‒St. Louis St. Louis MO USA
- Centro de Investigaciones en Productos Naturales (CIPRONA) Universidad de Costa Rica San José Costa Rica
| | - Federico Oviedo‐Brenes
- Las Cruces Biological Station Organization for Tropical Studies San Vito de Coto Brus Costa Rica
| | - Juan Abel Rosales
- Las Cruces Biological Station Organization for Tropical Studies San Vito de Coto Brus Costa Rica
| | - Rakan A. Zahawi
- Lyon Arboretum and School of Life Sciences University of Hawaii at Mānoa Honolulu HI USA
- Environmental Studies Department University of California Santa Cruz CA USA
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32
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Török P, Brudvig LA, Kollmann J, Price J, Tóthmérész B. The present and future of grassland restoration. Restor Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Péter Török
- MTA‐DE Lendület Functional and Restoration Ecology Research Group Egyetem sqr. 1 Debrecen 4032 Hungary
- Department of Ecology University of Debrecen Egyetem sqr 1 Debrecen 4032 Hungary
| | - Lars A. Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Michigan State University 368 Plant Biology Labs, 612 Wilson Road East Lansing MI 48824 U.S.A
| | - Johannes Kollmann
- Chair of Restoration Ecology Technical University of Munich, School of Life Sciences Emil‐Ramann‐Str 6 Freising‐Weihenstephan 85354 Germany
| | - Jodi Price
- Institute of Land, Water and Society Charles Sturt University Albury NSW, 2640 Australia
| | - Béla Tóthmérész
- Department of Ecology University of Debrecen Egyetem sqr 1 Debrecen 4032 Hungary
- MTA‐DE Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Research Group Egyetem sqr. 1 Debrecen 4032 Hungary
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33
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Large ecosystem-scale effects of restoration fail to mitigate impacts of land-use legacies in longleaf pine savannas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2020935118. [PMID: 33875596 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2020935118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological restoration is a global priority, with potential to reverse biodiversity declines and promote ecosystem functioning. Yet, successful restoration is challenged by lingering legacies of past land-use activities, which are pervasive on lands available for restoration. Although legacies can persist for centuries following cessation of human land uses such as agriculture, we currently lack understanding of how land-use legacies affect entire ecosystems, how they influence restoration outcomes, or whether restoration can mitigate legacy effects. Using a large-scale experiment, we evaluated how restoration by tree thinning and land-use legacies from prior cultivation and subsequent conversion to pine plantations affect fire-suppressed longleaf pine savannas. We evaluated 45 ecological properties across four categories: 1) abiotic attributes, 2) organism abundances, 3) species diversity, and 4) species interactions. The effects of restoration and land-use legacies were pervasive, shaping all categories of properties, with restoration effects roughly twice the magnitude of legacy effects. Restoration effects were of comparable magnitude in savannas with and without a history of intensive human land use; however, restoration did not mitigate numerous legacy effects present prior to restoration. As a result, savannas with a history of intensive human land use supported altered properties, especially related to soils, even after restoration. The signature of past human land-use activities can be remarkably persistent in the face of intensive restoration, influencing the outcome of restoration across diverse ecological properties. Understanding and mitigating land-use legacies will maximize the potential to restore degraded ecosystems.
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34
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Applestein C, Caughlin TT, Germino MJ. Weather affects post‐fire recovery of sagebrush‐steppe communities and model transferability among sites. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Cara Applestein
- Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center U.S. Geological Survey 970 South Lusk Street Boise Idaho83706USA
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA
| | - T. Trevor Caughlin
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA
| | - Matthew J. Germino
- Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center U.S. Geological Survey 970 South Lusk Street Boise Idaho83706USA
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35
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Becknell RE, Showalter KG, Albrecht MA, Mangan SA. Soil mutualisms potentially determine the reintroduction outcome of an endangered legume. Restor Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel E. Becknell
- Department of Biology Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO 63130 U.S.A
| | - Kelli G. Showalter
- Department of Biology Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO 63130 U.S.A
| | - Matthew A. Albrecht
- Department of Biology Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO 63130 U.S.A
- Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development Missouri Botanical Garden St. Louis MO 63110 U.S.A
| | - Scott A. Mangan
- Department of Biological Sciences Arkansas State University Jonesboro AR 72401 U.S.A
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36
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Krishnadas M, Osuri AM. Environment shapes the spatial organization of tree diversity in fragmented forests across a human-modified landscape. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02244. [PMID: 33098608 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Revised: 08/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Biodiversity patterns are shaped by the combination of dispersal, environment, and stochasticity, but how the influence of these drivers changes in fragmented habitats remains poorly understood. We examined patterns and relationships among total (γ) and site-level (α) diversity, and site-to-site variation in composition (β-diversity) of tree communities in structurally contiguous and fragmented tropical rainforests within a human-modified landscape in India's Western Ghats. First, for the entire landscape, we assessed the extent to which habitat type (fragment or contiguous forest), space and environment explained variation in α-diversity and composition. Next, within fragments and contiguous forest, we assessed the relative contribution of spatial proximity, environmental similarity, and their joint effects in explaining β-diversity. We repeated these assessments with β-diversity values corrected for the confounding effects of α- and γ-diversity using null models (β-deviation). Lower γ-diversity of fragments resulted from both lower α- and β-diversity compared to contiguous forests. However, β-deviation did not differ between contiguous forests and fragments. Fragmented and contiguous forest clearly diverged in floristic composition, which was attributable to β-diversity being driven by differences in elevation and MAP. Within fragmented forest, neither space nor environment explained β-diversity, but β-deviation increased with greater elevational differences. In contiguous forests by comparison, environment alone (mainly elevation) explained the most variation in β-diversity and β-deviation of both species' occurrences and abundances. Spatial gradients in environmental conditions played a larger role than dispersal limitation in shaping diversity and composition of tree communities across forest fragments. Thus, location of remnant patches at different elevations was a key factor underlying site-to-site variability in species abundances across fragments. Understanding the environmental characteristics of remnant forests in human-modified landscapes, combined with knowledge of species-environment relationships across different functional groups, would therefore be important considerations for management and restoration planning in human-modified landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghna Krishnadas
- Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Habshiguda, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500007, India
| | - Anand M Osuri
- Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311, "Amritha", 12th Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysore, 570017, India
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37
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Nelson M, Hosler SC, Boetzl FA, Jones HP, Barber NA. Reintroduced grazers and prescribed fire effects on beetle assemblage structure and function in restored grasslands. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02217. [PMID: 32810923 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Ecological restoration seeks to reestablish functioning ecosystems, but planning and evaluation often focus on taxonomic community structure and neglect consumers and their functional roles. The functional trait composition of insect assemblages, which make up the majority of animal diversity in many systems, can reveal how they are affected by restoration management and the consequences for ecosystem function. We sampled ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in restored tallgrass prairies varying in management with prescribed fire and reintroduced American bison (Bison bison) to describe their taxonomic and functional trait structure. We also measured seed and arthropod predation to relate management, beetle assemblage characteristics, and function, and to test if function is maximized by trait diversity, dominant trait values, or beetle abundance. Beetle assemblages primarily varied with restoration age, declining over time in richness and both taxonomic and functional diversity, but bison presence also influenced taxonomic composition. Prescribed fire reduced seed predation in summer and arthropod predation in fall. Although seed predation was unrelated to beetle assemblages, arthropod predation was greater in sites with higher abundances of carnivorous ground beetles. The relatively weak impacts of fire and bison on functional assemblage structure is a promising sign that these management disturbances, aimed at supporting a diverse native plant community, are not detrimental to beetle assemblages. The significance of reduced predator function following prescribed fire will depend on the restoration context and whether seed or arthropod predation relates to management goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Nelson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, 155 Castle Dr. DeKalb, Chicago, Illinois, 60115, USA
| | - Sheryl C Hosler
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, 155 Castle Dr. DeKalb, Chicago, Illinois, 60115, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, USA
| | - Fabian A Boetzl
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Holly P Jones
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, 155 Castle Dr. DeKalb, Chicago, Illinois, 60115, USA
- Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, 155 Castle Dr. DeKalb, Chicago, Illinois, 60115, USA
| | - Nicholas A Barber
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, 155 Castle Dr. DeKalb, Chicago, Illinois, 60115, USA
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California, 92182, USA
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38
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Grman E, Zirbel CR, Bauer JT, Groves AM, Bassett T, Brudvig LA. Super‐abundant
C
4
grasses are a mixed blessing in restored prairies. Restor Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emily Grman
- Department of Biology Eastern Michigan University 441 Mark Jefferson Science Complex Ypsilanti MI 48197 U.S.A
| | - Chad R. Zirbel
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota 140 Gortner Laboratory, 1479 Gortner Avenue Saint Paul MN 55108 U.S.A
| | - Jonathan T. Bauer
- Department of Biology Miami University 212 Pearson Hall Oxford OH 45056 U.S.A
- Institute for the Environment and Sustainability Miami University 118 Shideler Hall Oxford OH 45056 U.S.A
| | - Anna M. Groves
- Discover Magazine Kalmbach Media 21027 Crossroads Circle Waukesha WI 53186 U.S.A
| | - Tyler Bassett
- Michigan Natural Features Inventory Michigan State University Extension PO Box 13036 Lansing MI 48901 U.S.A
| | - Lars A. Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Michigan State University 368 Plant Biology Labs, 612 Wilson Road East Lansing MI 48824 U.S.A
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39
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Koziol L, Crews TE, Bever JD. Native plant abundance, diversity, and richness increases in prairie restoration with field inoculation density of native mycorrhizal amendments. Restor Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Liz Koziol
- Kansas Biological Survey and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Kansas Lawrence KS 66047 U.S.A
- The Land Institute Salina KS 67041 U.S.A
| | | | - James D. Bever
- Kansas Biological Survey and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Kansas Lawrence KS 66047 U.S.A
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40
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Abstract
Earth's ancient grasslands and savannas-hereafter old-growth grasslands-have long been viewed by scientists and environmental policymakers as early successional plant communities of low conservation value. Challenging this view, emerging research suggests that old-growth grasslands support substantial biodiversity and are slow to recover if destroyed by human land uses (e.g., tillage agriculture, plantation forestry). But despite growing interest in grassland conservation, there has been no global test of whether old-growth grasslands support greater plant species diversity than secondary grasslands (i.e., herbaceous communities that assemble after destruction of old-growth grasslands). Our synthesis of 31 studies, including 92 timepoints on six continents, found that secondary grasslands supported 37% fewer plant species than old-growth grasslands (log response ratio = -0.46) and that secondary grasslands typically require at least a century, and more often millennia (projected mean 1,400 y), to recover their former richness. Young (<29 y) secondary grasslands were composed of weedy species, and even as their richness increased over decades to centuries, secondary grasslands were still missing characteristic old-growth grassland species (e.g., long-lived perennials). In light of these results, the view that all grasslands are weedy communities, trapped by fire and large herbivores in a state of arrested succession, is untenable. Moving forward, we suggest that ecologists should explicitly consider grassland assembly time and endogenous disturbance regimes in studies of plant community structure and function. We encourage environmental policymakers to prioritize old-growth grassland conservation and work to elevate the status of old-growth grasslands, alongside old-growth forests, in the public consciousness.
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41
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Morris RL, Hale R, Strain EMA, Reeves SE, Vergés A, Marzinelli EM, Layton C, Shelamoff V, Graham TDJ, Chevalier M, Swearer SE. Key Principles for Managing Recovery of Kelp Forests through Restoration. Bioscience 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biaa058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractThere is increasing interest in mitigating the loss of kelp forests through restoration, but this has received scant attention relative to other coastal habitats. We evaluate current knowledge centered on key restoration principles to provide guidelines for best practice in kelp restoration. The cause and scale of degradation is fundamental in determining if kelp can be restored and the methods required to promote reestablishment. Removal of stressors may be adequate to achieve restoration goals where degradation is not too widespread or acute. Extensive losses of kelp forests will often require active reseeding of areas because of the low dispersal ability of many kelp species. Restoration efforts have generally taken a trial-and-error approach at experimental scales to develop techniques for establishing individuals. Furthermore, studies that inform cost–benefit analysis and the appropriate spatial scales for restoration of sustainable kelp forests are urgently needed for prioritizing and scaling up restoration efforts globally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L Morris
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate at the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Robin Hale
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia during this work
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, in Heidelberg, Australia
| | - Elisabeth M A Strain
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate at the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | | | - Adriana Vergés
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia
- Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Sydney, Australia
| | - Ezequiel M Marzinelli
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Battery Point, Australia
- Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Sydney, Australia
- EMM is also affiliated with the University of Sydney's School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, in Sydney, Australia, and with the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, at Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore. Mathilde Chevalier is affiliated with Agrocampus Ouest, in Rennes, France
| | - Cayne Layton
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Battery Point, Australia
| | - Victor Shelamoff
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Battery Point, Australia
| | - Tristan D J Graham
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate at the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Mathilde Chevalier
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate at the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Stephen E Swearer
- National Centre for Coasts and Climate at the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
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42
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Werner CM, Stuble KL, Groves AM, Young TP. Year effects: Interannual variation as a driver of community assembly dynamics. Ecology 2020; 101:e03104. [PMID: 32455484 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Revised: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Environmental conditions that vary from year to year can be strong drivers of ecological dynamics, including the composition of newly assembled communities. However, ecologists often chalk such dynamics up to "noise" in ecological experiments. Our lack of attention to such "year effects" hampers our understanding of contingencies in ecological assembly mechanisms and limits the generalizability of research findings. Here, we provide examples from published research demonstrating the importance of year effects during community assembly across study systems. We further quantify these year effects with two case studies-a grassland restoration experiment and a study of postfire conifer recruitment-finding that the effects of initiation year on community composition can dictate community as much, if not more, than the effects of experimental treatments or site. The evidence strongly suggests that year effects are pervasive and profound, and that year effects early in community assembly can drive strong and enduring divergence in community structure and function. Explicit attention to year effects in ecological research serves to illuminate basic ecological principles, allowing for better understanding of contingencies in ecology. These dynamics also have strong implications for applied ecological research, offering new insights into ecological restoration as well as future climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chhaya M Werner
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), D-04318, Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Ecology, University of Oulu, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Anna M Groves
- Department of Plant Biology, Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA.,Discover Magazine, Kalmbach Media, Waukesha, Wisconsin, 53186, USA
| | - Truman P Young
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
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43
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Groves AM, Bauer JT, Brudvig LA. Lasting signature of planting year weather on restored grasslands. Sci Rep 2020; 10:5953. [PMID: 32249766 PMCID: PMC7136215 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62123-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological restoration - the rebuilding of damaged or destroyed ecosystems - is a critical component of conservation efforts, but is hindered by inconsistent, unpredictable outcomes. We investigated a source of this variation that is anecdotally suggested by practitioners, but for which empirical evidence is rare: the weather conditions during the first growing season after planting. The idea of whether natural communities face long-term consequences from conditions even many years in the past, called historical contingency, is a debated idea in ecological research. Using a large dataset (83 sites) across a wide geographic distribution (three states), we find evidence that precipitation and temperatures in the planting year (2-19 years before present) affected the relative dominance of the sown (native target species) and non-sown (mostly non-native) species. We find strong support for lasting planting year weather effects in restored tallgrass prairies, thereby supporting the historically contingent model of community assembly in a real-world setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Groves
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
- Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
- Discover Magazine, Kalmbach Media, Waukesha, WI, USA.
| | - Jonathan T Bauer
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Department of Biology, Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA
| | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
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44
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Davies KW, Bates JD, Clenet D. Improving restoration success through microsite selection: an example with planting sagebrush seedlings after wildfire. Restor Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kirk W. Davies
- USDA‐Agricultural Research Service Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center 67826‐A Hwy 205, Burns OR 97720 U.S.A
| | - Jon D. Bates
- USDA‐Agricultural Research Service Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center 67826‐A Hwy 205, Burns OR 97720 U.S.A
| | - Danielle Clenet
- Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center Oregon State University Burns OR U.S.A
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45
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Capozzelli JF, Hecht L, Halsey SJ. What is the value of wild animal welfare for restoration ecology? Restor Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Luke Hecht
- Wild Animal Initiative PO Box 43568 Washington DC 20010 U.S.A
- Department of BiosciencesDurham University Stockton Road Durham DH1 3LE U.K
| | - Samniqueka J. Halsey
- School of Natural ResourcesUniversity of Missouri 1111 Rollins Street Columbia MO 65211 U.S.A
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46
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Zirbel CR, Brudvig LA. Trait-environment interactions affect plant establishment success during restoration. Ecology 2020; 101:e02971. [PMID: 31943143 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Establishment and persistence are central to community assembly and are determined by how traits interact with the environment to determine performance (trait-environment interactions). Community assembly studies have rarely considered such trait-environment interactions, however, which can lead to incorrect inferences about how traits affect assembly. We evaluated how functional traits, environmental conditions, and trait-environment interactions structure plant establishment, as a measure of performance. Within 12 prairie restorations created by sowing 70 species, we quantified environmental conditions and counted individuals of each seeded species to quantify first-year establishment. Three trait-environment interactions structured establishment. Leaf nitrogen interacted with herbivore pressure, as low leaf nitrogen species established relatively better under higher herbivory than species with high leaf nitrogen. Soil moisture interacted with root mass fraction (RMF), with low-RMF species establishing better with low soil moisture and higher-RMF species better on wetter soils. Specific leaf area (SLA) interacted with light availability, as low-SLA species established better under high light conditions and high-SLA species under low light conditions. Our work illustrates how community assembly can be better described by trait-environment interactions than correlating traits or environment with performance. This knowledge can assist species selection to maximize restoration success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chad R Zirbel
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA.,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA
| | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
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Rohal CB, Cranney C, Hazelton ELG, Kettenring KM. Invasive Phragmites australis management outcomes and native plant recovery are context dependent. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:13835-13849. [PMID: 31938485 PMCID: PMC6953697 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The outcomes of invasive plant removal efforts are influenced by management decisions, but are also contingent on the uncontrolled spatial and temporal context of management areas. Phragmites australis is an aggressive invader that is intensively managed in wetlands across North America. Treatment options have been understudied, and the ecological contingencies of management outcomes are poorly understood. We implemented a 5-year, multi-site experiment to evaluate six Phragmites management treatments that varied timing (summer or fall) and types of herbicide (glyphosate or imazapyr) along with mowing, plus a nonherbicide solarization treatment. We evaluated treatments for their influence on Phragmites and native plant cover and Phragmites inflorescence production. We assessed plant community trajectories and outcomes in the context of environmental factors. The summer mow, fall glyphosate spray treatment resulted in low Phragmites cover, high inflorescence reduction, and provided the best conditions for native plant recruitment. However, returning plant communities did not resemble reference sites, which were dominated by ecologically important perennial graminoids. Native plant recovery following initial Phragmites treatments was likely limited by the dense litter that resulted from mowing. After 5 years, Phragmites mortality and native plant recovery were highly variable across sites as driven by hydrology. Plots with higher soil moisture had greater reduction in Phragmites cover and more robust recruitment of natives compared with low moisture plots. This moisture effect may limit management options in semiarid regions vulnerable to water scarcity. We demonstrate the importance of replicating invasive species management experiments across sites so the contingencies of successes and failures can be better understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine B. Rohal
- Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology CenterUtah State UniversityLoganUTUSA
- Department of Environmental HorticultureUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleFLUSA
| | - Chad Cranney
- Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology CenterUtah State UniversityLoganUTUSA
- Utah Division of Wildlife ResourcesSalt Lake CityUTUSA
| | - Eric L. G. Hazelton
- Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology CenterUtah State UniversityLoganUTUSA
| | - Karin M. Kettenring
- Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology CenterUtah State UniversityLoganUTUSA
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Rydgren K, Auestad I, Halvorsen R, Hamre LN, Jongejans E, Töpper JP, Sulavik J. Assessing restoration success by predicting time to recovery—But by which metric? J Appl Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Knut Rydgren
- Department of Environmental Sciences Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Sogndal Norway
| | - Inger Auestad
- Department of Environmental Sciences Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Sogndal Norway
| | - Rune Halvorsen
- University of OsloGeo‐Ecology Research GroupSection of Research and CollectionsNatural History Museum Oslo Norway
| | - Liv Norunn Hamre
- Department of Environmental Sciences Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Sogndal Norway
| | - Eelke Jongejans
- Radboud UniversityInstitute for Water and Wetland Research Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | | | - Jan Sulavik
- Department of Environmental Sciences Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Sogndal Norway
- University of OsloGeo‐Ecology Research GroupSection of Research and CollectionsNatural History Museum Oslo Norway
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49
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Remm L, Lõhmus A, Leibak E, Kohv M, Salm JO, Lõhmus P, Rosenvald R, Runnel K, Vellak K, Rannap R. Restoration dilemmas between future ecosystem and current species values: The concept and a practical approach in Estonian mires. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2019; 250:109439. [PMID: 31499461 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Ecosystem restoration is gaining political and economic support worldwide, but its exact targets and costs often remain unclear. A key issue, both for predicting restoration success and assessing the costs, is the uncertainty of post-restoration development of the ecosystem. A specific combination of uncertainties emerges when ecosystem restoration would negatively affect pre-restoration species conservation values. Such dilemma appears to be common, but largely ignored in restoration planning; for example, in historically degraded forests, wetlands and grasslands that provide novel habitats for some threatened species. We present a framework of linked options for resolving the dilemma, and exemplify its application in extensive mire restoration in Estonia. The broad options include: redistributing the risks by timing; relocating restoration sites; modifying restoration techniques; and managing for future habitats of the species involved. In Estonia, we assessed these options based on spatially explicit mapping of expected future states of the ecosystem, their uncertainty, and the distribution of species at risk. Such planning documentation, combined with follow-up monitoring and experimentation, can be used for adaptive management, by funding organizations and for academic research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liina Remm
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia.
| | - Asko Lõhmus
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Eerik Leibak
- Estonian Fund for Nature, Lai 29, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Marko Kohv
- Department of Geology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Ravila 14a, EE-50411, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Jüri-Ott Salm
- Estonian Fund for Nature, Lai 29, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Piret Lõhmus
- Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Raul Rosenvald
- Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 5, EE-51006, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Kadri Runnel
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia; Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7044, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Kai Vellak
- Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Riinu Rannap
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE-51005, Tartu, Estonia
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50
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Requena-Mullor JM, Maguire KC, Shinneman DJ, Caughlin TT. Integrating anthropogenic factors into regional-scale species distribution models-A novel application in the imperiled sagebrush biome. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:3844-3858. [PMID: 31180605 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Species distribution models (SDMs) that rely on regional-scale environmental variables will play a key role in forecasting species occurrence in the face of climate change. However, in the Anthropocene, a number of local-scale anthropogenic variables, including wildfire history, land-use change, invasive species, and ecological restoration practices can override regional-scale variables to drive patterns of species distribution. Incorporating these human-induced factors into SDMs remains a major research challenge, in part because spatial variability in these factors occurs at fine scales, rendering prediction over regional extents problematic. Here, we used big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) as a model species to explore whether including human-induced factors improves the fit of the SDM. We applied a Bayesian hurdle spatial approach using 21,753 data points of field-sampled vegetation obtained from the LANDFIRE program to model sagebrush occurrence and cover by incorporating fire history metrics and restoration treatments from 1980 to 2015 throughout the Great Basin of North America. Models including fire attributes and restoration treatments performed better than those including only climate and topographic variables. Number of fires and fire occurrence had the strongest relative effects on big sagebrush occurrence and cover, respectively. The models predicted that the probability of big sagebrush occurrence decreases by 1.2% (95% CI: -6.9%, 0.6%) when one fire occurs and cover decreases by 44.7% (95% CI: -47.9%, -41.3%) if at least one fire occurred over the 36 year period of record. Restoration practices increased the probability of big sagebrush occurrence but had minimal effect on cover. Our results demonstrate the potential value of including disturbance and land management along with climate in models to predict species distributions. As an increasing number of datasets representing land-use history become available, we anticipate that our modeling framework will have broad relevance across a range of biomes and species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kaitlin C Maguire
- Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Boise, Idaho
| | - Douglas J Shinneman
- Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Boise, Idaho
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