Margaret E. Maloney, E. Borth, Grace Dietsch, M. Lloyd, R. McEwan
ABSTRACT Pyrus calleryana (Callery pear) is an invasive plant that threatens ecosystems in the eastern United States. We investigated the efficacy of various control techniques on P. calleryana invasion in grasslands. Treatments were applied to (a) P. calleryana stems that had experienced mowing annually for several years and were sprouting (n = 100 stems; “trees-sprouting”) and (b) stems that had established ca. 10 years earlier, had never been cut, and were single-stemmed trees (n = 40 stems; “trees-intact”). In both experiments, existing stems were cut and randomly assigned one of the following treatments: cut only (control), burning, freezing, or herbicide, and in the trees-sprouting experiment there was also a negative control of monitoring existing sprouts. All trees in which the cut stumps were treated with herbicide were effectively killed, whereas stems in all other treatments, in both experiments, generated a vigorous sprout response. In the trees-sprouting experiment, there was a strong overall effect of treatments (RMANOVA; p < 0.001) and prescribed fire created a statistically significant increase in sprout number in relationship to the negative control (post-hoc test; p = 0.036). In the trees-intact experiment, there was vigorous sprouting in response to all treatments other than herbicide. Stump freezing resulted in a delay in sprout response; however, all frozen stems eventually sprouted. The ability of this species to sprout vigorously, even after experiencing frequent and intense ecological disturbance, creates the potential for a fundamental alteration of old-field succession in habitats where this species is present.
{"title":"A Trial of Fire and Ice: Assessment of Control Techniques for Pyrus calleryana Invasion of Grasslands in Southwestern Ohio, USA","authors":"Margaret E. Maloney, E. Borth, Grace Dietsch, M. Lloyd, R. McEwan","doi":"10.3368/er.41.1.25","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.41.1.25","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Pyrus calleryana (Callery pear) is an invasive plant that threatens ecosystems in the eastern United States. We investigated the efficacy of various control techniques on P. calleryana invasion in grasslands. Treatments were applied to (a) P. calleryana stems that had experienced mowing annually for several years and were sprouting (n = 100 stems; “trees-sprouting”) and (b) stems that had established ca. 10 years earlier, had never been cut, and were single-stemmed trees (n = 40 stems; “trees-intact”). In both experiments, existing stems were cut and randomly assigned one of the following treatments: cut only (control), burning, freezing, or herbicide, and in the trees-sprouting experiment there was also a negative control of monitoring existing sprouts. All trees in which the cut stumps were treated with herbicide were effectively killed, whereas stems in all other treatments, in both experiments, generated a vigorous sprout response. In the trees-sprouting experiment, there was a strong overall effect of treatments (RMANOVA; p < 0.001) and prescribed fire created a statistically significant increase in sprout number in relationship to the negative control (post-hoc test; p = 0.036). In the trees-intact experiment, there was vigorous sprouting in response to all treatments other than herbicide. Stump freezing resulted in a delay in sprout response; however, all frozen stems eventually sprouted. The ability of this species to sprout vigorously, even after experiencing frequent and intense ecological disturbance, creates the potential for a fundamental alteration of old-field succession in habitats where this species is present.","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47842750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT The increasing loss of wetlands at the global scale demands immediate response by improving management practices and ecological restoration. When people degrade wetlands, environmental restoration must overcome biotic and economic barriers that can be considerable. We assessed the floristic composition of a wetland subjected to anthropic disturbances and expansion of invasive species, then compared our results with historical data from 2005 to 2015. The result revealed that changes in floristic composition and dominant native and invasive dominant species occurred during this 16-year period. In the dry season, we found significant differences in species richness between the years 2005 and 2021, with a significant reduction in species richness in the latter year. This loss of species richness represents an unfavorable change in the floristic composition trajectory, which we explain as an effect of sustained anthropic disturbance. Floristic data from the rainy season was not conclusive. Typha domingensis, and the invasives Phragmites australis and Festuca arundinacea have been favored by disturbances and increased their cover at the expense of other wetland species, reducing the wetland’s floristic diversity. Our objective was to redirect the floristic composition trajectory in the La Mintzita wetland by proposing management strategies for controlling the above-mentioned species based on three ecological restoration strategies: biocultural (targeting simultaneously the loss of biodiversity and of traditional use of Typha), productive (to control expansion of P. australis which has no traditional use in the region, we propose a new use), and ecocentric (to control F. arundinacea and recover native species cover).
{"title":"Biocultural, Productive, and Ecocentric Restoration in La Mintzita Spring-fed Wetland, Michoacán, México","authors":"Esperanza Fuentes-Gutiérrez, R. Lindig-Cisneros","doi":"10.3368/er.41.1.44","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.41.1.44","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The increasing loss of wetlands at the global scale demands immediate response by improving management practices and ecological restoration. When people degrade wetlands, environmental restoration must overcome biotic and economic barriers that can be considerable. We assessed the floristic composition of a wetland subjected to anthropic disturbances and expansion of invasive species, then compared our results with historical data from 2005 to 2015. The result revealed that changes in floristic composition and dominant native and invasive dominant species occurred during this 16-year period. In the dry season, we found significant differences in species richness between the years 2005 and 2021, with a significant reduction in species richness in the latter year. This loss of species richness represents an unfavorable change in the floristic composition trajectory, which we explain as an effect of sustained anthropic disturbance. Floristic data from the rainy season was not conclusive. Typha domingensis, and the invasives Phragmites australis and Festuca arundinacea have been favored by disturbances and increased their cover at the expense of other wetland species, reducing the wetland’s floristic diversity. Our objective was to redirect the floristic composition trajectory in the La Mintzita wetland by proposing management strategies for controlling the above-mentioned species based on three ecological restoration strategies: biocultural (targeting simultaneously the loss of biodiversity and of traditional use of Typha), productive (to control expansion of P. australis which has no traditional use in the region, we propose a new use), and ecocentric (to control F. arundinacea and recover native species cover).","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46146617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT Disturbed low-Arctic environments provide many challenges for ecological restoration, from harsh climates and remote locations to limited knowledge on plant establishment and successional pathways within tundra ecosystems. Due to limited commercially available materials for restoration of native low-Arctic plant communities, transplantation may provide an effective technique for revegetation in these difficult-to-restore environments. In this study, whole-turfs and shredded turfs were harvested from undisturbed upland-heath tundra near Rankin Inlet, Canada, and transplanted onto nearby disturbed gravel quarries to investigate species survivability and development of upland-heath vegetative communities. Two years following transplantation, turfs were found to maintain 85% of the initial vegetative cover and 91% of the initial species richness, with expansion up to 8 cm into the surrounding substrate, and production of seeds and spores. Although shredded turfs were unable to significantly establish vascular species, evidence suggests a shredded turf may establish non-vascular plant cover over a larger area than intact turfs, if given greater protection from environmental stressors. Our results demonstrate that whole-turfs are resistant to harvesting and transplantation stresses, flooding, drought, and poor soil conditions, and are an effective means of species transfer promoting development of vegetative cover on disturbed substrates. High species survivability indicates that turfs have the potential to provide disturbed areas with a wide array of native species, critical for the development of sustainable and self-organizing assemblages of native vegetation.
{"title":"Reintroducing Vascular and Non-Vascular Plants to Disturbed Arctic Sites: Investigating Turfs and Turf Fragments","authors":"Ian G. Hnatowich, E. Lamb, K. Stewart","doi":"10.3368/er.41.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.41.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Disturbed low-Arctic environments provide many challenges for ecological restoration, from harsh climates and remote locations to limited knowledge on plant establishment and successional pathways within tundra ecosystems. Due to limited commercially available materials for restoration of native low-Arctic plant communities, transplantation may provide an effective technique for revegetation in these difficult-to-restore environments. In this study, whole-turfs and shredded turfs were harvested from undisturbed upland-heath tundra near Rankin Inlet, Canada, and transplanted onto nearby disturbed gravel quarries to investigate species survivability and development of upland-heath vegetative communities. Two years following transplantation, turfs were found to maintain 85% of the initial vegetative cover and 91% of the initial species richness, with expansion up to 8 cm into the surrounding substrate, and production of seeds and spores. Although shredded turfs were unable to significantly establish vascular species, evidence suggests a shredded turf may establish non-vascular plant cover over a larger area than intact turfs, if given greater protection from environmental stressors. Our results demonstrate that whole-turfs are resistant to harvesting and transplantation stresses, flooding, drought, and poor soil conditions, and are an effective means of species transfer promoting development of vegetative cover on disturbed substrates. High species survivability indicates that turfs have the potential to provide disturbed areas with a wide array of native species, critical for the development of sustainable and self-organizing assemblages of native vegetation.","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44854570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT Restorations change across the growing season. Because of this, the point in the season that a restoration is sampled may affect the conclusions reached based on the sample. In this study, we explore seasonal changes in a prairie restoration experiment in eastern Kansas and investigate how these changes affect observed composition, biodiversity, and the effects of seeding density treatment on the plant community based on when, and how completely, vegetation is sampled. Free State Prairie was established in 2014 to test the effects of forb seeding density on forb establishment, diversity, and restoration success. We compared absolute cover data collected in early June and early September 2019 to each other and to combined data. We found changes in both composition and biodiversity from early-to-late in the season. Sown forbs decreased in cover and richness, while sown grasses increased in cover and richness. Nonsown species did not change in cover but decreased in richness. Neither individual sample fully represented the overall composition or biodiversity of the community. We detected a significant negative effect of forb seeding density on diversity in June, and with combined data, but not in September. As sampling time can affect both broad patterns of composition and diversity and observed results of establishment and management techniques, sampling multiple times in a year will provide the fullest and most accurate picture of the community. When multiple samples are impractical, sampling time should be selected carefully based on the phenology of the restoration and the variables of interest.
{"title":"Seasonal Shifts in Diversity and Composition of a Tallgrass Prairie Restoration Have Implications for Sampling Time","authors":"Naomi Betson, B. Foster","doi":"10.3368/er.41.1.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.41.1.16","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Restorations change across the growing season. Because of this, the point in the season that a restoration is sampled may affect the conclusions reached based on the sample. In this study, we explore seasonal changes in a prairie restoration experiment in eastern Kansas and investigate how these changes affect observed composition, biodiversity, and the effects of seeding density treatment on the plant community based on when, and how completely, vegetation is sampled. Free State Prairie was established in 2014 to test the effects of forb seeding density on forb establishment, diversity, and restoration success. We compared absolute cover data collected in early June and early September 2019 to each other and to combined data. We found changes in both composition and biodiversity from early-to-late in the season. Sown forbs decreased in cover and richness, while sown grasses increased in cover and richness. Nonsown species did not change in cover but decreased in richness. Neither individual sample fully represented the overall composition or biodiversity of the community. We detected a significant negative effect of forb seeding density on diversity in June, and with combined data, but not in September. As sampling time can affect both broad patterns of composition and diversity and observed results of establishment and management techniques, sampling multiple times in a year will provide the fullest and most accurate picture of the community. When multiple samples are impractical, sampling time should be selected carefully based on the phenology of the restoration and the variables of interest.","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46814652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Should We Talk about Our Work?","authors":"S. Handel","doi":"10.3368/er.40.4.227","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.40.4.227","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47435369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration","authors":"P. Brewitt","doi":"10.3368/er.40.4.277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.40.4.277","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46161227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Primer of Ecological Restoration","authors":"T. T. Caughlin","doi":"10.3368/er.40.4.278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.40.4.278","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48999676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT Ecological restoration projects could benefit from using knowledge of pre-restoration conditions to forecast potential restoration outcomes, including species compositional change that can be among the most stochastic changes in ecosystems. In Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) forests in Arizona, USA, predictability of understory plant composition from pre-restoration soil seed banks, on-site vegetation, and nearby vegetation was examined for 12 years after restorative forest thinning treatments. Pre-restoration seed banks and vegetation were nested and predictive subsets of post-restoration species composition of understory communities. For example, the portion of species in the pre-restoration seed bank also in the on-site vegetation increased from 32% before to 79% five years after restoration at nine sites. As many as 57–69% of species only inhabiting seed banks before restoration transitioned to occurring in vegetation, strengthening seed bank:vegetation correspondence. In total, knowledge of pre-restoration seed bank and vegetation composition enabled forecasting 64–76% of the species in vegetation up to 12 years after restoration, with another 14–26% of species predictable from species composition in nearby remnant openings. Ecosystems in which practitioners may anticipate predictability of species compositional changes after restoration could include habitats with high potential for seed bank:vegetation synchrony (i.e. seed banks containing species capable of growing in a site’s vegetation), moderately shaded structure enabling species varying in shade tolerance to coexist, and with seed dispersal (at least stochastic long-distance dispersal) subordinate to local regeneration from seed banks and vegetative expansion. Changes in species composition may be more deterministic than stochastic in at least some ecosystems undergoing restoration.
{"title":"Are Pre-Restoration Soil Seed Banks and Vegetation Nested and Predictive Subsets of Post-Restoration Communities?","authors":"S. R. Abella","doi":"10.3368/er.40.4.234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.40.4.234","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Ecological restoration projects could benefit from using knowledge of pre-restoration conditions to forecast potential restoration outcomes, including species compositional change that can be among the most stochastic changes in ecosystems. In Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) forests in Arizona, USA, predictability of understory plant composition from pre-restoration soil seed banks, on-site vegetation, and nearby vegetation was examined for 12 years after restorative forest thinning treatments. Pre-restoration seed banks and vegetation were nested and predictive subsets of post-restoration species composition of understory communities. For example, the portion of species in the pre-restoration seed bank also in the on-site vegetation increased from 32% before to 79% five years after restoration at nine sites. As many as 57–69% of species only inhabiting seed banks before restoration transitioned to occurring in vegetation, strengthening seed bank:vegetation correspondence. In total, knowledge of pre-restoration seed bank and vegetation composition enabled forecasting 64–76% of the species in vegetation up to 12 years after restoration, with another 14–26% of species predictable from species composition in nearby remnant openings. Ecosystems in which practitioners may anticipate predictability of species compositional changes after restoration could include habitats with high potential for seed bank:vegetation synchrony (i.e. seed banks containing species capable of growing in a site’s vegetation), moderately shaded structure enabling species varying in shade tolerance to coexist, and with seed dispersal (at least stochastic long-distance dispersal) subordinate to local regeneration from seed banks and vegetative expansion. Changes in species composition may be more deterministic than stochastic in at least some ecosystems undergoing restoration.","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45285413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT Rangelands of the American West host over 600,000 oil and gas production sites. Domestic oil and gas extraction expanded during the last two decades, creating restoration needs. This review article synthesizes the growing body of literature on restoring arid and semi-arid rangelands of the U.S. and Canada following oil and gas production, including restoring soils, re-establishing vegetation, and preventing or mitigating any surface or water contamination. Existing studies reveal that even soils on treated sites are permanently changed by oil and gas production. However, certain in situ treatment techniques result in less bare ground and increased site revegetation on contaminated sites. Various reseeding techniques are effective, and research results promote the use of diverse, native, locally adapted seed, including plant species known to be better suited to specific post-production conditions. Research suggests that less grazing at restoration sites might generate better restoration outcomes than prolonged moderate or heavy grazing during the full season. Open questions remain regarding: 1) techniques for successfully remediating soil after oil and brine spills; 2) the use of cover crops to accelerate recovery of a perennial plant community suitable to the site; and 3) the effects of cattle grazing on restoration outcomes. Resources needed to complete restoration on an extensive scale are also discussed, including economic and labor requirements, as well as potential ecosystem service benefits.
{"title":"A Review of Restoration Techniques and Outcomes for Rangelands Affected by Oil and Gas Production in North America","authors":"K. B. Walsh, J. Rose","doi":"10.3368/er.40.4.259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/er.40.4.259","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Rangelands of the American West host over 600,000 oil and gas production sites. Domestic oil and gas extraction expanded during the last two decades, creating restoration needs. This review article synthesizes the growing body of literature on restoring arid and semi-arid rangelands of the U.S. and Canada following oil and gas production, including restoring soils, re-establishing vegetation, and preventing or mitigating any surface or water contamination. Existing studies reveal that even soils on treated sites are permanently changed by oil and gas production. However, certain in situ treatment techniques result in less bare ground and increased site revegetation on contaminated sites. Various reseeding techniques are effective, and research results promote the use of diverse, native, locally adapted seed, including plant species known to be better suited to specific post-production conditions. Research suggests that less grazing at restoration sites might generate better restoration outcomes than prolonged moderate or heavy grazing during the full season. Open questions remain regarding: 1) techniques for successfully remediating soil after oil and brine spills; 2) the use of cover crops to accelerate recovery of a perennial plant community suitable to the site; and 3) the effects of cattle grazing on restoration outcomes. Resources needed to complete restoration on an extensive scale are also discussed, including economic and labor requirements, as well as potential ecosystem service benefits.","PeriodicalId":11492,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Restoration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44478353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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