Brief Note New Distribution Records of Cordylophora Lacustris and Craspedacusta Sowerbyi (Coelenterata) in Southern Illinois

Author Institution: Department of Botany and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois Universit

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and forming monodominant vegetation stands due to traits such as robust size, rapid growth rate, and rhizomatic expansion. Increased nutrient inputs into wetlands and altered hydrologic regimes are among the principal anthropogenic drivers of Typha invasion. Typha is associated with a wide range of negative ecological impacts to wetland and agricultural systems, but also is linked with a variety of ecosystem services such as bioremediation and provisioning of biomass, as well as an assortment of traditional cultural uses. Numerous physical, chemical, and hydrologic control methods are used to manage invasive Typha, but results are inconsistent and multiple methods and repeated treatments often are required. While this review focuses on invasive Typha in North America, the literature cited comes from research on Typha and other invasive species from around the world. As such, many of the underlying concepts in this review are relevant to invasive species in other wetland ecosystems worldwide

The avifauna of constructed treatment wetlands in South Florida used for Everglades restoration

Constructed treatment wetlands invariably create wildlife habitat (Kadlec and Knight 1996, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1999, Knight et al. 2001). Habitat improvement can be dramatic, especially when these systems are built on degraded areas such as farm fields (Hickman 1994). The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have built a complex of large treatment wetlands, known as Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs), on reclaimed farmland in south Florida as part of a multi-billion dollar effort by State and Federal governments to protect and restore the Everglades (Chimney and Goforth 2001, Sklar et al. 2005, SFWMD 2006). Current plans call for the STAs to encompass more than 17,000 ha. These wetlands were designed to treat and reduce high phosphorus concentrations in stormwater runoff from the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) before this water enters the northern portion of the remaining Everglades, the Water Conservation Areas (WCAs) (Fig. 1). The STAs have attracted a high abundance and diversity of wildlife species, including many birds. This paper presents a checklist of the avifauna found in two of the STAs and compares STA bird community composition and species richness with regional and other treatment wetlands

The ecological–societal underpinnings of Everglades restoration

The biotic integrity of the Florida Everglades, a wetland of immense international importance, is threatened as a result of decades of human manipulation for drainage and development. Past management of the system only exacerbated the problems associated with nutrient enrichment and disruption of regional hydrology. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) now being implemented by Federal and State governments is an attempt to strike a balance between the needs of the environment with the complex management of water and the seemingly unbridled economic growth of southern Florida. CERP is expected to reverse negative environmental trends by “getting the water right”, but successful Everglades restoration will require both geochemical and hydrologic intervention on a massive scale. This will produce ecological trade-offs and will require new and innovative scientific measures to (1) reduce total phosphorus concentrations within the remaining marsh to 10 μg/L or lower; (2) quantify and link ecological benefits to the restoration of depths, hydroperiods, and flow velocities; and (3) compensate for ecological, economic, and hydrologic uncertainties in the CERP through adaptive management

Typha (Cattail) Invasion in North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, and Management

Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and forming monodominant vegetation stands due to traits such as robust size, rapid growth rate, and rhizomatic expansion. Increased nutrient inputs into wetlands and altered hydrologic regimes are among the principal anthropogenic drivers of Typha invasion. Typha is associated with a wide range of negative ecological impacts to wetland and agricultural systems, but also is linked with a variety of ecosystem services such as bioremediation and provisioning of biomass, as well as an assortment of traditional cultural uses. Numerous physical, chemical, and hydrologic control methods are used to manage invasive Typha, but results are inconsistent and multiple methods and repeated treatments often are required. While this review focuses on invasive Typha in North America, the literature cited comes from research on Typha and other invasive species from around the world. As such, many of the underlying concepts in this review are relevant to invasive species in other wetland ecosystems worldwide