Multi-scale environmental filters and niche partitioning govern the distributions of riparian vegetation guilds

Across landscapes, riparian plant communities assemble under varying levels of disturbance, environmental stress, and resource availability, leading to the development of distinct riparian life-history guilds over evolutionary timescales. Identifying the environmental filters that exert selective pressures on specific riparian vegetation guilds is a critical step in setting baseline expectations for how riparian vegetation may respond to environmental conditions anticipated under future global change scenarios. In this study, we ask: (1) What riparian plant guilds exist across the interior Columbia and upper Missouri River basins? (2) What environmental filters shape riparian guild distributions? (3) How does resource partitioning among guilds influence guild distributions and co-occurrence? Woody species composition was measured at 703 stream reaches and each species\u27 morphological and functional attributes were extracted from a database in four categories: (1) life form, (2) persistence and growth, (3) reproduction, and (4) resource use. We clustered species into guilds by morphological characteristics and attributes related to environmental tolerances, modeling these guilds\u27 distributions as a function of environmental filters-regional climate, watershed hydrogeomorphic characteristics, and stream channel form- and guild coexistence. We identified five guilds: (1) a tall, deeply rooted, long-lived, evergreen tree guild, (2) a xeric, disturbance tolerant shrub guild, (3) a hydrophytic, thicket-forming shrub guild, (4) a low-statured, shadetolerant, understory shrub guild, and (5) a flood tolerant, mesoriparian shrub guild. Guilds were most strongly discriminated by species\u27 rooting depth, canopy height and potential to resprout and grow following biomass-removing disturbance (e.g., flooding, fire). Hydro-climatic variables, including precipitation, watershed area, water table depth, and channel form attributes reflective of hydrologic regime, were predictors of guilds whose life history strategies had affinity or aversion to flooding, drought, and fluvial disturbance. Biotic interactions excluded guilds with divergent life history strategies and/or allowed for the co-occurrence of guilds that partition resources differently in the same environment. We conclude that the riparian guild framework provides insight into how disturbance and bioclimatic gradients shape riparian functional plant diversity across heterogeneous landscapes. Multiple environmental filters should be considered when the riparian response guild framework is to be used as a decisionsupport tool framework across large spatial extents. Copyright: © 2015 Hough-Snee et al

Introduction effort, climate matching and species traits as predictors of global establishment success in non-native reptiles

Non-native reptiles are often detrimental to native communities and ecosystems and can be extremely difficult to manage once established. Thus, there is considerable interest in predicting the likelihood of establishment of nonnative reptiles. We assessed three hypotheses describing possible factors contributing to the successful establishment of introduced reptiles in an effort to better identify potential invaders

Predicting Invasion and Prioritizing Control of Phragmites Australis in Great Salt Lake Wetlands

Invasive species negatively affect the structure, function, and services of the ecosystems they invade. Wetland systems are especially vulnerable to invasion due to their increased resource availability. Wetlands in Utah are already a rare landscape features in a semiarid climate that provide numerous ecosystem services. One of the most problematic invasive plants in North America and within Great Salt Lake (GSL) wetlands is Phragmites australis (common reed; hereafter Phragmites). Phragmites is a tall, clonal, perennial grass that creates dense monocultures, displaces beneficial native wetland vegetation, and reduces the quality of ecosystem services provided by wetlands. Significant resources are spent on controlling Phragmites on public and private lands across America, but little research has been done on Phragmites invasion in inland wetlands, especially in the Intermountain West. To improve the efficacy of management efforts, local land managers need information on drivers of Phragmites distribution and how to prioritize control. In my research I will address three main questions: 1) What is the current distribution of Phragmites around the GSL? 2) Where is it predicted to expand to in the future? 3) Which wetland areas should be targeted for Phragmites control? To determine the current distribution, I am using multispectral images that I will use to classify wetland vegetation. This information will be used to create species distribution models that identify areas vulnerable to future Phragmites invasion. I will then use this information to develop a prioritization framework for Phragmites control based on factors that are relevant to its management

Distribution and Drivers of a Widespread, Invasive Wetland Grass, Phragmites australis, in Great Salt Lake Wetlands

Non-native invasive plant species can often have negative effects on native ecosystems, such as altered nutrient cycling, decreased habitat for wildlife, and outcompeting native plants. Around the Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, the invasive wetland grass Phragmites australis has become abundant in wetlands around the lake. Phragmites is replacing many native wetland plants provide important waterfowl habitat around the GSL. For successful management of Phragmites in GSL wetlands, it is important to know the current distribution of Phragmites, as well as areas that might be vulnerable to future invasion by Phragmites. To do this, we used multispectral aerial imagery to map the current distribution of Phragmites. We then created a model that statistically related the Phragmites distribution data to a suite of environmental predictor variables such as salinity, proximity to nutrient sources, or proximity to roads. Results from our model suggest that Phragmites is more likely to be found in wetland areas close to point sources of pollution, with lower elevations with prolonged inundation, and with moderate salinities. We used these results to identify areas around GSL that might be vulnerable to future invasion. Results from our study will assist wetlands managers in prioritizing areas for Phragmites monitoring and control by closely monitoring areas of prime Phragmites habitat

Roadside fen inventory

May-1

National wetland inventory mapping of the Arkansas Headwaters Subbasin

Prepared for: EPA Region 8 Wetlands Program.March 2016.Includes bibliographical references (pages 44-45).Wetlands are an integral component of Colorado's landscape and provide a host of beneficial services, such as wildlife habitat, flood abatement, storm water retention, groundwater recharge, and water quality improvement. Wetlands and riparian areas in the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin support biologically significant resources, including plants animals and natural communities. Decisions about wetland management should be based on a solid understanding of their extent and distribution. Yet for most of Colorado, including the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin, these data have historically been lacking because National Wetland Inventory (NWI) mapping by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was available only on paper. The goal of this project was to create an up-to-date digital map of wetlands in the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin to aid regulatory, conservation and management decisions. The first step was to digitize original 1970–80s NWI maps for areas of the basin lacking digital data. The second step was to create new, updated NWI maps for the subbasin. The last step was to compare the historical and contemporary mapping to evaluate trends in the extent and type of aquatic resources. From this analysis, we attempted to qualitatively distinguish what changes in the mapping represented true changes in the landscape and what changes came from updated mapping methodologies. … Through the NWI mapping and field excursions to the area, it is clear that water development projects over the past 100 years have had a profound and lasting impact on the wetland and aquatic resources of the Arkansas subbasin. With increasing population growth forecasted for the larger Arkansas Basin and the Front Range, and the potential for a warming and drying climate, action should be taken to conserve the important wetland resources of the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin.In partial fulfillment of grant CD-96814101

SER-Great Basin: A new chapter for the Society for Ecological Restoration

The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) is the largest professional organization dedicated to restoration, internationally (www.ser.org). SER promotes ecological restoration through establishing regional chapters, biannual conferences, advising international organizations with policy and legislation, and publications such as peer-reviewed journals. Until 2011, there were 12 geographic chapters globally, including 7 chapters in the 24 continental US alone. The Great Basin contains some of the most endangered ecosystems and restoration factors relatively prominently in land management, and so the need to have representation for the Great Basin in SER was evident. The Great Basin Chapter is focused on the portions of the western states of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California that comprise the Great Basin geographical – ecological province. The Chapter will promote the science of ecological restoration and information exchange among practitioners, researchers and the general public in the Great Basin. Lexine Long, Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, 5200 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, [email protected]

Passive soil manipulation influences the successional trajectories of forest communities at a denuded former campsite.

<p>Hough-Snee, N., A.L. Long and R. Pond. 2012. Passive soil manipulation influences the successional trajectories of forest communities at a denuded former campsite. Ecological Restoration 30(1): 9-12.</p

Mounding alters environmental filters that drive plant community development in a novel grassland.

<p>Hough-Snee, N., A.L. Long, L. Jeroue and K. Ewing. 2011. Mounding alters environmental filters that drive plant community development in a novel grassland. Ecological Engineering 37(11): 1932-1936. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2011.06.013</p