Effects of Long-Term Manual Invasive Plant Removal on Forest Understory Composition

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 530-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Bowman Cutway
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Understory Composition ◽  
Plant Removal

scholarly journals Invasion Shadows: The Accumulation and Loss of Ecological Impacts from an Invasive Plant

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Tekiela ◽  
Jacob N. Barney
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Legacy Effects ◽  
Japanese Stiltgrass ◽  
Biodiversity Changes

Ecological impacts from invasive plants that have been identified include reductions in biodiversity, changes in resource cycling, and disruptions of ecosystem function. To mitigate these negative ecological impacts, managers work to remove invasive plants. However, removal does not necessarily immediately lead to a return to the uninvaded ecological state. Similarly, the accumulation rate of ecological impacts following invader establishment is almost entirely unknown for most species, hindering identification of optimal management times. The accumulation and loss (so-called legacy effects) of impacts following invader establishment and removal represent an “invasion shadow.” To begin to understand invasion shadows, we measured the changes in biotic and abiotic ecological impacts during establishment and following removal of the forest understory invader Japanese stiltgrass. We found that when the abiotic metrics were considered, seeded areas became more functionally similar to the invaded landscape and removed areas became more similar to the uninvaded landscape. However, while the plant community did not change in a 3-yr period during a new invasion, following invader removal, it became less similar to both the invaded and uninvaded landscape altogether, suggesting legacies. Surprisingly, all changes occurred almost immediately and persisted following invader establishment and removal. Our results show, at least in a 3-yr period, that ecosystems can respond to changes in invader abundance, and in some cases simply removing the invader could result in long-term changes to the resident plant community.

Long-term legacies and partial recovery of mycorrhizal communities after invasive plant removal

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 1979-1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Lankau ◽  
Jonathan T. Bauer ◽  
M. Rebecca Anderson ◽  
Roger C. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Partial Recovery ◽  
Plant Removal

Deer and invasive plant removal alters mycorrhizal fungal communities and soil chemistry: Evidence from a long-term field experiment

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Burke ◽  
Sarah R. Carrino-Kyker ◽  
Adam Hoke ◽  
Steven Cassidy ◽  
Lalasia Bialic-Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Soil Chemistry ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Plant Removal ◽  
Term Field

Pollinator Visits to Threatened Species Are Restored Following Invasive Plant Removal

2011 ◽  
Vol 172 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina A. Baskett ◽  
Sarah M. Emery ◽  
Jennifer A. Rudgers
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Plant Removal

scholarly journals The legacy of fire: long-term changes to the forest understory from periodic burns in a New England oak-hickory forest

Fire Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline G. Borden ◽  
Marlyse C. Duguid ◽  
Mark S. Ashton
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Forest Understory ◽  
Tree Seedlings ◽  
Floristic Diversity ◽  
Plant Structure ◽  
Burn Treatment ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Understory Composition

Abstract Background Over the last century, fire exclusion has caused dramatic structural and compositional changes to southern New England forests, highlighting the need to reintroduce fires into the historically pyrogenic landscape to study the response. We investigated the effects of a single overstory thinning and midstory removal to create an open oak-hickory woodland structure, followed by repeated prescribed burns. We hypothesized that burning would create greater floristic diversity comprising fire-tolerant woody regeneration and shade-intolerant herbaceous flora. We followed shifts in plant structure, composition, and diversity over a 23-year period, using a before-after-control-impact design with data collected once prior to burning and twice after burn treatments had begun and with soil samples collected after nearly 20 years of burning. Results We observed a dense ingrowth of saplings on unburned plots that were largely absent from burned plots and a shift in midstory composition to favor mesic sweet birch (Betula lenta L.) in the unburned treatment, as opposed to the hickories (Carya Nutt. spp.) and oaks (Quercus L. spp.) that dominated the burned treatment. Burning resulted in a significantly greater density, richness, Shannon diversity, and evenness of understory vegetation (forbs, shrubs, tree seedlings). These four measures remained high on burned plots, despite a decrease in both floristic diversity and evenness on unburned plots and a reduction in unburned site-level richness. Understory composition varied significantly by year and burn treatment, with unburned plots largely characterized by shade-tolerant species while burned plots showed an enhanced abundance of heliophilic plants. Conclusions Our results suggest that periodic burning increases nutrient microsite heterogeneity and periodically maintains greater understory light, both of which in turn increase understory plant density and diversity and cause a shift in understory composition. This study shows that repeated prescribed burns in an open New England woodland have lasting structural and compositional effects capable of restoring pre-settlement, pyrogenic vegetation patterns.

Environmental Stewardship Outcomes from Year-Long Invasive Species Restoration Projects in Middle School

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Dresner ◽  
Kelly A. Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Environment Analysis ◽  
Personal Effectiveness ◽  
Student Focus ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Science Classes

AbstractTo investigate the impacts of long-term targeted invasive plant stewardship projects on students' subsequent stewardship attitudes, an experiment using pre and post-tests to understand program effects and using post-test only comparisons to understand school effects was conducted. The resulting scores from two science classes that participated in year-long invasive plant and restoration activities were compared with those from three comparable classes at a linked school that did not participate in any of these activities. Students in the experimental classes showed overall significantly higher scores compared with the control classes. These attitude scores were then divided into two indexes: sense of personal effectiveness and attitudes of caring for particular places. Students in the experimental group showed increases in both, as compared with the controls. Parent and student focus groups were conducted at the end of the academic year. The resulting comments provide evidence for actual behavior change outside of the school environment. Analysis showed that any student, especially those in the control classes in the traditional middle school, indicating they had prior exposure to nature stewardship projects showed significantly higher scores than students who did not. The results underscore the value of having students involved in real-world stewardship projects, especially those of a long-term nature.

scholarly journals Competitive Interactions of Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus L.) Cytotypes in Submersed and Emergent Experimental Aquatic Plant Communities

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan E. Harms
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Aquatic Plant ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Depth Gradient ◽  
Common Garden Experiments

The ability to invade communities in a variety of habitats (e.g., along a depth gradient) may facilitate establishment and spread of invasive plants, but how multiple lineages of a species perform under varying conditions is understudied. A series of greenhouse common garden experiments were conducted in which six diploid and four triploid populations of the aquatic invasive plant Butomus umbellatus L. (Butomaceae) were grown in submersed or emergent conditions, in monoculture or in a multispecies community, to compare establishment and productivity of cytotypes under competition. Diploid biomass overall was 12 times higher than triploids in the submersed experiment and three times higher in the emergent experiment. Diploid shoot:root ratio was double that of triploid plants in submersed conditions overall, and double in emergent conditions in monoculture. Relative interaction intensities (RII) indicated that triploid plants were sixteen times more negatively impacted by competition under submersed conditions but diploid plants were twice as impacted under emergent conditions. Recipient communities were similarly negatively impacted by B. umbellatus cytotypes. This study supports the idea that diploid and triploid B. umbellatus plants are equally capable of invading emergent communities, but that diploid plants may be better adapted for invading in submersed habitats. However, consistently lower shoot:root ratios in both monoculture and in communities suggests that triploid plants may be better-adapted competitors in the long term due to increased resource allocation to roots. This represents the first examination into the role of cytotype and habitat on competitive interactions of B. umbellatus.

Variations in beech bark disease and its effects on species composition and structure of northern hardwood stands in central New England

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Twery ◽  
William A. Patterson III
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
New England ◽  
Beech Bark Disease ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Disease Mortality ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Understory Composition ◽  
Bartlett Experimental Forest ◽  
Compositional Changes

The extent of beech bark disease was examined on 41 permanent inventory plots in western Massachusetts and on 25 plots in Bartlett Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. The amounts of disease-caused mortality and defect were correlated to differences in species composition and 12 other site variables. Stands dominated by hemlock had significantly more beech mortality than other stands. Importance of both beech and yellow birch decreased on plots with beech bark disease mortality. Hemlock benefited most from the loss of beech. Beech bark disease has not noticeably changed understory composition on these plots. In the long term, beech bark disease appears to have caused minor compositional changes on most of the areas studied.

Effects of 1-Year vs. Annual Treatment of Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) in Forests

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 334-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Loeb ◽  
Jesse Germeraad ◽  
Travis Treece ◽  
Daniel Wakefield ◽  
Steve Ward
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
First Year ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Natural Area ◽  
Amur Honeysuckle ◽  
Annual Treatment ◽  
Recovery Monitoring

AbstractAmur honeysuckle recovery following treatments annually and only in 1-year, during 2002 to 2009, was compared in the forests of Radnor Lake State Natural Area in Nashville, TN. Annual treatment areas had significantly lower mean Amur honeysuckle plant counts than 1-yr treatment areas for both ≤ 1 m (3.3 ft) and > 1 m plant heights and on both sloped and level areas, except for plants ≤ 1 m tall on level areas, which most likely indicated more soil moisture increasing seedling establishment and root sprouting in the first year after treatment. The significant, positive Pearson's product moment correlations for Amur honeysuckle counts of plants ≤ 1 m tall, with arboreal basal area and with canopy species diversity in the level areas of the annual treatment plots, were also most likely evidence for the importance of greater soil moisture during the first year after treatment for greater Amur honeysuckle recovery. For land managers interested in native vegetation restoration, guidance is provided to plan for long-term, invasive plant species treatment and recovery monitoring.

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