Download or read book The Role of Remnant Native Vegetation and Management Strategies in the Reclamation of Native Prairie Plant Communities written by Heather Bass and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Native prairie ecosystems along with their ecosystem services are diminishing in Texas. In order to restore the native prairie ecosystems and their services as a whole, the native prairie plant communities on which they are based must be reclaimed. Effects on native plant community establishment of past land use, seed dispersal from nearby remnant plant communities, and various management strategies were studied to better understand the reclamation process and formulate recommendations for native prairie reclamation. Establishment of desired native prairie plant communities was negatively affected by more recent disturbance, but positivity affected by the proximity of disturbed areas to remnant native vegetation. Management practices recommended as most successful at establishing desired native plant communities include increasing available native propagules, adding soil amendments whose nutrient levels are similar to native surface soils, and reducing any further disturbance of existing plant communities. Although use of these management strategies may allow for the reclamation of native prairie plant communities in general, or simply speed up and steer the natural reclamation process, reclamation to the native Little Bluestem dominant prairie community may be more difficult and take more time.

Download or read book Action Plan written by and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest written by Daryl Smith and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This manual, by four of the most knowledgeable prairie restorationists in the Upper Midwest, brings together absolutely everything that anyone, regardless of background, needs to know for proper tallgrass prairie restoration. In addition to chapters on everything from planning to implementing to managing a prairie, chapters on native seed production and restoring prairies in public spaces and along roadsides cover all that is necessary for successful prairie restorations. This book is an absolute must for anyone in the business of prairie restoration as well as a great read for any prairie enthusiast." -- Robert H. Mohlenbrock, distinguished professor emeritus of botany, Southern Illinois University --Book Jacket.

Download or read book Establishing Native Plant Communities written by Elizabeth Ann Smreciu and published by Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. This book was released on 2003 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was written to fulfil the need for a document to address the specifics of native revegetation that are not adequately covered by a guideline. It assists anyone in Alberta who has to plan native plant revegetation projects or carryout the revegetation. It provides specific information on native revegetation planning, information sources, final land-use considerations, salvaging or otherwise obtaining native plant materials, field operations (site preparation, seeding, planting, ensuring establishment success), management, monitoring, and assessment. Appendices include a glossary, a list of Websites & contacts for further information, a methodology for calculating seeding rates, and a table showing native plant species & their characteristics.

Download or read book Patterns and Drivers of Long term Plant Community Change in Wisconsin Remnant Prairies written by Amy O. Alstad and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plant communities respond to a number of different ecological drivers, and understanding the relative effects of such drivers is critical to informing effective conservation and management in an era of pronounced global change. However, documenting patterns of change in communities is often hindered by the scarcity of historical data. In this dissertation, I use a unique, historical dataset on plant community composition in Wisconsin prairie remnants to document conspicuous shifts in these plant communities. I replicate survey methods used by the original researchers in 1950 and 1987 to survey 47 remnant grasslands for a third time, in 2012. To assess the role of ecological drivers, I contacted landowners and land managers to obtain records of fire at each site, and used historical and contemporary landscape imagery to quantify landscape connectivity and patch size. I relate these drivers to various plant community metrics to examine the relative impacts of each driver, and whether these roles have shifted over time. I use data on plant functional traits to test if these characteristics relate to gains or losses in species occurrences. I also conducted a fully randomized field experiment to ask whether seed size and site preparation method relate to establishment success. This historical dataset reveals substantial changes in community composition, and also demonstrates that the pace of change has increased. Annual rates of local colonization and extinction accelerated by 129% and 214% respectively between 1950-1987 and 1987-2012, despite the fact that the second interval is >30% longer. Two anthropogenic drivers, patch area and fire history, increased in importance between these periods, whereas soil moisture declined in importance over the same period. Frequently burned sites were more stable (i.e., diverged less) over time with respect to both functional and taxonomic dissimilarity. Although total species richness at each site remains similar, their floristic composition continues to diverge, reflecting local extirpations and colonizations of particular groups of species. Most colonization events represent non-native species, which have increased in relative proportion across all sites by more than 500% between 1950 and 2012. Gains in non-native species were accompanied by losses of native species, with short-statured and small-seeded species disappearing particularly quickly. Contemporary species richness in these remnant grasslands is positively related to patch size. I expected to find a similarly positive relationship between species richness and connectivity, but this prediction is only supported by frequently burned sites. Unburned sites demonstrate no relationship between connectivity and species richness. This pattern may be the result of leaf litter, which accumulates in unburned grasslands, and serves as a major barrier to seedling establishment. Indeed, in the seed addition experiment, rates of successful seedling establishment were 2.6 times higher in plots that were burned prior to planting compared to plots that were unburned. Fewer than one percent all of the seeds sown into our experimental plots were detected as established seedlings in the two seasons following seed addition, demonstrating that the seed to seedling transition is a major bottleneck for plants in this system. Overall, this dissertation contributes to our knowledge of patterns and drivers of long-term change in remnant plant communities, and helps inform effective management and conservation strategy.

Download or read book Rare Plants and Natural Plant Communities written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Remnant Assessment and Soil Inoculation to Inform Large scale Prairie Restoration at Eastern Washington University written by Erik E. Peterson and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Palouse Prairie of Eastern Washington and Western Idaho, characterized by rolling hills of deep loess soil, is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, with more than 99% converted to tilled farmland. To mitigate this loss, Eastern Washington University has begun prairie restoration on a tilled wheat field adjacent to campus, in the northern extent of the Palouse Prairie Ecoregion. However, effective restoration requires understanding reference conditions, and there are relatively few studies of remnant prairie plant communities or soils, particularly in the Northern Palouse. From north to south in the Palouse Prairie Ecoregion, there are gradients in precipitation and temperature that affect plant communities. In addition, the Prairie is intersected by Channeled Scablands, which were formed when the ancient Missoula Floods washed away some of the loess hills, leaving exposed basalt. In deeper soil pockets, Channeled Scablands have plant communities overlapping with Palouse Prairie. In prairies, both the plants and the soil microbiome can play crucial structural roles in supporting the ecosystem. Successful restoration of degraded plant communities may rely on restoration of the original soil microbiome. Therefore, my goal was to identify and survey remnant prairie vascular plant communities in the region surrounding Eastern Washington University to understand how they vary from north to south and differ from Channeled Scabland, and to understand the role that intact prairie soils, with their complement of microbial species, can play in native plant growth. This resulted in a two-part thesis, with Chapter 1 documenting remnant plant communities, and Chapter 2 studying the effect of whole soil inoculation with native prairie soils on plant growth. To document how remnant prairie plant communities near EWU differ from sites in the iv southern Palouse and from Channeled scablands, I identified over 100 remnants from aerial imagery across Whitman and Spokane Counties, and conducted vegetation surveys at thirteen sites, including both Palouse Prairie and Channeled Scabland locations. Palouse Prairie and Channeled Scabland plant communities, while overlapping, had significant differences as indicated by PERMANOVA analysis. Palouse Prairie remnants had relative more native species, such as Symphoricarpos albus and Balsamorhiza sagittata, as indicators, while Channeled Scablands tended to have more invasive species, including invasive annual grasses such as Bromus tectorum and Poa bulbosa. There were also distinctive differences between northern and southern Palouse sites, with northern sites having more Pinus ponderosa and Geum triflorum while southern sites had more Ventenata dubia and Lomatium dissectum. Unlike when all sites were analyzed, Palouse site community composition was correlated with aspect and solar radiation. To determine the effect of the native prairie soil microbiome on native plant growth, I inoculated native and nonnative grass species with soil from native prairies and the restoration site in a greenhouse experiment. The three inoculum sources were Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, the EWU restoration site, and Kamiak Butte. Plants were grown in unsterilized background soil collected from the EWU restoration site and sterile or unsterile soil inoculum. In general, inoculum source had no effect on either grass species but sterilization of inoculum resulted in increased growth of the native grass especially in soil collected from the EWU restoration. Invasive grass was unaffected by treatment. Results indicate possible nutrient limitation or altered soil microbiome at the EWU restoration site. Overall, my study results provide a better understanding of reference plant and soil communities for the EWU Prairie restoration site"--Pages iii- iv.

Download or read book Roadside Revegetation written by David E. Steinfeld and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Native plants are a foundation of ecological function, affecting soil conservation, wildlife habitat, plant communities, invasive species, and water quality. Establishing locally-adapted, self-sustaining plant communities can also support transportation goals for safety and efficiency. Past obstacles to establishing native plant communities on roadsides have been technical, informational, and organizational. Effective strategies and practical techniques for revegetating the disturbed conditions with limited resources must be made available to practitioners. Multiple disciplines, ranging from engineering to soil science, ecology, botany, and wildlife science, must be able to work cooperatively, not in isolation. This report offers an integrated approach to facilitate the successful establishment of native plants along roadsides and other areas of disturbance associated with road modifications. It guides readers through a comprehensive process of: 1) initiating, 2) planning, 3) implementing, and 4) monitoring a roadside revegetating project with native plants.

Download or read book Prairie restoration written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tallgrass Prairie Restoration in the Midwestern and Eastern United States written by Harold Gardner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work advocates the restoration of the North American tallgrass prairie, which is rapidly disappearing. Historical descriptions of prairie aesthetics are outlined. As we are experiencing a worldwide mixing of plant species, prairie restoration is particularly important. Plants alien to North America do not readily support insect populations, including all animal species higher on the food chain. Prairie restoration methods are described for amateurs, academics, and land managers. Some of the techniques described are growing crops for seed production, times of seed gathering for specific species, facile seed processing for amateurs, land preparation, segregation of seed into its preference for habitat, and required seed treatment for germination. Over 200 species are described that comprise the predominant species found in tallgrass prairie nature preserves, as well as degraded prairies. Some additional plants of especial interest are also described. The appendix tabulates all likely species found on prairies regardless of their scarcity. Safe fire management of prairies is described in detail. Finally, methods of controlling aggressive alien weeds by herbicides are detailed.

Download or read book The Role of Remnants of Native Vegetation written by Denis A. Saunders and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Revegetation with Native Species written by Society for Ecological Restoration. Conference and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seven papers in this proceedings address the current state of knowledge and application of ecological restoration in the Western United States. They provide an overview of: rangeland revegetation lessons as they apply to ecological restoration today; USDI National Park Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Forest Service restoration strategies and perspectives; biological factors for using native plant species; and the challenges of native seed collection, production, and marketing. These papers comprise the proceedings from a technical symposium at the 1997 Society for Ecological Restoration 9th Annual International Conference held in Fort Lauderdale, FL, November 12-15, 1997.

Download or read book A Practial Guide to Prairie Reconstruction written by Carl Kurtz and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2010-09-13 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Intended to encourage economical and functional prairie plant communities in the Midwest, this guide provides a formula for success for all but the most extreme conditions; it outlines the procedures and problems involved in reconstructing tallgrass prairies on large fields or in small backyards. In chapters on seed selection and harvest, site selection, soil preparation, seeding, post-planting mowing, burning, and growth and development - along with color photographs that are both beautiful and instructive - Kurtz presents a step-by-step guide to creating diverse and well-established prairie plant communities."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States written by Chris Helzer and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2009-05-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most prairies exist today as fragmented landscapes, making thoughtful and vigilant management ever more important. Intended for landowners and managers dedicated to understanding and nurturing their prairies as well as farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and all those with a strong interest in grasslands, ecologist Chris Helzer’s readable and practical manual educates prairie owners and managers about grassland ecology and gives them guidelines for keeping prairies diverse, vigorous, and viable. Chapters in the first section, "Prairie Ecology," describe prairie plants and the communities they live in, the ways in which disturbance modifies plant communities, the animal and plant inhabitants that are key to prairie survival, and the importance of diversity within plant and animal communities. Chapters in the second section, "Prairie Management," explore the adaptive management process as well as guiding principles for designing management strategies, examples of successful management systems such as fire and grazing, guidance for dealing with birds and other species that have particular habitat requirements and with the invasive species that have become the most serious threat that prairie managers have to deal with, and general techniques for prairie restoration. Following the conclusion and a forward-thinking note on climate change, eight appendixes provide more information on grazing, prescribed fire, and invasive species as well as bibliographic notes, references, and national and state organizations with expertise in prairie management. Grasslands can be found throughout much of North America, and the ideas and strategies in this book apply to most of them, particularly tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in eastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, northwestern Missouri, northern Illinois, northwestern Indiana, Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin, and southwestern Minnesota. By presenting all the factors that promote biological diversity and thus enhance prairie communities, then incorporating these factors into a set of clear-sighted management practices, The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States presents the tools necessary to ensure that grasslands are managed in the purposeful ways essential to the continued health and survival of prairie communities.

Download or read book Plant Community Dynamics in Remnant and Restored Willamette Valley Wetland Prairies written by Rachel A. Schwindt and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Invasion by exotic species can pose a major challenge for developing native plant communities in wetland restoration projects. Often native plant communities do not develop as anticipated in restored wetlands due to colonization by exotic species that dominate the native plant community. Despite the time and expense to restore wetlands, there has been little long term research to compare plant communities in restored and natural wetland sites. Research into plant community diversity across several wetland sites over several years can provide a broader perspective into how these ecosystems recover from long-term disturbance. The objective of this study was to compare plant community change from 2000 to 2005 between restored and remnant wetland prairie sites in the southern Willamette Valley in Oregon to determine if exotic species abundance was consistent between these groups. Specific objectives included 1) comparing the diversity and abundance of all species in remnant and restored wetland prairie sites, 2) evaluate the trajectory of community change between remnant and restored wetland prairie sites to determine if there was rapid change in restored sites, and 3) describe the plot level heterogeneity of the plant community in all sites to determine how microsites influence diversity. In 2005, species abundance was re-measured in four remnant wetland prairies and four restored wetland prairies that had been selected for an unrelated vegetation survey in 2000. Species were characterized by life form, origin, and wetland indicator status. Species abundance between groups of remnant and restored sites were compared using a multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP). The plant community trajectory was evaluated with nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) and tested for significance with multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Species area curves were compared between sites and within remnant and restored groups of plots. Within-year and between-year significance tests indicated that remnant and restored sites were similar in exotic species abundance, graminoid abundance, and wetland species abundance with no significant difference between these remnant and restored wetland prairie sites. Individual sites in both groups experienced changes in exotic species abundance which confounded the statistical results. Species heterogeneity was no more spatially diverse across the remnant site plots than restored site plots. Species area curves did not show significant differences between remnant and restored plots but individual plots did show homogeneous community characteristics at smaller spatial scales. Restoration sites had developed high graminoid cover by the 2000 survey which was conducted two to three years after restoration was initiated. All sites were equally likely to contain exotic species. Exotic species common across all sites included Centaurium umbellatum, Holcus lanatus, and Hypericum perforatum. Native species common across sites included Deschampsia cespitosa, Danthonia californica and Juncus tenuis. These results suggested that differences between remnant and restored Willamette Valley wetland prairie sites were not generalizable at the landscape scale and were more dependent on site specific management activities and local barriers to colonization. Five years may not be enough time to see evidence that suggests if restored plant communities will develop spatial characteristics of the remnant sites. This research does suggest that multi-site comparisons help distinguish individual sites that are not developing characteristics of remnant wetland plant communities.

Download or read book A Holistic Approach to Mima Mound Prairie Restoration written by Kristin R. Anicito and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Invasive winter annual grass (IWAGs) abundance has increased throughout much of the western United States, with serious consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem function. While a variety of tools have been used to control IWAGS, they often fail to achieve the goal of creating a self-sustaining native plant community. Therefore, a major goal of my thesis has been to explore and test restoration approaches that might help realize such plant communities. These approaches include ecologically based invasive plant management (EBIPM) and assisted succession. EBIPM is a holistic approach that aims to restore ecological functions damaged by IWAGs with a combination of restoration tools that remove the IWAGs and promote native growth. Assisted succession can be used to further restore the native plant community by dispersing fast growing native annual seed (instead of native perennial), forcing competition with invasive annuals. It is thought that native perennials should be able to more easily succeed following the native annuals that they evolved with rather than invasive annuals. Both approaches seek to increase community resistance to invasion, which should promote self-sustainability. Community resistance to invasion in western bunchgrass communities is also enhanced by the presence of biological soil crust (biocrust), which is the moss, lichen, algae, and cyanobacteria growing on the soil. Biocrust has been shown to prevent seeds from establishing by creating a barrier between the seed and the soil but has only been tested in arid areas. Much of the west, including Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, where my study is focused, is in semiarid habitat, with nearly twice the rainfall. It is not known how biocrust affects IWAG invasion in such conditions, or even how biocrust responds to invasive species control techniques such as herbicide and fire. I tested the effects of restoration techniques that control IWAGs, increase native species abundance, and promote community resistance to invasion on plant community and biocrust composition over a range of habitats in a Mirna mound Prairie at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR). Mima mounds are discrete mounds of soils, surrounded by shallow intermound soils; mound size and intermound vegetation growth is dependent on substrate type. The restoration techniques included prescribed fire (fall burn), Outrider herbicide applied in late fall, and native annual and perennial seed addition (seeds added in winter). I further tested the effect of boot trampling on biocrust. Plants were sampled before and the first growing season after application. I found that 1) V. dubia increased 15-fold on mounds from 2009 to 2013, and where V. dubia was abundant, lichen cover was low but moss cover was high, 2) Outrider® herbicide was the most effective technique at reducing invasive species and had minimal impact on natives, on mounds; on intermounds native cover actually increased with herbicide, 3) Fire effectively increased native species cover on mounds but had little effect on intermounds; fire had little effect on invasive cover, 4) annual seed addition effectively increased native cover while perennial seed addition had little effect the first year, and 5) in intermounds areas where biocrust was abundant, treatments had little effect on the biocrust community or on exotic plant species. My results can be used to help land managers decide appropriate restoration approaches to increase community sustainability in semiarid regions, however long-term monitoring is needed to test whether these results are truly sustainable"--Document.

Download or read book Prairie Plants and Their Environment written by John Ernest Weaver and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: