Legacy Effects of Russian Olive ( Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) in a Riparian Ecosystem Three Years Post-Removal
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PHYSICAL AND BIOTIC DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEMS
Legacy Effects of Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) in a Riparian Ecosystem Three Years Post-Removal Gabrielle L. Katz 1 & Graham M. Tuttle 2,3 & Michael W. Denslow 4 & Andrew P. Norton 5 Received: 17 April 2020 / Accepted: 25 September 2020 # Society of Wetland Scientists 2020
Abstract Exotic invasive plants leave legacy effects when impacts persist following invader removal. Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) is an actinorhizal tree that is widespread along rivers in interior western North America. We monitored soil N and plant community response to E. angustifolia removal in a riparian ecosystem in eastern Colorado, USA. We collected preremoval data for two years, and tracked post-removal response for three years. Soil N was generally higher in E. angustifolia plots than in reference plots (not under E. angustifolia) within each removal status treatment (No Removal, Removal, Control). Percent cover of native species was higher in reference plots than in E. angustifolia plots, within treatments in all years. Percent cover of exotic species was higher in E. angustifolia plots than in reference plots, except in the Removal and No Removal treatments immediately following tree removal. Underlying this pattern was a shift in exotic species dominance from Nepeta cataria to Bassia scoparia. The removal treatment successfully reduced E. angustifolia populations at the study sites, but three years afterwards riparian soils and plant communities showed little evidence of recovery towards reference conditions. However, E. angustifolia removal did not appear to worsen invasion impacts or produce novel management problems. Keywords Exotic . Invasive plant removal . Nitrogen . Riparian
Introduction Exotic invasive plant species impact environments worldwide, causing significant changes to native species, communities, and ecosystems (Pysek et al. 2012). While the immediate goal of invasive species management is to reduce invader populations, the broader goal is often to promote ecosystem restoration by reducing invader impacts (Hulme 2006; Prior
et al. 2018). Ecological recovery can be measured in terms of increased native biodiversity or recovery of ecosystem processes. Using these measures in a review of 151 published studies, Prior et al. (2018) found that invasive species management (either control/suppression or eradication) produced positive outcomes in 51% of cases. Potential impediments to recovery following invasive plant removal include direct negative impacts of the management activity itself, as well as
* Gabrielle L. Katz [email protected]
1
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Campus Box 22, P.O. Box 173362, Denver, CO 80217-3362, USA
Graham M. Tuttle [email protected]
2
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
3
Present address: Geosyntec Consultants, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA
4
Department of Natural History, University
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