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Local Environmental Context Conditions the Impact of Russian Olive in a Heterogeneous Riparian Ecosystem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2017

Graham M. Tuttle ,
Gabrielle L. Katz ,
Jonathan M. Friedman  and
Andrew P. Norton
Graham M. Tuttle
Affiliation:
Department of Bioagricultural Science and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526
Gabrielle L. Katz
Affiliation:
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Jonathan M. Friedman
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO 80217
Andrew P. Norton*
Affiliation:
Department of Bioagricultural Science and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Local abiotic and biotic conditions can alter the strength of exotic species impacts. To better understand the effects of exotic species on invaded ecosystems and to prioritize management efforts, it is important that exotic species impacts are put in local environmental context. We studied how differences in plant community composition, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and available soil N associated with Russian olive presence are conditioned by local environmental variation within a western U.S. riparian ecosystem. In four sites along the South Fork of the Republican River in Colorado, we established 200 pairs of plots (underneath and apart from Russian olive) to measure the effects of invasion across the ecosystem. We used a series of a priori mixed models to identify environmental variables that altered the effects of Russian olive. For all response variables, models that included the interaction of environmental characteristics, such as presence/absence of an existing cottonwood canopy, with the presence/absence of Russian olive canopy were stronger candidate models than those that just included Russian olive canopy presence as a factor. Compared with reference plots outside of Russian olive canopy, plots underneath Russian olive had higher relative exotic cover (exotic/total cover), lower perennial C4 grass cover, and higher perennial forb cover. These effects were reduced, however, in the presence of a cottonwood canopy. As expected, Russian olive was associated with reduced PAR and increased N, but these effects were reduced under cottonwood canopy. Our results demonstrate that local abiotic and biotic environmental factors condition the effects of Russian olive within a heterogeneous riparian ecosystem and suggest that management efforts should be focused in open areas where Russian olive impacts are strongest.

Keywords

Cottonwood, Populus deltoides W. Bartram ex Marshall ssp. monilifera (Aiton) EckenwalderRussian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia L.Invader impactsnitrogenplant community composition
Type
Research
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 272 - 289
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Weed Science Society of America

Footnotes

Associate Editor for this paper: Edith B. Allen, University of California, Riverside.

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