Frequent inundation helps counteract land use impacts on wetland propagule banks
Frequent inundation helps counteract land use impacts on wetland propagule banks
Question: How do contrasting influences of inundation and historical land uses affect restoration of soil propagule bank composition in floodplain wetlands?
Location: Northern Nature Reserve (large ephemeral floodplain), Macquarie Marshes, New South Wales, Australia
Methods: We conducted germination assays on soil samples collected from fields with different land use histories, stratified along an inundation gradient. We used generalised linear models to determine whether native and exotic species richness and abundance varied along gradients of inundation and land use.
Results: Species richness and plant abundance in soil propagule banks were positively related to inundation and negatively related to intense historic land use. The abundance of native species was significantly higher in more frequently inundated areas. Abundances of exotic and ruderal species were higher in areas of intense prior land use. Overall species richness was generally similar across land use histories.
Conclusions: Land use legacies compromised the ability of propagule banks to rejuvenate native vegetation in this floodplain wetland, especially in less frequently flooded parts of the floodplain, which harboured more ruderal and exotic species. Negative effects of prior land use may be alleviated by increased inundation. Native soil propagule banks were remarkably intact, providing a reservoir for restoration of wetland vegetation, even in soils highly disturbed by up to 20 years of agricultural cropping. With appropriate inundation, soil propagule banks in less degraded areas of the Macquarie Marshes can provide diverse mixtures of desired species in high abundance but, in highly degraded areas, full restoration may be delayed.
agricultural impacts, land use, exotic plant invasion, wetland restoration, environmental flows, flood regime management, floodplain wetland vegetation, soil seedbank, assisted natural restoration, regulated river, flow regulation
1-22
Dawson, S.K.
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Kingsford, R.
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Berney, P.
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Keith, D.
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Hemmings, F.
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Warton, D.
aaed89a0-aebd-41cb-b3a9-da7f3b12c518
Waters, C.
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Catford, J.A.
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Dawson, S.K.
74533f17-2a87-4bd1-a525-4def29b0cfb7
Kingsford, R.
0aacbf5f-e133-4585-b6ce-ed398adcdd40
Berney, P.
a06ee49b-309b-4b24-b0a9-8bc6e0cca48c
Keith, D.
dfa3717b-b17a-4d92-9b16-1d759fb22903
Hemmings, F.
e77cc631-2788-433e-848c-abe7fd16f0d7
Warton, D.
aaed89a0-aebd-41cb-b3a9-da7f3b12c518
Waters, C.
fcb702d4-162d-4cae-a6c0-a7bbd73b8754
Catford, J.A.
b60b8332-9566-483b-b96e-465d3137a5f7
Dawson, S.K., Kingsford, R., Berney, P., Keith, D., Hemmings, F., Warton, D., Waters, C. and Catford, J.A.
(2016)
Frequent inundation helps counteract land use impacts on wetland propagule banks.
Applied Vegetation Science, .
(doi:10.1111/avsc.12295).
Abstract
Question: How do contrasting influences of inundation and historical land uses affect restoration of soil propagule bank composition in floodplain wetlands?
Location: Northern Nature Reserve (large ephemeral floodplain), Macquarie Marshes, New South Wales, Australia
Methods: We conducted germination assays on soil samples collected from fields with different land use histories, stratified along an inundation gradient. We used generalised linear models to determine whether native and exotic species richness and abundance varied along gradients of inundation and land use.
Results: Species richness and plant abundance in soil propagule banks were positively related to inundation and negatively related to intense historic land use. The abundance of native species was significantly higher in more frequently inundated areas. Abundances of exotic and ruderal species were higher in areas of intense prior land use. Overall species richness was generally similar across land use histories.
Conclusions: Land use legacies compromised the ability of propagule banks to rejuvenate native vegetation in this floodplain wetland, especially in less frequently flooded parts of the floodplain, which harboured more ruderal and exotic species. Negative effects of prior land use may be alleviated by increased inundation. Native soil propagule banks were remarkably intact, providing a reservoir for restoration of wetland vegetation, even in soils highly disturbed by up to 20 years of agricultural cropping. With appropriate inundation, soil propagule banks in less degraded areas of the Macquarie Marshes can provide diverse mixtures of desired species in high abundance but, in highly degraded areas, full restoration may be delayed.
Text
Dawsonetal_AppliedVegSci_161129.docx
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
Dawsonetal_Seedbankpaper161129.docx
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 22 November 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 December 2016
Keywords:
agricultural impacts, land use, exotic plant invasion, wetland restoration, environmental flows, flood regime management, floodplain wetland vegetation, soil seedbank, assisted natural restoration, regulated river, flow regulation
Organisations:
Environmental
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 404670
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/404670
ISSN: 1402-2001
PURE UUID: 278fa9f5-67f8-47c4-9117-71bd93c5ee16
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 19 Jan 2017 15:06
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:13
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Contributors
Author:
S.K. Dawson
Author:
R. Kingsford
Author:
P. Berney
Author:
D. Keith
Author:
F. Hemmings
Author:
D. Warton
Author:
C. Waters
Author:
J.A. Catford
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