Hydrologic Influences on Plant Community Structure in Vernal Pools of Northeastern California

Gosejohan, Meredith C.; Merriam, Kyle E.

doi:10.1007/s13157-016-0863-3

Cited by 10 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Vernal pool ecosystems rely heavily on winter precipitation, experience relatively shallow inundation depths, and are attune to small variations in depth and duration (Holland & Jain ; Emery et al ; Gosejohan et al ) as well as inundation timing (Kneitel ). These inundation subtleties within the pool boundaries have been shown to exclude invasion by a number of species that are not adapted to such extreme conditions (Gerhardt & Collinge ; Tanentzap et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We empirically address these questions through abiotic field observations and biotic litter manipulations within the framework of restored and reference vernal pools. We hypothesize that the abiotic drivers allowing invasive species to proliferate will be directly linked to winter inundation depths (Gerhardt & Collinge ; Gosejohan et al ) and the biotic drivers will be a litter layer positive feedback created by the invasive species (Mariotte et al ) after integration into the pools. We further hypothesize that under different precipitation years, native species will have a lower or higher vulnerability to invasion, and especially under lower rainfall years native species will be vulnerable to invasive encroachment and a long lasting physical litter layer through positive feedbacks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Invasive plant feedbacks promote alternative states in California vernal pools

Faist

Beals

2017

Restoration Ecology

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Invasive species have the potential to create positive feedbacks and push an ecosystem into an alternative state through a variety of mechanisms. Unless the drivers behind these feedbacks are understood, restoring a system to a more desirable state may not be possible. We used a long-term vernal pool restoration project based out of Travis Airforce Base, Fairfield, CA, U.S.A. to examine natural pools dominated by either invasive or native plant communities, and restored pools predominately composed of invasive plants. We determined that plant community structure is drastically altered towards invasive grasses with the addition of a single centimeter of litter. In the absence of this litter layer, community structure was driven by a non-native forb rather than native species. We also found that native plant-dominated vernal pools have a longer inundation duration and are deeper compared to invasive-dominated pools, regardless of construction status. These results suggest that once invasive grasses establish through lower inundation depths, their litter deposition can initiate a positive feedback to maintain an invasive alternative state. However, even after litter removal, non-native forbs can replace the grasses causing a second alternative state still separate from the most desirable native dominated state. This study directly demonstrates that invasive species, and their positive feedbacks, may limit the success of ecological restoration. To effectively restore a system all constraints must be identified and removed before successful restoration can occur.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasive plant feedbacks promote alternative states in California vernal pools

Faist

Beals

2017

Restoration Ecology

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“…Several processes likely maintain genetic variation in all L. fremontii populations and minimise the effects of inbreeding and drift. First, all vernal pools are highly variable environments, regardless of their geographic location within California, due to the stochasticity of the precipitation patterns that drive vernal pool hydrology (Javornik & Collinge 2016;Gosejohan et al 2017). Such highly variable conditions may change the direction of selection on different alleles in different years, slowing the rate at which any specific genotype will be driven to fixation or extinction (Gillespie 1974;Lorenzi et al 1989;Bell 2010;Sano et al 2018).…”

Section: Mean Infructescence Weight (Mg)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ENSO events generate drastic swings between growing seasons in the duration that vernal pools retain water, which could have strong effects on the post‐germination fitness (Emery ; Emery & Ackerly ) and fine‐scale distributions (Emery ) of L. fremontii and other vernal pool endemics (Javornik & Collinge ; Gosejohan et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This variation is particularly extreme when El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns develop along the Pacific Coast of North America, which cause exceptionally wet years followed by exceptionally dry years in the northern hemisphere (Cayan et al 1999;Yoon et al 2015;Wang et al 2017). ENSO events generate drastic swings between growing seasons in the duration that vernal pools retain water, which could have strong effects on the post-germination fitness (Emery 2009;Emery & Ackerly 2014) and fine-scale distributions (Emery 2009) of L. fremontii and other vernal pool endemics (Javornik & Collinge 2016;Gosejohan et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The adaptive potential of plant populations in response to extreme climate events

2019

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The frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events are increasing with global change, yet we lack predictions and empirical evidence for the ability of wild populations to persist and adapt in response to these events. Here, we used Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection to evaluate the adaptive potential of Lasthenia fremontii, a herbaceous winter annual that is endemic to seasonally flooded wetlands in California, to alternative flooding regimes that occur during El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The results indicate that populations may exhibit greater adaptive potential in response to dry years than wet years, and that the relative performance of populations will change across climate scenarios. More generally, our findings show that extreme climate events can substantially change the potential for populations to adapt to climate change by modulating the expression of standing genetic variation and mean fitness.

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Environmental determinants of phylogenetic diversity in vernal pool habitats

Hendrickson

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Phylogenetic diversity offers critical insights into the ecological dynamics shaping species composition and ecosystem function, thereby informing conservation strategies. Despite its recognized importance in ecosystem management, the assessment of phylogenetic diversity in endangered habitats, such as vernal pools, remains limited. Vernal pools, characterized by cyclical inundation and unique plant communities, present an ideal system for investigating the interplay between ecological factors and phylogenetic structure. This study aims to characterize the phylogenetic patterns of vernal pools and their associated vegetation zones, addressing questions about taxonomic and phylogenetic community discreteness, the role of flooding as a habitat filter, the influence of invasive species on phylogenetic structure, and the impact of seasonal variation on phylogenetic diversity. I find that zones‐of‐vegetation exhibit high between zone taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity whereas each zone forms a unique cluster, suggesting that zones are taxonomically and phylogenetically discrete units. Regions of high‐inundation pressure exhibit phylogenetic clustering, indicating that flooding is a habitat filter in vernal pool habitats. Competition between native species conform to the ‘competitive relatedness hypothesis’ and, conversely, communities dominated by invasive Eurasian grass species are phylogenetically clustered. In addition, I find that phylogenetic diversity within zones fluctuates across the spring season in response to changing water levels, precipitation, and temperature. By analyzing three pools within the Merced Vernal Pool and Grassland Reserve, this research elucidates the phylogenetic dynamics of vernal pools. The findings underscore the need for tailored conservation strategies that account for the unique ecological characteristics of each vegetation zone within vernal pool habitats.

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Hydrologic Influences on Plant Community Structure in Vernal Pools of Northeastern California

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Invasive plant feedbacks promote alternative states in California vernal pools

Invasive plant feedbacks promote alternative states in California vernal pools

The adaptive potential of plant populations in response to extreme climate events

Environmental determinants of phylogenetic diversity in vernal pool habitats

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