Twenty years of tallgrass prairie restoration in northern Illinois, USA

Bach, Elizabeth M.; Kleiman, Bill P.

doi:10.1002/2688-8319.12101

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…For this reason, understanding a species’ local abundance and habitat associations can provide valuable insights into their distribution patterns and inform conservation strategies across their native range. Our results become more relevant, as research efforts have promoted prairie and wetland restoration globally which provides a vital refuge for several taxa ( Gleason et al, 2011 ; Bach & Kleiman, 2021 ). In the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States alone, over 2 million ha of prairie and wetland habitat have been restored since 1985 ( Gleason et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Tilling and tile drainage are frequently used in the surrounding landscape to allow for the wet soil to accommodate the cultivation of agricultural products such as corn, beans, and hay ( Elmer & Zwicker, 2005 ; Elmer & Boggess, 2008 ). Some areas within Nachusa were formally tiled and harvested annually, but much of the preserve is remnant native land dominated by prairies and wetlands ( Bach & Kleiman, 2021 ). The area is characterized as a rolling glacial till plain commonly found within the northwestern Illinois region ( Elmer & Zwicker, 2005 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in fine-scale water table depth drives abundance of a unique semi-terrestrial crayfish species

Carlson,

Swedberg,

Miernicki

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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With anthropogenic changes altering the environment and the subsequent decline of natural habitats, it can be challenging to predict essential habitats for elusive and difficult to study taxa. Primary burrowing crayfish are one such group due to the complexity in sampling their semi-terrestrial, subterranean habitat. Sampling burrows usually requires a labor-intensive, time-consuming excavation or trapping process. However, limited information on burrowing crayfish suggests that fine-scale habitat variation may drive burrowing crayfish habitat choice. This project aimed to evaluate the fine-scale habitat characteristics that influence burrowing crayfish presence and abundance at a large, restored-remnant grassland preserve in north-central Illinois. We documented burrow abundance and quadrat-specific habitat variables such as root biomass, canopy cover, apparent seasonal high-water table (water table) depth and dominant vegetation at sites with and without burrowing crayfish populations. Data was recorded at every quadrat and analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. A total of 21 models were created to determine what habitat variables affected burrow presence and abundance. We found that the water table depth was a significant driver of burrow presence and abundance. Root biomass and vegetation cover were not significant drivers, although they did show up in the final models, explaining the data. These findings demonstrate empirical support for previous observations from other burrowing crayfish research and demonstrate the influence of fine-scale habitat when modeling elusive taxa requirements.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in fine-scale water table depth drives abundance of a unique semi-terrestrial crayfish species

Carlson,

Swedberg,

Miernicki

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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“…Such record keeping can open opportunities for future assessment of the role of restoration practices and management decisions within the urban context and research-management partnerships (e.g. Bach & Kleiman 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local site conditions, not landscape context, influence restored plant communities within urban contexts

Conway,

Brudvig

2024

Restoration Ecology

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Restoration outcomes are variable, which impairs our ability to plan projects, meet goals, and predict restoration outcomes. Understanding the drivers of this variation is an important research need, especially within urban ecosystems, which support altered abiotic and biotic conditions and face higher rates of loss and degradation than non‐urban areas. Despite the importance of urban areas for restoration, research and practice have largely focused on non‐urban areas. It is unclear if we can extend current knowledge from restoration ecology to urban systems. Here, we surveyed 30 urban prairie restoration plantings across southern Michigan. We collected plant community and site condition data (e.g. soil attributes) and we quantified landscape context as the percentage of urban land surrounding each site. Variation in plant community composition among restorations was related primarily to site‐level factors, such as soil compaction, texture, and water‐holding capacity, rather than landscape context. Non‐prairie species were structured primarily by the local site conditions. There was an increase in non‐prairie richness for sites that experienced warmer local climate conditions, while there was a decrease in non‐prairie richness for sites where soils were less compacted, sandier, and had elevated water‐holding capacity. Prairie species richness responded oppositely. Overall, our study revealed specific factors structuring restoration outcomes in urban contexts and illustrated the importance of local site conditions, not surrounding landscape context, for shaping plant community composition. Restoration practices developed in non‐urban areas should be extended to urban contexts to better understand the impact of local site conditions on plant community development.

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“…These findings help to predict restoration outcomes where more or less dominance of taller‐growing species might be expected and suggest situations where additional management interventions might be targeted. Management actions such as prescribed fire, mowing, grazing, targeted addition of native hemiparasitic plants, and repeated overseeding of native species can help to reduce competitive dominance of tall‐statured species and promote communities with more short‐statured species (Bach & Kleiman, 2021; DiGiovanni et al, 2017; Rowe, 2010). As a result, these measures may help to buffer against adverse planting year effects following high rainfall planting years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait‐mediated community assembly during experimental grassland restoration is altered by planting year rainfall

Atkinson

Groves

Towers

et al. 2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Ecological restoration outcomes are highly variable, undermining efforts to recover biodiversity and ecosystem functions. One poorly understood source of variability is ‘year effects’—interannual variation in environmental conditions during the first year of restoration that alter successional trajectories of plant communities. There have been few experimental tests disentangling planting years from other differences among restoration projects (e.g. edaphic conditions, restoration approach), particularly those resolving mechanisms for year effects such as planting‐year rainfall. Moreover, past year effect studies focused almost exclusively on species‐level consequences. Therefore, the extent to which year effects influence the traits of communities is unknown. To address these gaps and provide a mechanistic test of how precipitation contributes to year effects, we conducted an experiment where we manipulated rainfall (drought, average and high levels) during the first growing season, replicated across three establishment year treatments to disentangle the effects of precipitation from other drivers of year effects. In each establishment year, we seeded the same species mix to initiate grassland restoration. We then surveyed plant community compositions annually for 5 years to quantify trait responses of restored communities to planting year rainfall. We found that variation in planting‐year precipitation altered community assembly trajectories by influencing community‐weighted mean (CWM) trait composition, and these effects persisted for at least 5 years. Over time, CWM specific leaf area and CWM seed mass decreased and CWM plant height increased. The effect of age on CWM plant height was stronger in plots that received mean and high watering treatments compared to drought treatments. This effect was also observed for CWM seed mass, albeit weaker. We also found some evidence for planting year effects unrelated to planting‐year rainfall for the three CWM traits, illustrating how interannually varying environmental conditions besides rainfall can generate persistent year effect on plant communities through their traits. Synthesis and applications. Our results provide evidence for planting year rainfall interacting with community assembly to alter the functional trait composition of restored grasslands. This suggests that interannual variation in rainfall during establishment is an important source of divergent biodiversity and functional outcomes in restored grasslands.

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Twenty years of tallgrass prairie restoration in northern Illinois, USA

Cited by 10 publications

References 42 publications

Variation in fine-scale water table depth drives abundance of a unique semi-terrestrial crayfish species

Variation in fine-scale water table depth drives abundance of a unique semi-terrestrial crayfish species

Local site conditions, not landscape context, influence restored plant communities within urban contexts

Trait‐mediated community assembly during experimental grassland restoration is altered by planting year rainfall

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