Understanding Plant Ecology Increases Restoration Success. By Nancy J. Bissett The Natives (863)

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2 Understanding Plant Ecology Increases Restoration Success By Nancy J. Bissett The Natives (863)

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5 Trajectory Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. It is an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates an ecological pathway or trajectory through time towards a reference state..a moving picture from the past or we can project it into the future. If we did this or that what would happen next It is problem solving

6 Horror vacui Nature abhors a vacuum BC On Nature

7 Ecological niche Animals are what we are used to conceptualizing Plants niches are often thought of as needing just physical ground space - mental trap

8 Ecological Niche G. Evelyn Hutchinson: niche: n-dimensional Hypervolume All the environmental conditions needed for an organism or its population to persist Light Hydrology Nutrients Soils Structure Climate Competitors Predators Mutualists Etc.

9 Who gets there first? Who lasts through time? FQI Floristic Quality Index - Gerould Wilhelm C Coefficient of Conservatism each species grades obligate to ruderal areas 1-3 varying affinity to ruderal areas 4-6 varying affinity to natural areas, quality of area is variable 7-9 varying affinity to high quality natural areas 10 obligate to high quality natural areas

10 Modified Floristic Species Classification Developed by The Natives, Nancy Bissett Aggressive and Exotic Weedy Species Native Weedy Species Pioneer Species Characteristic Species 0 points 1-2 points 2-5 points 4-10 points

11 Aggressive - Species that out-compete weedy species and sometimes will even out-compete characteristic species of stable ecosystems; these species are not native. Weedy- Species that depend on unnatural or severe disturbances to become established. Pioneer - Species that readily reseed in unnatural or severely disturbed areas but persist and are characteristic of mature ecosystems also. Characteristic - Species that are found in mature ecosystems

12 Who gets there first? Not Dead Enough

13 What s in the Seedbank? Old Pasture sites Active agriculture sites Dove and quail fields

14 Planting acorns, palmettos, etc.

15 Saw palmetto and scrub palmetto seed were added to seed mix Acorns and hickory nuts were hand planted as they ripened

16 Planting grass plugs At Bok Tower Gardens

17 Hand seeding small areas

18 Coreopsis leavenworthii, annual Moist sandy soils

19 Germinates quickly after disturbance, settles back into seedbank and waits

20 Heterotheca subaxillaris Camphorweed Use as a nurse species

21 Pioneering Species Elliott s and Purple Lovegrasses. Eragrostis elliottii and E. spectabilis

22 Lovegrasses all perform well for roadway seeding.

23 Two-tracked roads in natural areas offer clues to pioneering species. Eustachys petraea Finger grass works well on limey soils as in many road edges.

24 Redtop Panicums (Panicum longifolium and Panicum rigidulum) for wetter areas, easy to toss seed into hog disturbances, etc.

25 Native grasses and forbs were seeded on washed sand tailings and irrigated with water guns.

26 Wiregrass and lopsided indiangrass were reduced in size on scrub soil. Added scrub species include sandhill wireweed, October flower, Chapman s goldenrod, and more

27 Many hand-collected scrub species thrived.

28 Scrub pioneering species include: Aristida gyrans, scrub threeawn Balduina angustiolia, yellow buttons Palafoxia feayi, palafoxia Trichostema dichotoma, blue curls Garberia heterophylla, garberia Polygonella polygama, October flower Polygonella robusta, sandhill wireweed Eragrostis spectabilis, purple lovegrass Eragrostis elliottii, Elliott s lovegrass

29 Hand collected, seeded scrub species producing more seed on site within 6 months. Species include blue curls, yellow buttons, scrub eryngium, and palafoxia with skipper.

30 Scrub threeawn (Aristida gyrans) seeded and spreading by reseeding

31 Seeded species have been reseeding

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33 Irrigating dry areas produces many seedlings, but it is not necessary with adequate rainfall.

34 Hog damage was revegetated by blue maidencane grass

35 Maidencane, Panicum hemitomon, sprigged after torpedo grass herbiciding

36 An existing wet prairie was dominated by carpet grass, Axonopus furcatus. We mowed it short and applied a single application of glyphosate. This reduced the cover of carpet grass and dramatically increased the number and cover of wet prairie species.

37 Bahia Grass ( Paspalum notatum) can spread from rhizomes or germinate from seed

38 Imazapic (Plateau) was applied in June, 6 months after seeding. Bahia grass seedlings were controlled and the native species flourished.

39 Precision application: Herbicide was applied to center of natal grass on each side of cutthroat grass Continuing Maintenance: Sites are maintained by spot spraying several times a year.

40 Control exotics in surrounding areas if possible

41 Overseeding and over planting may prevent or lessen weeds

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43 CONTACT INFORMATION: Nancy J Bissett Restoration Ecologist, The Natives, Inc. (863) nbissett@thenatives.net