Transcript Native Habitat Restoration in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

Native Habitat Restoration in the
Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Tony Falk1, Dr. Timothy E. Fulbright1, Forrest S. Smith2, Dr.
Alfonso Ortega-Santos1, &Steve Benn3
1. Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M
Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363
2. South Texas Natives, Kingsville, TX 78363
3. Texas Parks and Wildlife, Weslaco, TX 78596
Introduction
• Less than 1% of the native prairie left
(McGraw, J.
B. 1987)
• Restoration has been going on since the early
1900’s
• Means of restoration
– Allowing to go fallow
– Addition of seed
• Little work done in the Lower Rio Grande
Valley, Texas
Introduction
• 3 reasons restoration has been unsuccessful in
the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas
• No Native seed bank (Holl, K. D. et al. 2000)
• Changes in disturbance regimes
• Agricultural production
• No locally adapted native seed (McGraw, J. B. 1987)
• Many different Non-native Species to compete
with (Masters, R. A. et al. 1996)
Goals
• Establish a diverse native prairie that would be
resistant to invasion from non-native species
• Increase the species diversity of the area
Site Description
•
•
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Temperature averages 23 C
65 cm rain annually however highly variable
Harlingen Clay
South Texas Plains ecoregion
Previously managed for White wing dove and
Bobwhite quail
Red = Prepared treatments
Green = Control
Yellow = Prepared and seeded
Treatments
• Control
– Nothing done
Treatments
• Control
– Nothing done
• Prepared
– trees removed, mowed, disked, moldboard
plowed, disked, leveled
Treatments
• Control
– Nothing done
• Prepared
– trees removed, mowed, disked, moldboard
plowed, disked, leveled
• Prepared and seeded
– trees removed, mowed, disked, moldboard
plowed, disked, leveled, seeded with a Truax™
seed drill and a tube spreader
Seed mix
• Seed mix made up of 31 locally adapted
– Seeded according to NRCS rangeland guidelines
• 8:2 ratio of grasses to forbs
• Even distribution of succesional groups
• Developed to completely repopulate seed
bank
• All land preparation and seeding was
completed in March 2008
Statistical Analysis
• Analyzed using repeated measures analysis
SAS 9.1
• α ≤0.05
• Independent variable
– Treatment
• Dependent variable
– Cover
Results
• Establishment of 83% planted species
• Several species have increased
– Slender Grama (Bouteloua repens)
– Plain Bristle Grass (Setaria spp.)
• Establishment of several species that were
≤1% of the seed mix
Mean Species Richness
30
B
P = 0.0012
Mean # of Species/ 2 ha
25
20
15
A
A
10
5
0
Control
Prepared
Treatment
Seeded
Mean % Cover of Perennial Native Species
in each Treatment for each Sample Date
60
Legend
Control
P repared
Seeded
50
Time*Treatment P= 0.0091
% Cover
40
30
20
10
0
oct. 08
jan. 09
Mar. 09
Jun. 09
Sample Date
Aug. 09
Oct. 09
Mean % Cover of Perennial Non-Native Species
in each Treatment for each Sample Date
70
Legend
Control
P repared
Seeded
60
Time*Treatment P < 0.0001
% Cover
50
40
30
20
10
0
oct. 08
jan. 09
Mar. 09
Jun. 09
Sample Date
Aug. 09
Oct. 09
discussion
• Without seed any disturbance will end up as a
non-native community
• Little native seed bank (Smith Forrest 2009)
– Nothing left to fill the void
– Can not compete
• Creates simplified plant community (Randall, J. M.
1996)
Discussion
• Planting a diverse mix of native species
prevents non-native species from establishing
(Blumenthal, et al. 2003)
• A diverse mix competes with non-natives
– Provides good early competition
– Provides year round competition
– Potentially fills all available niches (Bakker, J. and S.
Wilson 2004)
Mean % Cover of 4 Native Species and Mean % Cover
of all Native species in each Block
70
Legend
Block 1
Block 2
Block 3
Block 4
60
% Cover
50
40
30
20
10
0
Total native cover Slender grama
Bristle Grass
Sideoats grama Orange zexmenia
Conclusion
• Are able to establish natives
• Increase the species diversity of an area
through seeding
• Able to reduce the spread of non-natives
through the addition of seed
• This project fits into NRCS programs
– WHIP, CRP, GRP
For The Future
• Continued monitoring of this project (Fulbright, T. et
al. 2006)
• Adding management (Wilson, S. D. and M. Pärtel 2003)
– Herbicide
– Grazing
– Burning
Acknowledgements
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Texas Parks and Wildlife
South Texas Natives
Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Center
South Texas Chapter Quail Unlimited
Coauthors and committee members
Everyone that helped with data collection
Works Citied
1.
2.
Bakker, J. and S. Wilson (2004). "Using ecological restoration to constrain biological invasion." Journal of applied Ecology.
Blumenthal, D., N. Jordan, et al. (2003). "Weed control as a rationale for restoration: the example of tallgrass prairie."
Conservation Ecology 7(1): 6.
3. Fulbright, T. E., J. A. Ortega-Santos, et al. (2006). "Establishing Vegetation on Migrating Inland Sand Dunes in Texas."
Rangeland Ecology & Management 59(5): 549-556.
4. Haase, R. (1990). "Community Composition and Soil Properties in Northern Bolivian Savanna Vegetation." Journal of
Vegetation Science 1(3): 345-352.
5. Holl, K. D., H. N. Steele, et al. (2000). "Seed Banks of Maritime Chaparral and Abandoned Roads: Potential for Vegetation
Recovery." Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 127(3): 207-220.
6. Masters, R. A., S. J. Nissen, et al. (1996). "Imidazolinone Herbicides Improve Restoration of Great Plains Grasslands." Weed
Technology 10(2): 392-403.
7. McGraw, J. B. (1987). "Experimental Ecology of Dryas octopetala Ecotypes. IV. Fitness Response to Reciprocal Transplanting
in Ecotypes with Differing Plasticity." Oecologia 73(3): 465-468.
8. Simmons, M. T., S. Windhager, et al. (2007). "Selective and Non-Selective Control of Invasive Plants: The Short-Term Effects
of Growing-Season Prescribed Fire, Herbicide, and Mowing in Two Texas Prairies." Restoration Ecology 15(4): 662-669.
9. Smith, Forrest. Coordinator South Texas Natives. Personal communication 6/2009.
10. Randall, J. M. (1996). "Weed Control for the Preservation of Biological Diversity." Weed Science Society of America 10: 370383.
11. Wilson, S. D. and M. Pärtel (2003). "Extirpation or Coexistence? Management of a Persistent Introduced Grass in a Prairie
Restoration." Restoration Ecology 11(4): 410.
Questions?