Search

We investigated the hypothesis that maritime climatic factors associated with summer fog and low cloud stratus (summer marine layer) help explain the compositional diversity of chaparral in the coast range of central California. We randomly sampled chaparral species composition in 0.1-hectare plots along a coast-to-interior gradient. For each plot, climatic variables were estimated and soil samples were analyzed. We used Cluster Analysis and Principle Components Analysis to objectively categorize plots into climate zone groups. Climate variables, vegetation composition and various diversity measures were compared across climate zone groups using ANOVA and nonmetric multidimensional scaling. Differences in climatic variables that relate to summer moisture availability and winter freeze events explained the majority of variance in measured conditions and coincided with three chaparral assemblages: maritime (lowland coast where the summer marine layer was strongest), transition (upland coast with mild summer marine layer influence and greater winter precipitation), and interior sites that generally lacked late summer water availability from either source. Species turnover (β-diversity) was higher among maritime and transition sites than interior sites. Coastal chaparral differs from interior chaparral in having a higher obligate seeder to facultative seeder (resprouter) ratio and by being dominated by various Arctostaphylos species as opposed to the interior dominant, Adenostoma fasciculatum. The maritime climate influence along the California central coast is associated with patterns of woody plant composition and β-diversity among sites. Summer fog in coastal lowlands and higher winter precipitation in coastal uplands combine to lower late dry season water deficit in coastal chaparral and contribute to longer fire return intervals that are associated with obligate seeders and more local endemism. Soil nutrients are comparatively less important in explaining plant community composition, but heterogeneous azonal soils contribute to local endemism and promote isolated chaparral patches within the dominant forest vegetation along the coast.

We analyzed tidal wetland vegetation patterns in the San Francisco Bay–Delta estuary (Bay–Delta) and discuss their significance for future conservation. Our objective was to conduct a balanced, random sample of six historic “remnant” tidal wetlands along a salinity gradient that ranged from southern San Pablo Bay to the lower Delta. We also wanted to compare diversity among these sites at five different scales, ranging from small subplots to total species per site. We randomly established twenty 0.1-ha plots at each site, and sampled ten 7-m2 circular subplots (subplot scale) in each plot for species presence and cover. We calculated total species per plot (plot scale) and total species per site (site scale) based on these subplot data. We calculated importance values for each species found in subplots based on frequency of occurrence and proportion of total cover at each site. In addition, we recorded species found within the 0.1-ha plot but not sampled in subplots (plot_all scale), and calculated the total species for each site based on these plot_all data (site_all scale). Thus, richness at each site was evaluated at five different scales that ranged from 7 m2 to 20,000 m2. We conducted a one-way ANOVA that compared mean richness among three scales with continuous data: subplot, plot, and plot_all. At lower estuary (San Pablo Bay) sites, richness values at these three scales were significantly lower than upper estuary (Suisun–Delta) sites. In Suisun–Delta sites, significant differences in richness varied, depending on sampling scale. Rush Ranch, a brackish wetland, had the highest average number of species per plot, whereas Sand Mound Slough, a freshwater wetland, had the highest average number of species at the subplot scale and the most total species at the site_all scale. Sand Mound Slough also had the highest number of unique species (22) compared to the other sites. We found a strong negative correlation (r2 = 0.99) between total species number and salinity (the most in the Delta at the lowest salinity, and the least at China Camp with the greatest salinity). Our analysis suggests the following conservation recommendations: (1) restore habitat for freshwater plant species diversity in the Delta; (2) restore transitional brackish wetland habitat in salt marshes of the San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay; and (3) focus on control of pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) in brackish marshes.

Climate change will affect tidal wetlands with higher rates of sea-level rise and higher concentrations of salt in brackish and freshwater tidal systems, in addition to causing increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration, warmer temperatures, and shifts in precipitation. In the San Francisco Bay–Delta, the areas most likely to be affected—brackish and freshwater tidal wetlands—are also the sites with the majority of endemic plant species and the greater biodiversity and productivity. Effects on the San Francisco Bay– Delta estuary are complex and difficult to predict, but a few things are clear. Biodiversity of the tidal wetland system in the San Francisco Bay–Delta region will decline, with subsequent effects on ecosystem functioning and services. Altered plant production, physiological tolerances, and shifts in rates of mortality will modify wetland plant communities in ways not yet predictable. Lower ecosystem productivity from salinity increases will affect both primary and detrital-based food webs. Such changes will cascade via the food webs into invertebrate, bird, and pelagic systems. Tidal wetlands are especially sensitive to processes that climate change will alter. Several of these altered processes are exacerbated by water diversions from the Delta.

Early restoration efforts in San Francisco Bay focused primarily on establishing appropriate elevations for plant recruitment, based on plant distributions in natural wetlands. Sites were graded and planted, and tidal connections were re-established with the expectation that restored wetlands would quickly resemble natural ecosystems. Over time, restoration efforts have evolved, with the realization that natural development of restoration sites is preferable, including a dense channel network and the accumulation of soils of appropriate texture. Bay restoration efforts also have grown substantially in size and scope. Whereas projects of 50 hectares were considered large in the 1980s, now many projects are 100s of hectares. Larger projects are on the scale of 1000s of hectares, with the largest approximately 6000 hectares (the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project). This massive increase in scale has brought enormous restoration opportunities, but it also has increased the complexity of restoration projects and highlighted the necessity of large-scale public involvement. Awareness of non-native plants at restoration sites is just one example of factors that have increased restoration complexity. Potential impacts of climate change also have moved to the forefront of restoration design, as sea-level rise and potential shifts in salinity are critical factors for long-term restoration planning.

Ecological factors favoring either postfire resprouting or postfire obligate seeding in plants have received considerable attention recently. Three ecological models have been proposed to explain patterns of these two life history types. In this study, we test these three models using data from California chaparral. We take an innovative approach to testing these models by not testing community or landscape patterns, but instead, investigating vegetation structure characteristic of four pairs of resprouting and (non-resprouting) obligate seeding subspecies of Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae), a dominant and diverse shrub genus in California chaparral. Data were analyzed for percentage bare ground, elevation, annual precipitation, number of fires, and time between fires and were compared independently for each subspecies pair. Results were consistently supportive of the gap-dependent model suggesting that obligate seeders are favored when post-disturbance gaps are large. Results were inconclusive or contrary to expectations for both of the other two models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal marshes maintain elevation relative to sea level through accumulation of mineral and organic matter, yet this dynamic accumulation feedback mechanism has not been modeled widely in the context of accelerated sea-level rise. Uncertainties exist about tidal marsh resiliency to accelerated sea-level rise, reduced sediment supply, reduced plant productivity under increased inundation, and limited upland habitat for marsh migration. We examined marsh resiliency under these uncertainties using the Marsh Equilibrium Model, a mechanistic, elevation-based soil cohort model, using a rich data set of plant productivity and physical properties from sites across the estuarine salinity gradient. Four tidal marshes were chosen along this gradient: two islands and two with adjacent uplands. Varying century sea-level rise (52, 100, 165, 180 cm) and suspended sediment concentrations (100%, 50%, and 25% of current concentrations), we simulated marsh accretion across vegetated elevations for 100 years, applying the results to high spatial resolution digital elevation models to quantify potential changes in marsh distributions. At low rates of sea-level rise and mid-high sediment concentrations, all marshes maintained vegetated elevations indicative of mid/high marsh habitat. With century sea-level rise at 100 and 165 cm, marshes shifted to low marsh elevations; mid/high marsh elevations were found only in former uplands. At the highest century sea-level rise and lowest sediment concentrations, the island marshes became dominated by mudflat elevations. Under the same sediment concentrations, low salinity brackish marshes containing highly productive vegetation had slower elevation loss compared to more saline sites with lower productivity. A similar trend was documented when comparing against a marsh accretion model that did not model vegetation feedbacks. Elevation predictions using the Marsh Equilibrium Model highlight the importance of including vegetation responses to sea-level rise. These results also emphasize the importance of adjacent uplands for long-term marsh survival and incorporating such areas in conservation planning efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the seed rain throughout a twelve month period in a lowland tropical forest in Cameroon, West Africa, 1996–97. Traps (0.5 m2, n = 216) were erected throughout a 25 km2 area in 24 randomly placed clusters of nine traps each. Fruits and seeds that landed in traps were collected every 7–10 days and classified by species and dispersal type. More than 32,000 seeds from approximately 200 species fell into the traps, an average of 297 seeds m-2 yr-1 Thirty species represent 82% of the total seed rain while an additional 175 species comprise the remaining 18%. When we compared the adult community to the seed rain community within the same plots, we found no apparent correlation between seed rain patterns and adult community structure for this year of study. Furthermore, only 49% of the adult tree community produced and dispersed seed into traps in this year. More than 100 species (52%) found in the seed rain represented long-distance immigrant seed rain. Seed rain was highly variable at several scales, both spatially and seasonally, although seeds arrived in traps during each collection period. Cluster analyses showed that traps within plots were seldom more similar to one another than traps between plots. While 82% of the tree species in the community are thought to be animal dispersed, only 28% of all seeds that fell into traps had been obviously “handled” (bitten, chewed, or passed) by animals. Tests for fruit and seed removal by predators or dispersers found 5% or less removal rate from traps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular genetic methods were used to determine whether artificial defoliation affects ectomycorrhizal (EM) colonization, EM fungal species richness, and species composition in a mixed Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine)/Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce) forest in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. All lodgepole pines in three replicate plots were defoliated 50%, while Engelmann spruce were left untreated. This was done to determine how defoliation of one conifer species would affect EM mutualisms of both treated and neighboring, untreated conifers. The results indicated no significant effect on either EM colonization (142.0 EM tips/core in control plots and 142.4 in treatment plots) or species richness (5.0 species/core in controls and 4.5 in treatments). However, the relative abundance of EM of the two tree species shifted from a ratio of approximately 6:1 without treatment (lodgepole EM:spruce EM), to a near 1:1 ratio post-treatment. This shift may be responsible for maintaining total EM colonization and species richness following defoliation. In addition, EM species composition changed significantly post-defoliation; the system dominant, an Inocybe species, was rare in defoliation plots, while Agaricoid and Suilloid species that were rare in controls were dominant in treatments. Furthermore, species of EM fungi associating with both lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce were affected, which indicates that changing the photosynthetic capacity of one species can affect mycorrhizal associations of neighboring non-defoliated trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Successional models are used to predict how restoration projects will achieve their goals. These models have been developed on different spatial and temporal scales and consequently emphasize different types of dynamics. This paper focuses on the restoration goal of self-sustainability, but only in the context of a long-term goal. Because of the temporal scale of this goal, we must consider the impact of processes arising outside of the restoration site as of greater importance than restoration itself. Because ecological systems are open, restoration sites will be subjected to many external influential processes. Depending on the landscape context, the impact of these processes may not be noticeable, or, at the other extreme, they may prevent the achievement of restoration objectives. A second issue is to emphasize the nature of processes in the long term, that they are a complex of characteristics such as magnitude, frequency, and extent. Ecological systems are only adapted to a range of values in each of these characteristics. Restoration often combines goals that are of different scales. Models appropriate to these goals need consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]