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Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision

Invasive species can positively, neutrally, or negatively affect the provision of ecosystem services. The direction and magnitude of this effect can be a function of the invaders’ density and the service(s) of interest. We assessed the density-dependent effect of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites...

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Autores principales: Theuerkauf, Seth J., Puckett, Brandon J., Theuerkauf, Kathrynlynn W., Theuerkauf, Ethan J., Eggleston, David B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5325552/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28235024
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173007
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author Theuerkauf, Seth J.
Puckett, Brandon J.
Theuerkauf, Kathrynlynn W.
Theuerkauf, Ethan J.
Eggleston, David B.
author_facet Theuerkauf, Seth J.
Puckett, Brandon J.
Theuerkauf, Kathrynlynn W.
Theuerkauf, Ethan J.
Eggleston, David B.
author_sort Theuerkauf, Seth J.
collection PubMed
description Invasive species can positively, neutrally, or negatively affect the provision of ecosystem services. The direction and magnitude of this effect can be a function of the invaders’ density and the service(s) of interest. We assessed the density-dependent effect of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on three ecosystem services (plant diversity and community structure, shoreline stabilization, and carbon storage) in two oligohaline marshes within the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NCNERR), USA. Plant species richness was equivalent among low, medium and high Phragmites density plots, and overall plant community composition did not vary significantly by Phragmites density. Shoreline change was most negative (landward retreat) where Phragmites density was highest (-0.40 ± 0.19 m yr(-1) vs. -0.31 ± 0.10 for low density Phragmites) in the high energy marsh of Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve and most positive (soundward advance) where Phragmites density was highest (0.19 ± 0.05 m yr(-1) vs. 0.12 ± 0.07 for low density Phragmites) in the lower energy marsh of Currituck Banks Reserve, although there was no significant effect of Phragmites density on shoreline change. In Currituck Banks, mean soil carbon content was approximately equivalent in cores extracted from low and high Phragmites density plots (23.23 ± 2.0 kg C m(-3) vs. 22.81 ± 3.8). In Kitty Hawk Woods, mean soil carbon content was greater in low Phragmites density plots (36.63 ± 10.22 kg C m(-3)) than those with medium (13.99 ± 1.23 kg C m(-3)) or high density (21.61 ± 4.53 kg C m(-3)), but differences were not significant. These findings suggest an overall neutral density-dependent effect of Phragmites on three ecosystem services within two oligohaline marshes in different environmental settings within a protected reserve system. Moreover, the conceptual framework of this study can broadly inform an ecosystem services-based approach to invasive species management.
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spelling pubmed-53255522017-03-09 Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision Theuerkauf, Seth J. Puckett, Brandon J. Theuerkauf, Kathrynlynn W. Theuerkauf, Ethan J. Eggleston, David B. PLoS One Research Article Invasive species can positively, neutrally, or negatively affect the provision of ecosystem services. The direction and magnitude of this effect can be a function of the invaders’ density and the service(s) of interest. We assessed the density-dependent effect of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on three ecosystem services (plant diversity and community structure, shoreline stabilization, and carbon storage) in two oligohaline marshes within the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NCNERR), USA. Plant species richness was equivalent among low, medium and high Phragmites density plots, and overall plant community composition did not vary significantly by Phragmites density. Shoreline change was most negative (landward retreat) where Phragmites density was highest (-0.40 ± 0.19 m yr(-1) vs. -0.31 ± 0.10 for low density Phragmites) in the high energy marsh of Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve and most positive (soundward advance) where Phragmites density was highest (0.19 ± 0.05 m yr(-1) vs. 0.12 ± 0.07 for low density Phragmites) in the lower energy marsh of Currituck Banks Reserve, although there was no significant effect of Phragmites density on shoreline change. In Currituck Banks, mean soil carbon content was approximately equivalent in cores extracted from low and high Phragmites density plots (23.23 ± 2.0 kg C m(-3) vs. 22.81 ± 3.8). In Kitty Hawk Woods, mean soil carbon content was greater in low Phragmites density plots (36.63 ± 10.22 kg C m(-3)) than those with medium (13.99 ± 1.23 kg C m(-3)) or high density (21.61 ± 4.53 kg C m(-3)), but differences were not significant. These findings suggest an overall neutral density-dependent effect of Phragmites on three ecosystem services within two oligohaline marshes in different environmental settings within a protected reserve system. Moreover, the conceptual framework of this study can broadly inform an ecosystem services-based approach to invasive species management. Public Library of Science 2017-02-24 /pmc/articles/PMC5325552/ /pubmed/28235024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173007 Text en © 2017 Theuerkauf et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Theuerkauf, Seth J.
Puckett, Brandon J.
Theuerkauf, Kathrynlynn W.
Theuerkauf, Ethan J.
Eggleston, David B.
Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
title Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
title_full Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
title_fullStr Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
title_full_unstemmed Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
title_short Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
title_sort density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5325552/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28235024
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173007
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