Proposed Research: Endangered Species Habitat and Ecosystem Services in Novel Systems
Alexander Goetz1
1University of Denver, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Denver, CO, alexander.goetz23@du.edu
Invasive Tamarix spp. is a target of considerable control efforts in the American Southwest due to its complex impacts on the riparian biotic community. Previous research has suggested that removal does not generally allow the system to revert to a pre-invasion state, but instead creates a new type of ecosystem. These new ecosystems formed by human-induced changes are referred to as “novel ecosystems.” While Tamarix is generally detrimental to the ecosystem, it can also be utilized by animals. Tamarix provides habitat for the federally endangered bird Empidonax traillii extimus (abbreviated as SWFL) which is lost when removal or defoliation occurs. Invaded areas can also support cattle grazing. Ecosystems may be natural, invaded or restored; both invaded and restored areas contain novel assemblages. While the use of Tamarix by the SWFL has been analyzed on a large scale, including the impact of invasive species removal, no research to date has evaluated this system using the concepts of novel ecosystems or ecosystem services. In this study, I will use functional traits of plant species to measure differences in ecosystem properties, specifically those relating to SWFL and cattle habitat, in order to determine whether these are conflicting management goals. I will build upon existing work by the Sher lab using a dataset of 244 invaded, restored and natural sites across the American Southwest in combination with a trait catalog currently being compiled for the 168 species occurring at these sites using the published literature. I will collect data on branching structure in the field at a subset of sites. I will conduct a cluster analysis on the collected data to determine relationships between traits and suitability metrics. These results will improve our understanding of the trajectory of degraded environments after restoration activity has occurred in terms of ecosystem function and feasibility of management goals.