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Restoring restoration: removal of the invasive plant Microstegium vimineum from a North Carolina wetland

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Abstract

Restoration sites are vulnerable to plant invasions due to habitat and resource alteration. We conducted an invasive plant-removal study at a wetland restoration in the North Carolina Piedmont, a site dominated by the non-native invasive, Microstegium vimineum. Paired plots (M. vimineum hand-weeded and unweeded) were established and maintained to monitor response of plant species richness and diversity. Plots increased from 4 to 15 species m−2 after three growing seasons of M. vimineum removal and 90% of the newly establishing species were native. Weeding ceased in the fourth growing season and M. vimineum rapidly re-invaded. Formerly weeded plots increased to 59% (±11% SE) M. vimineum cover, 25 of 51 plant species disappeared from the plots, and species richness decreased to an average of <8 species m−2. Our results show that we can quickly establish an abundant, diverse community with invasive removal, but that persistent effort is required to monitor and maintain the long-term viability of this community.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Mengchi Ho for extensive help with plant surveys and plant identification. Thanks to Karen Hall and Barbara Doll for use of the Yates Millpond site, and to Dr. Dean Urban and Dr. Nicolette Cagle for help with the NMS ordination. This research was supported by funds from the Budweiser Conservation Fellowship, the Society of Wetland Scientists Student Grants, and the Graduate School of Duke University. We appreciate the comments of two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Duke University, P.O. Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27705, USA

    Julie E. DeMeester & Daniel deB. Richter

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  1. Julie E. DeMeester
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  2. Daniel deB. Richter
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Correspondence to Daniel deB. Richter.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 7.

Table 7 Targeted impacts of M. vimineum; the average difference between the weeded plots and the M. vimineum plots when M. vimineum was removed from the not weeded statistics
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DeMeester, J.E., deB. Richter, D. Restoring restoration: removal of the invasive plant Microstegium vimineum from a North Carolina wetland. Biol Invasions 12, 781–793 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9481-9

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