Abstract
Introduced saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima, T. chinensis, and their hybrids) reaches its northward distribution in the Great Plains in Montana, USA. We mapped the locations, patterns of abundance, and ages of saltcedar along the Musselshell River and Fort Peck Reservoir in northeastern Montana to identify concentrations of plants that could be used to infer introduction location, establishment year, and mechanisms of dispersal. We estimated the presence of 24,500 plants on the Musselshell River over a river distance of 240 km, with concentrations at three nodes close to Roundup (2,000 plants, seedlings to 24 years), Melstone (6,000 plants, seedlings to 23 years), and the mouth of the river at Fort Peck Reservoir (10,000 plants, seedlings to at least 11 years). Concentrations at Roundup and Melstone probably originated from urban plantings in the 1960s. The third concentration may have established from seeds and plant pieces washed downriver during floods and deposited in the hydraulic backwater of the Musselshell River delta at Fort Peck Reservoir. We believe there may be one-half to one million plants on Fort Peck Reservoir, with concentration nodes at recreation areas on the south shore. We estimated 3,500 mature saltcedar to be present at the Devils Creek Recreation Area, more than 11,000 plants at Hell Creek Recreation Area, and more than 40,000 plants at 6 sites at the south end of Dry Arm close to the Nelson Creek Recreation Area and mouth of Big Dry Creek. The oldest plants on the reservoir were 21 to 33 years old in 2001. Based on these ages, we suggest that saltcedar arrived at the south shore of Fort Peck Reservoir in the mid- to late 1960s, which means that it must have dispersed from the Bighorn/Yellowstone River system soon after it became established in southern Montana. Although wind dispersal and ornamental plantings cannot be ruled out as primary transport mechanisms to the reservoir, the concentrations and ages of saltcedar at recreation areas suggest that seeds and other plant propagules were also transported to the reservoir by earth-moving equipment during site construction between 1966 and the mid-1980s and later by boats and their towing vehicles. Saltcedar was dispersed away from these nodes by wind and water. As Tamarix ramosissima and T. chinensis originated in the cold dry deserts of northeastern Asia, saltcedar may not be limited in its northward expansion by the cold winters, short growing seasons, and periodic droughts characteristic of the northern Great Plains in Canada.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Baum, B. R. 1978. The Genus Tamarisk. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, Israel.
Bailey, J. K., J. A. Schweitzer, and T. G. Whitham. 2001. Salt cedar negatively affects biodiversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Wetlands 21:223–331.
Brock, J. H. 1994. Tamarix spp. (salt cedar), an invasive exotic woody plant in arid and semi-arid riparian habitats of western U.S.A. p. 27–44. In L. C. de Waal, L. E. Child, P. M. Wade, and J. H. Brock (eds.) Ecology and Management of Invasive Riverside Plants. Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA.
Brotherson, J. D. and D. Field. 1982. Tamarix: impacts of a successful weed. Rangelands 9:110–112.
Carman, J. G. and J. D. Brotherson. 1982. Comparisons of sites infested and not infested with saltcedar (Tamarix pentandra) and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia). Weed Science 30:360–364.
Clark, J. S., C. Fastie, G. Hurtt, S. T. Jackson, C. Johnson, G. A. King, M. Lewis, J. Lynch, S. Pacala, C. Prentice, E. W. Schupp, T. Webb III, and P. Wyckoff. 1998. Reid’s paradox of rapid plant migration: dispersal theory and interpretation of paleoecological records. BioScience 48:13–24.
Di Tomaso, J. M. 1998. Impact, biology, and ecology of salt-cedar (Tamarix spp.) in the southwestern United States. Weed Technology 12:326–336.
Egan, T. B. 1996. An approach to site restoration and maintenance for saltcedar control. p. 46–49. In J. M. Di Tomaso and C. E. Bell (eds.) Proceedings of the Saltcedar Management Workshop, 12 June 1996, University of California Cooperative Extensive Service, Holtville, CA, USA.
Everitt, B. L. 1980. Ecology of saltcedar—a plea for research. Environmental Ge Geology 3:77–84.
Everitt, B. L. 1998. Chronology of the spread of tamarisk in the central Rio Grande. Wetlands 18:658–668.
Gaskin, J. F. and B. A. Schaal. 2002. Hybrid Tamarix widespread in U.S. invasion and undetected in native Asian range. Proceedings National Academy of Science USA 99:11256–11259.
Gladwin, D. N. and J. E. Roelle. 1998. Survival of plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima) seedlings in response to flooding. Wetlands 18:669–674.
de Gouvenain, R. C. and B. R. West. 1996. Partnerships and volunteers for control of saltcedar. p. 16–19. In J. M. Di Tomaso and C. E. Bell (eds.) Proceedings of the Saltcedar Management Workshop, 12 June 1996, University of California Cooperative Extensive Service, Holtville, CA, USA.
Graf, W. L. 1978. Fluvial adjustments to the spread of tamarisk in the Colorado Plateau region. Bulletin Geological Society of America 89:1491–1501.
Graf, W. L. 1982. Tamarisk and river-channel management. Environmental Management 6:283–296.
Grubb, R. T., R. L. Sheley, and R. D. Carlstrom. 1997. Saltcedar (tamarisk). Montana State University Extension Service, Bozeman, MT, USA. MT9710.
Hansen, P. L., R. D. Pfister, K. Boggs, B. J. Cook, J. Joy, and D. K. Hinckley. 1995. Classification and Management of Montana’s Riparian and Wetland Sites. Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station, School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA. Miscellaneous Publication 54.
Harris, D. R. 1966. Recent plant invasions in the arid and semi-arid southwest of the United States. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 56:408–422.
Lesica, P. and S. Miles. 2001. Tamarisk growth at the northern margin of its naturalized range in Montana, USA. Wetlands 21:240–246.
Mack, R. N. 1991. The commercial seed trade: an early disperser of weeds in the United States. Economic Botany 45:257–273.
McNeely, J. A., H. A. Mooney, L. E. Neville, P. Schei, and J. K. Waage (eds.). 2001, A Global Strategy on Invasive Alien Species. IUCN Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK (in collaboration with the Global Invasive Species Programme).
Olson, T. E. and F. L. Knopf 1986. Agency subsidization of rapidly-spreading exotic. Wildlife Society Bulletin 14:492–493.
Parker, I. M., D. Simberloff, W. M. Lonsdale, K. Goodell, M. Wonham, P. M. Kareira, M. H. Williamson, B. VonHolle, P. B. Moyle, J. E. Byers, and L. Goldwasser. 1999. Impact: towards a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biological Invasions 1:3–19.
Pearce, C. M. and D. G. Smith. 2001. Plains cottonwood’s last stand: can it survive invasion of Russian olive onto the Milk River, Montana floodplain? Environmental Management 28:623–637.
Reichard, S. H. 1997. Prevention of invasive plant introductions at national and local levels. p. 215–217. In J. A. Luken and J. A. Thieret (eds.) Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions. Springer, New York, NY, USA.
Rice, P. 2001. Tamarix ramosissima. Invaders Database System, University of Montana, Division of Biological Sciences. Missoula, MT, USA.
Robinson, T. W. 1965. Introduction, spread, and areal extent of saltcedar (Tamarix) in the western states. Geological Survey Professional Paper 491-A.
Sala, A. and B. Heidel. 1996. Alert: invasion of Tamarix in Montana. Kelseya (Autumn Issue):3.
Sexton, J. P.,2000. Invasive potential of Tamarix ramosissima (saltcedar) in continental climates of North America. M.Sc. Thesis. University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
Sexton, J. P., J. K. McKay, and A. Sala. 2002. Plasticity and genetic diversity may allow saltcedar to invade cold climates in North America. Ecological Applications 12:1652–1660.
Sher, A. A., D. L. Marshall, and S. A. Gilbert. 2000. Competition between native Populus deltoides and invasive Tamarix ramosissima and the implications for reestablishing flooding disturbance. Conservation Biology 14:1744–1754.
Sprenger, M. D., L. M. Smith, and J. P. Taylor. 2001. Testing control of saltcedar seedlings using fall flooding. Wetlands 21:437–444.
Stenquist, S. M. 2000. Saltcedar integrated weed management and the Endangered Species Act. p. 487–504. In N. R. Spencer (ed.) Proceedings X International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds, 4–14 July 1999, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Swenson, J. E., P. Hendricks, and A. Farjon 1982. Arrival and occurrence of Tamarix chinensis (tamarisk) along the Yellowstone River in Treasure and Rosebud counties, Montana. Proceedings, Montana Academy of Science 41:67–70.
Tickner, D. P., P. G. Angold, A. M. Gurnell, and J. O. Mountford. 2001. Riparian plant invasions: hydrogeomorphological control and ecological impacts. Progress in Physical Geography 25:22–52.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2002. www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Upper Musselshell Water Users Association, and Deadmans Basin Water Users Association, 1998. Musselshell River Basin Water Management Study. Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Lewistown, MT, USA.
Zavaleta, E. 2000. Valuing ecosystem services lost to Tamarix invasion in the United States. p. 261–300. In H. A. Mooney and R. J. Dobbs (eds.) Invasive Species in a Changing World. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pearce, C.M., Smith, D.G. Saltcedar: Distribution, abundance, and dispersal mechanisms, northern Montana, USA. Wetlands 23, 215–228 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1672/1-20
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1672/1-20