Characteristics of invasive plants in Florida stormwater ponds
Allyson Holmes, James Sinclair and Basil Iannone
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SHED group Here to talk about SWPs
tinyurl.com/ybzlqt4u
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As basically all scientists are aware a host of ecological issues arise when you replace natural land cover with impervious surface (habitat, biodiversity loss, etc) But in terms from a people perspective, one of the main problems is increased surface runoff This place looks nice, I think I’ll live here
tinyurl.com/ybzlqt4u
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Until most water that arrives on the landscape now just runs along the surface. This is a major issue we have devoted a lot of time and money to solve. Even small rain events can lead to flooding if the runoff isn’t managed properly. Stormwater also collects fertilizer, pollutants, garbage, etc so it can’t just be funneled into nearby natural waters. It has to channeled to prevent flooding and ‘decontaminated’.
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This is a stormwater pond Hole in the ground for channeling stormwater Retention pond, which is designed to go dry a few days after a rain event
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What a retention pond often looks like after a rain event, not all retention ponds function well Dynamic habitats Collect nutrients Plant establishment
- Florida
- Urban, built-up and roads
- Stormwater ponds
Over 95,000 stormwater pondsIn Florida alone
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Over 95,000 ponds throughout Florida, which we’re sure is actually a conservative estimate
Florida urban and built-up land
- Florida
- Urban, built-up and roads
- Stormwater ponds
Over 95,000 stormwater pondsIn Florida alone
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Not just talking about the potential invasion of individual ponds. As a widespread set of engineered ecosystems across Florida, these ponds could be acting as stepping stones, facilitating the spread of any invasive plants they harbor through the urban areas and transport corridors of Florida.
Wet
Dry
High Medium Low
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Survey of 30 stormwater ponds in Gainesville to start getting an idea of what invasive plants establish in these ponds Two categories of pond types versus three categories of management intensity, with 5 ponds in each Also controlled for pond age by including older and younger ponds in each category to ensure that, for example, all the high management ponds weren’t built within the last 10 years compared to all the low management ponds which we maybe built over 30 years ago
Chinese tallow(Triadica sebifera)
Alligator weed(Alternanthera philoxeroides)
Invasive plant species
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What did we find?
Invasive plant traits
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Two different species, but perhaps they have similar characteristics that are driving their establishment in stormwater ponds As an example, both of these species are highly tolerant of drought and flooding conditions, which could be advantageous in ponds with shifting water levels
Why it matters• Stormwater ponds are everywhere,
but we do not know the broad types of invasive plants they might spread
• What kinds of plants are problematic? How do they vary among ponds?
• What are the plant invaders of the future?
Questions1. What traits are common to the invasive
plants that occur in stormwater ponds?
2. Which plant traits are associated with stormwater ponds of differing design and management intensities?
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Traits common to invasive plants in stormwater ponds, for example are they all drought tolerant or maybe they’re all fast growers which might be beneficial for quickly colonizing these ponds Ponds are also designed and managed differently (dry/wet or low/medium/high) and we want to know if the kinds of invasive plants are changing between different types of ponds
Methods• Database of over 70 traits for our 28 invasive
plant species, 35 with enough data for analysis
• Information gathered from a variety of sources, such as plant databases, scientific papers, and horticultural journals
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We developed a database of 70 traits on an Excel spreadsheet for each of the 28 invasive plant species we found in our survey Broad groupings of traits
Morphology
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Looked at traits for morphology (maybe all the plants have similar growth forms? Leaf size? Flower color?)
Life History
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life history (maybe all follow a similar life cycle; growth rate, deciduous v. evergreen, asexual v. sexual)
Dispersal
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dispersal (maybe all are arriving in the ponds via the same route, for example they’re all water-dispersed species) Explain all dispersal methods
Physiology / Tolerance
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physiology/tolerance (maybe all have similar physiological requirements? Allelopathy… Flood, drought, full-partial sun/shade, salinity, fire tolerance )
Introduction
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introduction history (invasive plants so they are not native to Florida, so maybe there’s something in the background of why they were introduced that is driving their establishment in these ponds…agriculture & horticulture)
Questions1. What traits are common to the invasive
plants that occur in stormwater ponds?
2. Which plant traits are associated with stormwater ponds of differing design and management intensities?
Traits with little to no variation among species
Traits shared within dry or wet and within low, medium, or highly managed ponds
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Multivariate analysis looking for traits with little to no variation. These are traits that are common to all or most of our pool of invasive plant species. Multivariate analysis looking for common trait groupings within dry vs wet and for the low ponds vs the medium or highly managed ponds Can ask questions after if they want to know more about exactly how this data was analyzed
What did we find?
Common traits
Purposeful introduction
93%Perennial
100%
Commercially available
100% sold past or present in Florida
(77% Ornamental)
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Purposeful introduction – plant species were originally brought to Florida for use in horticulture or agriculture Perennial – trait commonly associated with plants brought in for ornamentation and general human use because they are cheaper, you don’t have to re-plant them each year Commercially available – legacy of commercial sale in Florida, not just brought in as someone’s hobby plant; brought in for wholesale All commonly associated with invasive plants brought in for human use
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These are plants that are arriving from other urban areas, like home gardens or businesses, and establishing in stormwater ponds As far as we were able to tell, most of the invasive plants we found had not been purposefully planted. There were likely a few individuals (e.g. one less maintained pond had what we think was a glossy privet hedge, there was another pond that may have had a purposefully placed Camphor tree), but by and large most of the invasive plants we found had likely colonized from outside the pond
Sexual Asexual
75% 96%
71%
Common traits
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Almost all our invasive plants can reproduce asexually, with a majority capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction Asexual species can readily colonize new habitats, which means they can spread quickly to new stormwater ponds Also asexual plants can be more difficult to control (e.g. regrowth), and control efforts need to take that into account The combination of both sexual and asexual reproduction suggests most plants could spread by a variety of mechanisms (e.g. sexually produced seeds could be dispersing alongside plant fragments or )
Common traits
Water dispersed71%
Animal dispersed79%
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An idea of how these plants might be colonizing the ponds Water is kind of a given because stormwater ponds collect water from the surrounding landscape, which could contain seeds and plant fragments However, animal vectors are coming out as potentially just as important. The ponds can attract a variety of different animals (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, mammals), which can in turn bring plant propagules into the ponds. Could also be part of why most of our invasive plants are ornamentals because many produce fruit, which is valued by people for aesthetics but also animals as a food source, which in turn can disperse the plants Also suggests possible methods by which invasive plants could spread among ponds. Not just via hydrological connections, but using multiple potential dispersal vectors
Common traits
Disturbed soil100%
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A common trait associated with invasive plants in general, and clearly relevant to surviving in likely frequently disturbed stormwater pond habitats
Questions1. What traits are common to the invasive
plants that occur in stormwater ponds? Traits with little to no variation among
species
• Purposefully introduced and sold perennials
• Asexual reproducers, primarily animal and water dispersed, tolerant of disturbed habitats
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1: Linked to usage of the plants in the urban landscape that surrounds the ponds 2: How the plants might colonize, survive in, and spread to new habitats
Questions2. Which plant traits are associated with
stormwater ponds of differing design and management intensities?
Traits shared within dry or wet and within low, medium, or highly managed ponds
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Multivariate analysis looking for traits with little to no variation. These are traits that are common to all or most of our pool of invasive plant species. Multivariate analysis looking for common trait groupings within dry vs wet and for the low ponds vs the medium or highly managed ponds Can ask questions after if they want to know more about exactly how this data was analyzed
Multivariate Analysis
Axis 1 (%)
Axis 2 (%)
Trees
Drought tolerance
Water dispersed
- Low
- Low - Med
- Low - Med - High
- Low - Med - High
- Low - Med - High
- Low - Med - High
- Low - Med - High
SummaryCommon traits• Invasive plants were generally
purposefully introduced and sold perennials
• Asexual, water/animal dispersed, tolerant of disturbed habitats
Dry/wet and Low/med/high• Directional shift in traits of invasive
plants from low to highly managed ponds
• No differences between dry and wet ponds
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Remind listeners why each matters
Dr. Basil IannoneDr. AJ ReisingerDr. Eban BeanDr. Carrie Adams
Kayla HessGisele NighswanderOguz Sariyildiz
Mitchell Morgan (City of Gainesville PW)Neil Greishaw (Alachua County PW)Ken Gablehouse (School Board of Alachua County)Marc Frank (UF Herbarium)
Florida Agricultural Experimental StationMcIntire-Stennis ProgramUF|IFAS Program for Resource Efficient Communities