Wetland Complex
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
Select a transition or restoration pathway
- Transition T1 More details
-
No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Description
State 1 Narrative:
State 1 represents stable wetlands with no invasive or exotic weed species. Often this site has low species diversity as dominant species can form dense monocultures
Reference Community 1.1 can be dominated by cattails or, bulrush or, Nebraska sedge or, American mannagrass or, Baltic rush.
At-risk Communities:
All communities in the reference state are at risk because of heavy grazing pressure and other human manipulations to meadows.
Reference Community 1.1 for Wetland Complex ecological site
Percentages for plant species composition below are an approximated weight. The composition of pristine sites can vary somewhat due to variations in site conditions.
Wet Meadow species that are OBLIGATE went to this site
Often this site has low species diversity as many of the dominant species form dense monocultures. Some areas are 100 percent cattails, others 100 percent bulrush, and other areas 100 percent Nebraska sedge, etc.
Native Grasses:
BESY American sloughgrass
GLCR American mannagrass
GLST fowl mannagrass
Native Sedges:
CAUT Northwest Territory sedge
CANE2 Nebraska sedge
CAPE42 wooly sedge
Native rushes:
SCAC hardstem bulrush
SCTA softstem bulrush
SCMI panicled bulrush
JUBA Baltic rush
Native forbs:
TYLA cattails
POLYG smartweed
Pathways within State 1 (Reference State)
None as there is only one community in Reference State.
Description
State 2 Narrative:
State 2 represents an altered state because of intensive disturbance. The wetland may have been drained or filled to convert to a different land use. Or, the wetland may have experienced excessive grazing. Invasive species such as phragmites, reed canarygrass, and purple loosestrife may dominate the plant community in the altered state.
Community Phases for State 2:
Can have several variations:
Reed canarygrass
Purple loosestrife
Phragmites
Mechanism
T1 Result: Transition from Reference State to altered State 2
Ecological process: Wetland hydrology altered, and site may no longer have wetland functions. Invasive species colonize the site and over time dominate the stand.
Primary Trigger: both deliberate and unintentional, human-caused, alterations such as drainage, filling the wetland with soil, herbicide drift, deliberate use of herbicides or grazing pressure.
Indicators: occurrence of invasive species where there has been none. Declining cover of native species and increasing cover of invasive species. Site is much drier than previously.
Recovery
There is a need to explore recovery processes
Model keys
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Ecological site groups
Major Land Resource Areas
The Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool is an information system framework developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and New Mexico State University.