Ecology of Invasive Plants In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

LRES 569

Summer 2009: July 6-10

Instructor:

Dr. Bruce Maxwell

Professor of Plant Ecology

Land Resources and Environmental Science Department (406) 994-5717

bmax@montana.edu

This course will be delivered using Desire2Learn.

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All of the contents below and possibly more will be in the Desire2Learn (D2L) site.

Course Goal:

This 5 day course includes 4 days in the field observing invasive plants in indigenous plant communities with various levels of disturbance. The goal of this course is to demonstrate for teachers how biological science can be made relevant and exciting to students by addressing applied problems. Specifically, we will examine some of the cutting edge questions of invasive plant ecology and consider what role science might play in instructing the management of non-indigenous plant species.

Scores on Assignments and Grades

Schedule and Content:

The final exam is due on Friday (7/10) at 3:00 pm. You will probably find it best to be answering the questions as we encounter and discuss the content in the class, i.e. do not wait until Friday to complete the exam . download the Final

The course will first demonstrate the importance of precise definitions of terms used to describe invasive species. Students will prepare for a discussion on the importance of terminology by reading a few short articles prior to class on the first day. [Note: The ESA Bulletin .pdf files include an entire section that you will need to sift through to get to the specific 1 or 2 page article assigned for reading.]

Davis, M.A. and K. Thompson. 2000. Eight ways to be a colonizer; two ways to be an invader. ESA Bulletin 81:226-230. [download pdf]

Davis, M.A. and K. Thompson. 2001. Invasion terminology: should ecologists define their terms differently than others? No, not if we want to be any help!. ESA Bulletin 82:206. . [download pdf]

Rejmanek, M., D.M. Richardson, M.G. Barbour, M.J. Crawley, G.F. Hrusa, P.B. Moyle, J.M. Randall, D. Simberloff and M. Williamson. 2002. Biological invasions: politics and the discontinuity of ecological terminology. ESA Bulletin 83:131-133. . [download pdf]

Davis, M.A. and K. Thompson. 2002. “Newcomers” invade the field of invasion ecology: question the field’s future. ESA Bulletin 83:196-197. . [download pdf]

Colautti, R.I. and H.J. MacIsaac. 2004. A neutral terminaology to define 'invasive' species. Diversity Distrib. 10:135-141. [download. pdf]

Extra background reading if you like:

Richardson, D.M., P. Pysek, M. Rejmanek, M.G. Barbour, F.D. Panetta and C.J. West. 2000. Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and Distributions 6:93-107. [download pdf]

Monday July 6, 2009 Class meets in 208 Leon Johnson Hall (LJH), MSU

8:00 Introduction of Course

9:00 Introduction to Invasive Plant Ecology Lecture [I Recommend saving the file then running it from your own computer]

11:00 Discussion on Readings [move to lawn or sub]

12:00 Lunch: on your own

1:30 Field Trip to Burke Park (Dr. Matt Lavin) Meet at the pit/driveway, West side of LJH.

3:30 Meet in computer room to become familiar with Excel calculations. 208 LJH

Burke Park Data file

Assignment 1:

Write a paper (no more than 3 double spaced pages) that summarizes the conflict between Davis and Thompson and Rejmanek et al. over invasive species terminology (“naturalized”, ”invasive”, etc.). Include your opinion on the value of this type of dialog in science and how you may portray it to students so that they are not turned-off by conflict dialog.

Assignment Due at the beginning of class on Tuesday (7/7).

A good place for teachers to start when considering a discussion on evolution in biology class... read:

Teaching Darwin Seriously

Teaching Darwin with Darwin

mp3 download [75 MB] via http (click here)

Tuesday, July 18, 2006. Meet in new place: 325 LJH (= SW corner of LJH behind offices on 3^rd floor)

The objective of this class and field trip is to clearly demonstrate problems of interpretation of field observations. Field data will be collected and analyzed to test the hypothesis that a notorious invasive plant species (leafy spurge) reduces native plant community species diversity. The following quotes from scientific journals and web sites clearly give the impression that leafy spurge displaces native vegetation and thereby reduces species diversity.

“Leafy spurge is kept under control by regular tillage, but it spreads easily in untilled land such as CRP land. Once established, leafy spurge will displace desirable replanted grasses and convert CRP.s diverse cover of vegetation to a leafy spurge monoculture. “ S. A. Hirsch and J.A. Leitch. 1998. JRM 51:614-620

“Leafy spurge is a major concern to ranchers and environmentalists because left unchecked, leafy spurge can quickly out compete native vegetation in pastures, rangelands, and native habitats.” J.V. Anderson, D.G. Davis, M.E. Foley and D.P. Horvath. 1999. Proceedings: Leafy Spurge Symposium, Medora, ND. June 29, 1999. p. 6.

“Leafy spurge causes significant problems in the northern Great Plains by invading grazing lands for cattle and horses, reducing rangeland productivity and plant diversity, degrading wildlife habitat, displacing sensitive species and drastically reducing land values.” Team Leafy Spurge, USDA-ARS http://www.team.ars.usda.gov/v2/leafyspurge.html

Before Class Read:

Watson, A.K. 1985. Introduction to the leafy spurge problem. Reprinted from: Leafy Spurge, Monograph series of the Weed Science Society of America. ed. Alan K. Watson, 1985. Chapter I (3):1-6. Published by: Weed Science Society of America. . [download pdf]

Levine, J.M. 2000. Species diversity and biological invasions: relating local process to community pattern. Science 288:852-854. . [download pdf]

8:30 Introductory Lecture on Attributes of invasive plants and their impact [325 LJH] [I Recommend saving the file then running it from your own computer]

9:30 Field Trip to “M” [go to West side of LJH, the pit]

1:30 Return to campus and meet in Computer Room, 208 Leon Johnson Hall to analyze field data in Excel.

Download M_Data file

Link to web page with explanation of species diversity measures, etc.

3:30 Discuss results

Assignment 2:

Submit an error-bar graph that you make in Excel that shows the mean and standard deviation of species richness in and outside of leafy spurge patches. Conduct a two-tailed t-test to statistically ask the question if the species richness is lower in the leafy spurge patch. Write a sentence or two about the conclusion that you draw from the data and analysis. Write a final paragraph about how you might design the experiment differently to more conclusively test the hypothesis. Assignment due at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009.

The objective of this class and field trip is to examine the question of how one might objectively determine if a species is invasive in a given environment.

The questions that we will examine are:

Can we detect change in non-indigenous plant populations that will allow us to judge them as invasive?
What should be the criteria for determining if a non-indigenous species is invasive?
What should be the criteria for determining if a non-indigenous plant species can have a significant impact on the ecosystem?

Before Class Read:

Bernd Blossey. 1999. Before, during, and after: the need for long-term monitoring in invasive plant species management. Biological Invasions 1: 301-311. [download pdf]

8:30 am Lecture: Detecting changes in density and spatial extent Meet in 208 LJH [I Recommend saving the file then running it from your own computer]

9:30 am Field Trip to Mt Ellis State Land. Meet west of LJH in pit.

1:30 pm Return to campus and meet in 208 LJH.

Assignment 3:

Conduct analysis on patch data from Mt Ellis State Land. With the Mt Ellis data from previous years and this year would you conclude that the sulfur cinquefoil patches are invasive? Use the definition of invasive that states that a population must be consistently increasing in density or spatial extent. Present a table showing the area of each patch in each year? Calculate the area growth rates for each patch? Present 2 graphs (interior and edge) showing the density of the 1 m² samples for each year for each patch. Do you conclude that sulfur cinquefoil is an invasive species at Mt. Ellis? Explain your answer in one paragraph explaining the results in the tables and/or graphs. Assignment 3 is due Friday morning at the beginning of class.

Mt Ellis Data

Thursday, July 9, 2009. All day field trip to Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Meeting time and place to be announced.

We will examine invasive species in the context of a greater ecosystem with many land management objectives. We will discuss the management constraints and dilemmas. You need to be observing the landscape along this beautiful drive. I want you to think about what natural and anthropomorphic factors are driving land use and vegetation cover change. How can we manage this change for multiple objectives of conservation, production and social well being?

Before Class Read:

Sakai, A.K., F.W. Allendorf, J.S. Holt, D.M. Lodge, J. Molofsky, K.A. With, S. Baughman, R.J. Cabin, J.E. Cohen, N.C. Ellstrand, D.E. McCauley, P. O’Neil, I.M. Parker, J.N. Thompson and S.G. Weller. 2001. The population biology of invasive species. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 32:305-332. . [download pdf]

Friday, July 10, 2009

Before Class Read:

Maxwell, B.D. and L.J. Rew. Monitoring for Invasion Potential of Non-indigenous Plant Populations. Not submitted for publication yet. [download pdf]

8:30 Meet in computer room 208 LJH

Discussion & Questions

3:00 pm Final Exam is Due

Fitness requirements: Field trips can require walking up to 2 miles on moderate to steep slopes off established trails.

Required equipment: Hand lens, compass with mirror for shooting an azimuth, and a clipboard. Good pair of hiking shoes and a small backpack to carry rain-gear lunch and water.

Grading: Points

Participation in Discussion 25

Assignment 1 25

Assignment 2 25

Assignment 3 25

Final exam or Assignment 50

Total: 150

90-100% = A

80-89% = B

70-79% = C

60-69% = D

<60% = Fail