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Invasion or retreat? The fate of exotic invaders on the northern prairies, 40 years after cattle grazing

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Abstract

Despite the detrimental impacts of invasive plants on native biodiversity, ecosystem function, and management cost, few studies have focused on the long-term persistence of invaders. Here, we use a unique, long-term dataset to examine the recovery of northern rough fescue prairie communities, 41 years after the removal of livestock from Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, Canada. Our 1973 data suggest that summer grazing of plains’ rough fescue (Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper) leads to its displacement from the plant community and increased dominance by exotic invaders. After 41 years of recovery time, historic grazing intensity remained an excellent predictor of community structure and composition. Areas classified as heavily grazed in 1973 remained characterized by exotic grasses and had significantly lower richness and diversity. While some exotic invaders persisted despite 41 years of community recovery, others were ephemeral. For example, both Poa pratensis (L.) and Bromus inermis (Leyss.) persisted, increasing in abundance across all classes of grazing intensity, suggesting that their control requires active restoration of the invaded areas. In contrast, passive restoration may be possible for a subset of ephemeral exotic species such as Taraxacum officinale, which had virtually disappeared from invaded prairies by 2010. Our long-term data provide a rare perspective into the long-term dynamics of plant invasions. Based on our findings, conservation managers will need to consider the dichotomy between persistent and ephemeral invaders and their impact on the recovery of northern prairie communities as they focus their restoration efforts against the mounting impacts of exotic plant invaders.

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Acknowledgments

All funding and support was provided by Parks Canada. Of particular importance was the data from 1973, collected by Gary Trottier, which was supplied by Riding Mountain National Park. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Norm Kenkel, and field assistance by Stephen Cornelson, Wybo Vanderschuit, Tom Christianson, Angela Spooner and Foster Karcha. Discussions with Dr. Marcel Rejmánek and Doug Bergeson provided valuable information for our work.

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  1. Rafael Otfinowski

    Present address: Department of Plant Science and the McGill School of Environment, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Riding Mountain National Park, Parks Canada, Wasagaming, MB, R0J 2H0, Canada

    Peter A. Sinkins

  2. Western and Northern Service Centre, Parks Canada, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 0R9, Canada

    Rafael Otfinowski

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  1. Peter A. Sinkins
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Correspondence to Peter A. Sinkins.

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Sinkins, P.A., Otfinowski, R. Invasion or retreat? The fate of exotic invaders on the northern prairies, 40 years after cattle grazing. Plant Ecol 213, 1251–1262 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-012-0083-8

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