Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Presence and abundance of non-native plant species associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Williston Basin, located in the Northern Great Plains, is experiencing rapid energy development with North Dakota and Montana being the epicenter of current and projected development in the USA. The average single-bore well pad is 5 acres with an estimated 58,485 wells in North Dakota alone. This landscape-level disturbance may provide a pathway for the establishment of non-native plants. To evaluate potential influences of energy development on the presence and abundance of non-native species, vegetation surveys were conducted at 30 oil well sites (14 ten-year-old and 16 five-year-old wells) and 14 control sites in native prairie environments across the Williston Basin. Non-native species richness and cover were recorded in four quadrats, located at equal distances, along four transects for a total of 16 quadrats per site. Non-natives were recorded at all 44 sites and ranged from 5 to 13 species, 7 to 15 species, and 2 to 8 species at the 10-year, 5-year, and control sites, respectively. Respective non-native cover ranged from 1 to 69, 16 to 76, and 2 to 82 %. Total, forb, and graminoid non-native species richness and non-native forb cover were significantly greater at oil well sites compared to control sites. At oil well sites, non-native species richness and forb cover were significantly greater adjacent to the well pads and decreased with distance to values similar to control sites. Finally, non-native species whose presence and/or abundance were significantly greater at oil well sites relative to control sites were identified to aid management efforts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, M. F. (1989). Mycorrhizae and rehabilitation of disturbed arid soils: processes and practices. Arid Soil Research, 3, 229–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergquist, E., Evangelista, P., Stohlgren, T. J., & Alley, N. (2007). Invasive species and coal bed methane development in the Powder River Basin. Wyoming Environmental Monitoring Assessments, 128, 381–394.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, M. J. W., & Grime, J. P. (1996). An experimental study of community invasibility. Ecology, 77, 776–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cully, A. C., Cully, J. F., Jr., & Hiebert, R. D. (2003). Invasion of exotic plants species in tallgrass prairie fragments. Conservation Biology, 17, 900–998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Antonio, C. M., & Vitousek, P. A. (1992). Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 23, 63–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Antonio, C. M., Levine, J. M., & Thomsen, M. (2001). Ecosystem resistance to invasion and the role of propagule supply: a California perspective. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology, 2, 233–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daubenmire, R. (1959). A canopy-cover method of vegetational analysis. Northwest Science, 33(1), 43–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, K. W., & Sheley, R. L. (2007). A conceptual framework for preventing the spatial dispersal of invasive plants. Weed Science, 55(2), 178–184.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeKeyser, E. S., Meehan, M., Clambey, G., & Krabbenhoft, K. K. (2013). Cool season invasive grasses in the Northern Great Plains natural areas. Natural Areas Journal, 33(1), 81–090.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, C. (2008). Montana weed management plan: Montana noxious weed summit advisory council (p. 100). Helena: Montana Department of Transportation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellstrand, N., & Schierenbeck, K. A. (2000). Hybridization as a stimulus for the evolution of invasiveness in plants? Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 7043–7050.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, D.E., & Craig, C.L. (2010). Response of six non-native plant species to wildfires in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. Research Paper RMRSRP-78, Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 12.

  • Fry, J., Xian, G., Jin, S., Dewitz, J., Homer, C., Yang, L., Barnes, C., Herold, N., & Wickham, J. (2011). Completion of the 2006 national land cover database for the conterminous United States. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 77(9), 858–864.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaswirth, S.B., Marra, K.R., Cook, T.A, Charpentier, R.R., Gautier, D.L., Higley, D.K., Klett, T.R., Lewan, M.D., Lillis, P.G., Schenk, C.J., Tennyson, M.E., & Whidden, K.J. (2013). Assessment of undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 2013. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2013–3013, 4. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2013/3013/.

  • Gelbard, J. L., & Belnap, J. (2003). Roads as conduits for exotic plant invasions in a semiarid landscape. Conservation Biology, 17(2), 420–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J. W. (2013). Bombing North Dakota. Earth Island Journal, 27(4), 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gucker, C.L. (2009). Melilotus alba, M. officinalis. In Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2014, September 26].

  • Holm, L. G., Plucknett, D. L., Pancho, J. V., & Herberger, J. P. (1977). The world’s worst weeds: distribution and biology (p. 609). Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, M.E. (1991). Ecological classification and cumulative soil effects. In Harvey, A.E., Neuenschwander, L.F., compilers. Proceedings—management and productivity of western-montane forest soils; 1990 April 10–12; Boise, ID. General Technical Report INT-280 (pp. 218–223). Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station.

  • Kurz, G. L., Olson, R.A., & Whitson, T. D. (1995). Ecological implications of Russian knapweed (Centaurea repens L.) infestation: small mammal and habitat associations. Proceedings of the Western Society of Weed Science, 56.

  • Larson, D. L., Anderson, P. J., & Newton, W. (2001). Alien plant invasion in mixed-grass prairie: effects of vegetation type and anthropogenic disturbance. Ecological Applications, 11(1), 128–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litt, A. R., & Pearson, D. E. (2013). Non-native plants and wildlife in the intermountain west. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 37, 517–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lonsdale, W. M., & Lane, L. A. (1994). Tourist vehicles as vectors of weed seeds in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia. Biological Conservation, 69, 277–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manier, D. J., Aldridge, C., Anderson, P., Chong, G., & Homer, C. (2011). Land use and habitat conditions across the southwestern Wyoming sagebrush steppe: development impacts, management effectiveness and the distribution of invasive plants. Natural Resources and Environmental Issues, 17, 15–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manier, D. J., Aldridge, C. L., & Schell, S. J. (2014). Human infrastructure and invasive plant occurrence across rangelands of southwestern Wyoming, USA. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 67, 160–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maron, J. L., Pearson, D. E., Potter, T., & Ortega, Y. K. (2012). Seed size and provenance mediate the joint effects of disturbance and seed predation on community assembly. Journal of Ecology, 100, 1492–1500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. J., & Murray, B. R. (2011). A predictive framework and review of the ecological impacts of exotic plant invasions on reptiles and amphibians. Biological Reviews, 86, 407–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nasen, L. C., Noble, B. F., & Johnstone, J. F. (2011). Environmental effects of oil and gas lease sites in a grassland ecosystem. Journal of Environmental Management, 92, 195–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, S. E., Aldridge, C. L., Hanser, S. E., Leau, M., & Knick, S. T. (2011). Chapter 10: occurrence of non-native plants: the role of anthropogenic features. In S. E. Hanser, M. Leu, S. T. Knick, & C. L. Aldridge (Eds.), Sagebrush ecosystem conservation and management: ecoregional assessment tools and models for the Wyoming Basins (pp. 357–386). Kansas: Allen Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • North Dakota Department of Agriculture. (2014). Weed survey report: http://agdepartment.vision-technology.com/weedsurvey/report.asp, accessed 9/15/2014.

  • North Dakota Industrial Commission. (2014). ND producing counties update: https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/presentations/NDOGCPC091814.pdf, accessed 2/17/2015.

  • North Dakota Petroleum Council. (2014). Surface Owner Information Center: http://www.ndoil.org/?id=184, accessed 9/15/2014.

  • Pimentel, D., Zuniga, R., & Morrison, D. (2005). Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics, 52, 273–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, P.M. (2012). INVADERS database system. University of Montana, Division of Biological Sciences, Missoula, Montana, USA. <http://invader.dbs.umt.edu>. Accessed December 10, 2013.

  • Ringwall, K., Biondini, M., & Grugiel, C. (2000). Effects if nitrogen fertilization in leafy spurge architecture. Journal of Range Management, 53, 228–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberry, J. T. (1985). The role of habitat in avian community composition: physiognomy or floristics? Oecologia, 67, 213–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuel, M. J., & Hart, R. H. (1994). Sixty-one years of secondary succession on rangelands of the Wyoming high plains. Journal of Range Management, 47, 184–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinkins, P. A., & Oftinowski, R. (2012). Invasion or retreat? The fate of exotic invaders on the northern prairies, 40 years after cattle grazing. Plant Ecology, 213, 1251–1262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonnenberg, S. A., & Pramudito, A. (2010). Petroleum geology of the giant Elm Coulee field, Williston Basin. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 93(9), 1127–1156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stohlgren, T. J., Chong, G. W., Schell, L. D., Rimar, K. A., Otsuki, Y., Lee, M., Kalkhan, M. A., & Villa, C. A. (2002). Assessing vulnerability to invasion by nonnative plant species at multiple spatial scales. Environmental Management, 9(4), 566–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, M. J. (1996). Winter foraging response to elk to spotted knapweed removal. Northwest Science, 70(1), 10–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, G. G., Withers, P. C., Pianka, E. R., & Thompson, S. A. (2003). Assessing biodiversity with species accumulation curves; inventories of small reptiles by pit-trapping in Western Australia. Austral Ecology, 28, 361–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trammel, M. A., & Butler, J. L. (1995). Effects of exotic plants on native ungulate use of habitat. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 59(4), 808–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ugland, K. I., Gray, J. S., & Ellingsen, K. E. (2003). The species-accumulation curve and estimation of species richness. Journal of Animal Ecology, 72, 888–897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service. (2014). The PLANTS database (http://plants.usda.gov ), 1 April 2014), National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401–4901 USA.

  • von der Lippe, M., & Kowarik, I. (2007). Long-distance dispersal of plants by vehicles as a driver of plant invasions. Conservation Biology, 21(4), 986–996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, R. Z., Chen, J., Pickens, J., & Brosofske, K. D. (2003). Effects of forest roads on understory plants in a managed hardwood landscape. Conservation Biology, 17(2), 411–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcove, D. S., Rothstein, D., Phillips, A., & Losos, E. (1998). Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States. BioScience, 48, 607–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the following individuals for their contributions: Tara Chesley-Preston (Montana State University Institute on Ecosystems) assisted in identifying study sites; Karen Newlon (Montana Natural Heritage Program) conducted oversight of the vegetation surveys performed by Nick Smith, Isabel Beavers, and Luke Obermeyer; Joseph Washington (U.S. Forest Service Medora Ranger Station) provided logistical support; and Kathryn Irvine and Robert Diehl (U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center) provided statistical assistance and general counsel, respectively.

Compliance with ethical standards

The author declares there are no conflicts of interest. This project was fully funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative (grant number CFDA 15.669). Manuscript contents have been reviewed by the U.S. Geological Survey and approved for publication. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parallel Inc., USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, 2327 University Way, suite 2, Bozeman, MT, 59718, USA

    Todd M. Preston

Authors
  1. Todd M. Preston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Todd M. Preston.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Preston, T.M. Presence and abundance of non-native plant species associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin. Environ Monit Assess 187, 200 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4408-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4408-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation