Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.

Invasive species are among the top five causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Arundo donax has progressively colonized the riparian zones of Mediterranean rivers with detrimental effects on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, being catalogued as one of the 100 worst invasive species. In order to...

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Main Authors:	Daniel Bruno, Víctor Zapata, Simone Guareschi, Félix Picazo, Ettore Dettori, José Antonio Carbonell, Andrés Millán, Josefa Velasco, Francisco Robledano
Format:	Default Article
Published:	2019
Subjects:	ecological restoration biomonitoring riparian vegetation macroinvertebrates birds biological invasion alien species environmental management Mediterranean rivers Segura River
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/2134/11406882.v1
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spelling	rr-article-114068822019-12-03T00:00:00Z Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L. Daniel Bruno (3833407) Víctor Zapata (8214464) Simone Guareschi (6292151) Félix Picazo (8214465) Ettore Dettori (8214466) José Antonio Carbonell (392617) Andrés Millán (392620) Josefa Velasco (392618) Francisco Robledano (8031080) ecological restoration biomonitoring riparian vegetation macroinvertebrates birds biological invasion alien species environmental management Mediterranean rivers Segura River Invasive species are among the top five causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Arundo donax has progressively colonized the riparian zones of Mediterranean rivers with detrimental effects on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, being catalogued as one of the 100 worst invasive species. In order to control this invasive species and restore native riparian vegetation, different methods have been traditionally used, depending on the environmental, economic and social context. Here, the effect of repeated above-ground removal of A. donax on aquatic and terrestrial communities was assessed by testing two different frequencies of mowing (monthly-intensive and quarterly-extensive), combined with the plantation of native species. Specifically, it was evaluated if riparian vegetation, birds and aquatic macroinvertebrates showed significant responses throughout time and between restoration treatments based on 4-year annual biomonitoring data (2015–2018). Changes in taxonomic diversity and ecological quality indices for the different biological communities were tested using mixed-effect models (LMEs). Similarly, comparisons between restored and reference sites were also performed. LMEs were also applied to assess how riparian variables were related to bird and aquatic macroinvertebrate indices. NMDS and MGLM-Mvabund analyses were performed to detect significant post-treatment differences in taxa composition compared to the initial state and reference sites. During this short-term assessment, increases in riparian and aquatic macroinvertebrate richness and quality indices were found, as well as significant decreases in A. donax height, density and cover, without significant differences between restoration treatments. However, differential effects between extensive (positive-neutral effect) and intensive treatments (neutral-negative effect) were detected for bird richness, density and abundance. After three years of restoration actions, restored sites are still far from reference values in terms of taxa composition, species richness and ecological quality, especially for riparian vegetation and birds. Given the high cost and the great efforts required for restoration, extensive repeated mowing, together with native species plantation, are only recommended on river reaches not fully invaded by A. donax and with a high ecological interest. 2019-12-03T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/11406882.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Short-term_responses_of_aquatic_and_terrestrial_biodiversity_to_riparian_restoration_measures_designed_to_control_the_invasive_arundo_donax_L_/11406882 CC BY 4.0
institution	Loughborough University
collection	Figshare
topic	ecological restoration biomonitoring riparian vegetation macroinvertebrates birds biological invasion alien species environmental management Mediterranean rivers Segura River
spellingShingle	ecological restoration biomonitoring riparian vegetation macroinvertebrates birds biological invasion alien species environmental management Mediterranean rivers Segura River Daniel Bruno Víctor Zapata Simone Guareschi Félix Picazo Ettore Dettori José Antonio Carbonell Andrés Millán Josefa Velasco Francisco Robledano Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.
description	Invasive species are among the top five causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Arundo donax has progressively colonized the riparian zones of Mediterranean rivers with detrimental effects on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, being catalogued as one of the 100 worst invasive species. In order to control this invasive species and restore native riparian vegetation, different methods have been traditionally used, depending on the environmental, economic and social context. Here, the effect of repeated above-ground removal of A. donax on aquatic and terrestrial communities was assessed by testing two different frequencies of mowing (monthly-intensive and quarterly-extensive), combined with the plantation of native species. Specifically, it was evaluated if riparian vegetation, birds and aquatic macroinvertebrates showed significant responses throughout time and between restoration treatments based on 4-year annual biomonitoring data (2015–2018). Changes in taxonomic diversity and ecological quality indices for the different biological communities were tested using mixed-effect models (LMEs). Similarly, comparisons between restored and reference sites were also performed. LMEs were also applied to assess how riparian variables were related to bird and aquatic macroinvertebrate indices. NMDS and MGLM-Mvabund analyses were performed to detect significant post-treatment differences in taxa composition compared to the initial state and reference sites. During this short-term assessment, increases in riparian and aquatic macroinvertebrate richness and quality indices were found, as well as significant decreases in A. donax height, density and cover, without significant differences between restoration treatments. However, differential effects between extensive (positive-neutral effect) and intensive treatments (neutral-negative effect) were detected for bird richness, density and abundance. After three years of restoration actions, restored sites are still far from reference values in terms of taxa composition, species richness and ecological quality, especially for riparian vegetation and birds. Given the high cost and the great efforts required for restoration, extensive repeated mowing, together with native species plantation, are only recommended on river reaches not fully invaded by A. donax and with a high ecological interest.
format	Default Article
author	Daniel Bruno Víctor Zapata Simone Guareschi Félix Picazo Ettore Dettori José Antonio Carbonell Andrés Millán Josefa Velasco Francisco Robledano
author_facet	Daniel Bruno Víctor Zapata Simone Guareschi Félix Picazo Ettore Dettori José Antonio Carbonell Andrés Millán Josefa Velasco Francisco Robledano
author_sort	Daniel Bruno (3833407)
title	Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.
title_short	Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.
title_full	Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.
title_fullStr	Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.
title_full_unstemmed	Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.
title_sort	short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax l.
publishDate	2019
url	https://hdl.handle.net/2134/11406882.v1
_version_	1797460452852105216

Short-term responses of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity to riparian restoration measures designed to control the invasive arundo donax L.

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