SFS Annual Meeting

5/21/2019  |   14:00 - 14:15   |  251 AB

THE LANDSCAPE LAB: A DESIGNED EXPERIMENT TESTING ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN ARID CITIES Green infrastructure (GI) is often employed as a mitigation strategy for water quality and peak flows related to stormwater. Key limitations of GI are: (1) uncertain in situ effectiveness due to a paucity of replicated and controlled experiments testing functionality under common urban conditions and (2), GI often serves multiple functions including stormwater mitigation, aesthetic, and social functions in the urban environment. The Landscape Lab is a public garden and experimental facility at the University of Utah, established to test hypotheses related to GI ecosystem structure and function. The facility was developed through a participatory ecological planning process, by which researchers, campus managers, and landscape architects re-designed an extensive area of turfgrass lawn adjacent to an imperiled creek to address questions, hypotheses, and goals of stormwater green infrastructure, while also providing aesthetic and social functions for visitors. Eight bioswales on site will receive stormwater from parking lots and roofs, and are replicated to test the hypothesis that native plant species out-perform ornamental garden cultivars in terms of resource requirements and nutrient cycling. I will describe the process of collaboratively developing the multidisciplinary Landscape Lab and preliminary data from this facility.

Sarah Hinners (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Utah, sarah.hinners@utah.edu;


Diane Pataki (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Utah, diane.pataki@utah.edu;


Brenda Bowen (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Utah, brenda.bowen@utah.edu;


Jennifer Follstad Shah (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Utah, jennifer.shah@envst.utah.edu;


Emily Guffin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Utah, e.guffin@utah.edu;


Owen Kahn (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Utah, u0928316@utah.edu;


Rose Smith (Primary Presenter/Author), Sageland Collaborative, rose@sagelandcollaborative.org;


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5/21/2019  |   14:15 - 14:30   |  251 AB

URBAN AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF RIPARIAN CORRIDORS AIDS SUCCESS OF ROUND GOBY INVASION The rate of introduction for nonnative species in highly urbanized systems is often higher than relatively rural systems. Urban environments also often contain multiple stressors (e.g., contaminants, habitat degradation) that can decrease the capacity for native species to respond to species introductions. We hypothesized that anthropogenic development, particularly in river riparian zones, can affect the probability of successful invasion. To evaluate this we conducted fish surveys, habitat assessments, and land cover analyses over three years for seven rivers in Michigan currently undergoing round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) invasion. Boosted regression trees were used to identify commonalities among the environmental and biotic parameters associated with the density of round goby populations. Watersheds with high proportions of urban and agricultural land use in riparian areas had large goby populations and demonstrated the greatest declines in native competitors. Other drivers of invasion included low native fish diversity, moderate stream size, and high contaminant levels. Results suggest prioritizing conservation of native species and maintenance of habitat quality as components of urban planning is a potential way to increase system resistance to invasion and limit the impact of invasive species.

Corey Krabbenhoft (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Minnesota, krabb012@umn.edu;


Donna Kashian (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Wayne State University, dkashian@wayne.edu;


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5/21/2019  |   14:30 - 14:45   |  251 AB

FROM GOLF GREEN TO GREEN STREAM: DOES TYPICAL RESTORATION HIT A HOLE IN ONE? A major debate in ecology is how biodiversity loss impacts ecosystem function. This topic is particularly important in aquatic systems as anthropogenically driven declines in biodiversity are over five times greater in freshwater than in terrestrial ecosystems (Ricciardi & Rasmussen, 1999). Furthermore, typical aquatic restoration efforts focus on biological integrity for the evaluation of restoration success, ignoring another important measure of ecosystem health, functional integrity (Gessner & Chauvet, 2002). Therefore, this study examines how stream restoration influences not only biodiversity of macroinvertebrates, but also the rate of leaf litter processing. Leaf litter bags were deployed throughout the Chagrin River Watershed (Ohio, USA) in restored, unrestored, or reference streams within two reclaimed golf course sites and one old-growth forest. Fungal colonization, macroinvertebrate communities, and leaf decomposition were then measured over four months. Tentative results demonstrate no difference in the biological processing rate or invertebrate communities on leaf bags between restored and un-restored sites, despite differences in benthic communities published in restoration reports. These results further support the need for changes in how restoration success is measured, and the importance of restoring ecosystem function through the restoration of impaired reaches.

EmmaLeigh Given (Primary Presenter/Author), Kent State University , egiven1@kent.edu;


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5/21/2019  |   14:45 - 15:00   |  251 AB

RESPONSE OF FISH AND MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES TO A NOVEL STREAM RESTORATION IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY Hatchery Creek is a restored tailwater stream stemming from the outflow of Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery southwest of Jamestown, KY. The original channel of Hatchery Creek had degraded over the last 40 years and has caused water quality issues in the lower Cumberland River due to sediment. A 6-km novel channel was constructed to reduce sediment delivery and create a self-sustaining trout population. We predicted that the improved hydrologic and habitat conditions would benefit fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Fish and macroinvertebrate communities were sampled seasonally for 2 years before and after the reconstruction. Taxa richness was the only macroinvertebrate metric that significantly increased from 12.83 ± 0.48 to 15.76 ± 0.42 (p=0.0029). The fish community significantly decreased in taxa richness from 7 ± 1 to 3 ± 0.28 (p=0.0019), but significantly increased in density (p=0.037). Hatchery Creek provides a unique opportunity to examine synthetic stream channel restorations and to quantify habitat improvements independent of water quality. Initial patterns show a mix of positive and negative responses to the increases in habitat quality and indicate that community recovery may need more time.

Michael Flinn (Primary Presenter/Author), Murray State University, mflinn@murraystate.edu;


Patrick Vrablik (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Murray State University, vrablikp1@gmail.com;


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5/21/2019  |   15:00 - 15:15   |  251 AB

LARVAL DEVELOPMENT IN WASTEWATER CONFERS AN ADVANTAGE IN THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT Environmental technology like constructed wetlands can serve multiple purposes including tertiary wastewater treatment while supporting plant and wildlife communities, but compounds removed in tertiary treatment wetlands (TTWs) may also cause developmental abnormalities in wildlife. In a controlled experiment, we evaluated larval anuran development in water from secondary and tertiary treated wastewater versus rain-filled pond water. Tadpoles took 21% longer to metamorphose in pond water and grew to only 70% the size of tadpoles from secondary and tertiary treated wastewater. Survival was 2.2 times higher in wastewater relative to pond water. Leg length was larger in tadpoles from wastewater but head size was smaller than individuals from pond water. No malformations were noted in individuals from pond water but 5.5% of individuals from wastewater exhibited minor malformations. Larval anurans developed faster to larger sizes in wastewater relative to pond water with tadpoles from TTWs more closely resembling those from secondarily treated wastewater. Increased growth in wastewater confer a higher long-term survival despite low rates of malformations suggesting that TTWs may serve as high quality habitat for anurans.

Emma Zeitler (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of the South, zeitlefo@sewanee.edu;


Deborah McGrath (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of the South, mcgrathda@sewanee.edu;


Kristen Cecala (Primary Presenter/Author), University of the South, kkcecala@sewanee.edu;


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