Download LRES 569: Ecology of Invasive Plants in the Greater Yellowstone

LRES 569: Ecology of Invasive Plants in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Syllabus, Schedule and Assignments
Professor:
Dr. Bruce Maxwell
[email protected]
(406) 994-5717
Class meets ABS Hall (Animal BioSciernce) Room 238 from 8 am to 10 am; meet for Field Trips
on East side of ABS. Computer Lab ABS 234 from 2 to 5 pm.
This course was originally designed for the Master of Science for Science Educators program
(MSSE) and now additionally includes graduate students in Land Resources and Environmental
Sciences (LRES). The MSSE students only take the field portion of the course and the LRES
students are additionally required to do expanded assignments the weeks before and after the field
course.
Course Objectives:
1.
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Familiarize students with the most current theories on what characteristics make
species invasive and what ecosystem conditions invite or resist non-indigenous plant
species.
Create an awareness of the philosophical debate within the ecology discipline and
society in general about non-native species and the policies directed at their
management.
Place students in the field where invasion is occurring to gain an appreciation for the
complexity of judging a species to be invasive and having ecosystem impact.
Learn field sampling techniques, data summarization, statistical analysis,
interpretation and results presentation.
Additional objective for LRES Graduate Students receiving +1 credit.
a. Learn advanced forms of data analysis that allow for predicting the distribution
and dynamics of invasive plant species.
b. Learn to draw conclusions from monitoring data that will allow informed land
management decision.
Schedule: [Changes to the schedule may occur, therefore information on the D2Lsite takes
precedence over this document]
Readings: All readings will be on the D2L website for the class.
Prior to class Assignment 1 for MSSE (LRES 569) and LRES (LRES 591):
Read: Richardson et al. 2000, Colautti and MacIsaac 2004 and Webber and Scott 2012 and the
2009 article from Slate by Tuhus-Dubrow and the more recent debate articles by Davis (2011)
and the response from Simberloff (2011) and finally Humair et al. 2014. Write a paper (no
more than 3 double spaced pages for MSSE and 5 pages for LRES) that defines invasive plant
species including the factors that are important to consider based on the readings. This
definition should summarize the issues associated with invasive species terminology
(“naturalized”, “invasive”, “transformer”, “weed”, “impacts”, etc.). In addition, address the
philosophical issue of what constitutes calling a species “native” or “non-native” and how
society reacts to the concept of “non-native” That is: Why is “native” held in such high esteem?
What is the role of science in providing society guidance in how to interpret non-native
species? Since most of you are teachers, imagine you are writing this definition and description
of issues for your students. So tell me what grade level you teach. Paper is due at 5:00 pm
Sunday before class begins. Place your paper in the D2L dropbox called
“Invasive_Species_Definition”.
Monday
Distribution of Invasive Plants
Before Class Read:
Rew, L.J., B.D. Maxwell, F.L. Dougher and R. Aspinall. 2006. Searching for a needle in a
haystack: evaluating survey methods for non-indigenous plant species. Biological Invasions
8:253-539.
Ibáῆez, I., J.A. Silander, Jr., A.M. Wilson, N. LaFleur, N. Tanaka and I. Tsuyama. 2009.
Multivariate forecasts of potential distributions of invasive plant species. Ecological
Applications 19:359-375. [Note: Do not spend time trying to understand the math. Read
the introduction, discussion and conclusion sections.]
The questions that we will address:
1. What factors must come together to have a successful species introduction to a continent,
a new region on a continent or a new area within a single habitat?
2. How can we make an unbiased prediction of where the species occurs and is likely to
occur on the landscape without conducting a full census?
8:30 am
Introduction of Course and Discussion of definitions [238 ABS]
9:00 am
Lecture: Distribution of Invasive Plants (notes and ppt in D2L)
10:00 am
Load up in cars and go to Jack Cr. Preserve
11:30 am
Presence/Absence transects.
3:30 pm
Return to MSU campus (try to arrive by 5:30 pm)
Assignment 2. In a paragraph list some abiotic and then some biotic determinants of nonnative plant species distribution. Explain how these two factors may interact to determine
habitat quality for the non-native species? Place your word document in the
“Plant_Distribution” dropbox in D2L by beginning of class on Tuesday.
Tuesday, Monitoring To Determine Plant Invasion Rates
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.
Maxwell, B.D. and L.J. Rew. Monitoring for Invasion Potential of Non-indigenous Plant
Populations. Not submitted for publication yet.
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:
1. What should be the criteria for determining if a non-indigenous species is invasive?
2. Can we detect change in non-indigenous plant populations that will allow us to judge
them as invasive?
8:00 am
Lecture: Detecting changes in density and spatial extent [238 ABB] Lecture 2:
Measuring Invasion Potential
9:30 am
Field Trip to Mt Ellis State Land. [meet near ABS in parking lot]
11:30 am
Return to campus
2:00 pm
Computer Lab Analysis [Meet in 234 ABB]
Assignment 3 (Estimating Invasion Potential):
Conduct analysis on patch data from Mt Ellis State Land. With the data that you
collected and the data from previous years would you conclude that the sulfur
cinquefoil populations (patches) are growing, shrinking, or show no trend?
Present a table showing the area of each patch in each year using the Tape
Measure Triangles Methods and the GPS patch perimeter method? Calculate the
growth rate for each patch? Present a table showing the change in density of the
samples from each patch and each year from the Mt Ellis data. Do you conclude
that these invasive species are invading according to our definition of populations
that are consistently increasing in density and/or spatial extent? Explain your
answer in a paragraph and turn in your assignment by Friday at 8 am. Put into the
“Invasion_Potential” dropbox
Wednesday, Impact of Invasive Plants
Before Class Read:
Review materials and background reading Leafy Spurge Problem Field Trip and Lab
Ramula, S., T.M. Knight, J.H. Burns and Y. Buckley. 2008. General guidelines for invasive plant
management based on comparative demography of invasive and native plant populations. J Apl.
Ecol. 45:1124-1133.
The questions that we will examine are:
1. What should be the criteria for determining if a non-indigenous plant species can have a
significant impact on the ecosystem?
2. What are the proper controls required to determine if a population of an invasive plant
species is having an impact on species diversity?
8:30 am
Introductory Lecture on Attributes of invasive plants and their impact
[238 ABS]
9:30 am
Field Trip to “M” [Meet in driveway East side of ABS]
1:30 pm
Return to campus and meet in Computer Room to analyze field data in Excel.
[234 ABS]
3:30 pm
Discuss results
Assignment 4, Invasive Species Impacts:
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 twotailed 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. Due at beginning of class Friday
Thursday, Invasive Species In The Context Of An Ecosystem
All day field trip to Yellowstone National Park. Meeting time and place to be announced.
We will examine invasive species in the context of different land management objectives
encountered in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Discuss issues of boundaries between
management objectives, the concept of ecological footprint and invasive species policies.
Before Class Read:
Hansen, A., R. Rasker, B. Maxwell, J. Rotella, J. Johnson, A. Wright, U. Langner, W. Cohen, R.
Lawrence, M. Kraska. 2002. Ecological causes and consequences of demographic change in the new
west. Bioscience 52:151-162
Maxwell, B.D. and L.J. Rew. 2010. If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It: An Ecological
Approach to Weed Management. Chapter 8. pp. 113-126. In J. Johnson (Ed) Knowing
Yellowstone: Science in America’s First National Park. Taylor Trade Publishing, Boulder, CO.
The questions that we will address:
1. What parts of the landscape are most apt to have non-native species?
2. Would a nature reserve like YNP be a logical place to find non-native species? Why or
why not?
3. What is the role of disturbance (most notably fire in GYE) in determining invasive
species dynamics?
4. Where on the landscape are invasive species most likely to disrupt ecosystem processes?
Assignment 5. Be able to answer the questions above as they are likely to be on the final exam.
Nothing to submit but should discuss while traveling in the vehicles.
Friday, The Decision To Manage Invasive Plant Species
8:30 am
No Lecture. Meet in Parking Lot to go to Burke Park
11:00 am
Return to Campus
12:00 am
Lunch
1:00 pm
Meet in room 234 ABS to discuss observations from Burke Park.
2:00-3:30
Final Exam
For LRES Graduate Students signed up for +1 credit.
July 11-17, 2015 Analysis and Report on Burke Park Data
Assignment 6, Invasive Plant Management (for LRES 591 students):
Using the SpatTempPopDyn.R model compare at least 3 different management
approaches designed to decrease the simulated invasive species population
growth. Describe what methods you applied and the results. Which method was
the best and why? Answer each part with no more than a paragraph. Turn in your
assignment no later than Friday at 12:00 pm by placing a word document into the
Simulated_Management_Analysis dropbox.