Sustainable Typha management in the Great Lakes. Shane Lishawa Loyola University Chicago Institute of Environmental Sustainability

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1 Sustainable Typha management in the Great Lakes Shane Lishawa Loyola University Chicago Institute of Environmental Sustainability

2 Sustainable Typha management in the Great Lakes Adaptive restoration Research guiding action Hypotheses driven ecological restoration Tidal marsh monitoring program: nisquallydeltarestoration.org

3 Sustainable Typha management in the Great Lakes Adaptive restoration The problem: Invasive plants & Nutrients Potential solution: Harvesting Research Implementation Monitoring Evaluating

4 Great Lakes coastal wetlands

5 MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES SHORELINE 3288 MILES LK SUPERIOR 917 CONNECTING RIVERS 236 LK ST. CLAIR & ERIE LK HURON LK MICHIGAN ATLANTIC OCEAN & GULF OF MEXICO 3700 MILES Dennis Albert, 2015

6 Great Lakes coastal wetlands ~212,000 ha Great Lakes wide Niagara River, 0.2% St. Claire, 1.1% Detroit River, 0.3% St. Lawrence River, 2.6% St. Marys River, 5.5% Erie, 10.4% St. Claire River, 6.4% Superior, 13.0% Huron, 27.9% Ontario, 10.5% Michigan, 22.1%

7 Invasive plants in Great Lakes coastal wetlands Invasive Typha Phragmites australis Phalaris arundinacea Typha angustifolia Typha x glauca

8 Invasive plants dominance (ha) Invasive species dominance (% of each zone) Invasive plants in Great Lakes coastal wetlands 80% 70% 60% 35,000 50% 30,000 25,000 40% 20,000 30% 15,000 20% 10,000 10% 5, % 69.9% 73.3% Great Lakes wide Ontario 50.0% Superior 25.6% 19.6% 13.8% 12.3% 9.6% 6.7% 4.1% Pha aru Phr aus Typha Emergent Vegetation zone Meadow Erie Huron Michigan SMR SLR SCR NR LSC LKS LKO LKM LKH LKE DR

9 Herbicide management of invasive plants 94 % of land managers use herbicides to control invasive Phragmites (Hazelton et al. 2014; Martin and Blossey 2013) Hazelton EL, Mozdzer TJ, Burdick DM, Kettenring KM, Whigham DF (2014) Phragmites australis management in the United States: 40 years of methods and outcomes. AoB Plants. doi: /aobpla/plu001 Martin LJ, Blossey B (2013) The runaway weed: costs and failures of Phragmites australis management in the USA. Estuaries Coasts 36:

10 Herbicide management of invasive plants Herbiciding increases porewater nutrients and nutrient supply rates for at least 1-year following application Lawrence et al Herbicide management of invasive cattail (Typha x glauca) increases porewater nutrient concentrations. Wetlands Ecol Manage. 24:

11 Herbicide management of invasive plants Increased nutrients creat favorable conditions for algae blooms and re-invasion by nutrient-hungry invasives Lawrence et al Herbicide management of invasive cattail (Typha x glauca) increases porewater nutrient concentrations. Wetlands Ecol Manage. 24:

12 Sustainable management of Typha in the Great Lakes

13 Plant community response to invasive cattail harvesting Lishawa SC, Lawrence BA, Albert DA, Tuchman NC Biomass harvest of invasive Typha promotes plant diversity in a Great Lakes coastal wetland. Restoration Ecology. 23 (3):

14 The Harvesters Cutting cattail Gathering litter Removing roots & rhizomes

15 Results Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders. H.D. Thoreau

16 Restoration response: Plant Community Plant diversity increases for 2+ years following harvesting

17 Restoration response: Plant Community Harvest Control Typha cover Through 4-years following harvest Keyport et al. IN PREP. Effects of harvesting an invasive hybrid cattail on abiotic and biotic wetland properties

18 Harvest response: Plant Community Harvest Control Litter cover Through 4-years following harvest Keyport et al. IN PREP. Effects of harvesting an invasive hybrid cattail on abiotic and biotic wetland properties

19 Harvest response: Plant Community Harvest Control Carex spp. cover Through 4-years following harvest Keyport et al. IN PREP. Effects of harvesting an invasive hybrid cattail on abiotic and biotic wetland properties

20 Restoration response: Plant Community Harvest Control Typha dominance Through 4-years following harvest Keyport et al. IN PREP. Effects of harvesting an invasive hybrid cattail on abiotic and biotic wetland properties

21 Recently invaded wetlands Plant community response to invasive cattail harvesting Lishawa et al Mechanical harvesting effectively controls young Typha invasion and unmanned aerial vehicle data enhances post-treatment monitoring. Frontiers in Plant Science.

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25 Conclusions Length of time established matters Below-water cutting dramatically reduces Typha dominance Aquatic species like open water Carex appears to be resilient to above-water cutting

26 The use of drones to monitor restoration responses

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31 Nutrients (tonnes) Harvest invasive plants as a nutrient removal strategy Harvesting presenescence will remove a minimum of: 30 kg of phosphorus/ ha 120 kg of nitrogen/ ha 10,000 9,000 8,601 8,000 7,000 (D'Arcy 6,000 Egan / The Plain Dealer) 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 N 789 P (Essex Region Conservation Authority)

32 Harvest invasive plants as a nutrient removal strategy (D'Arcy Egan / The Plain Dealer)

33 Cheboygan Marsh Experimental restoration ~30 acres harvested in 2015 Evaluating sediment & pore water nutrient chemistry, plant community response, & greenhouse gas emissions Utilizing biomass ~50 tons of biomass composted by a local dairy farmer

34 Baseline nutrient conditions Cheboygan Marsh 1% 1% 98% 10% 2% 88% Sediment N Sediment P Living Biomass Litter Proportion of living biomass and litter N (left) and P (right) relative to sediment N (left) and P (right) in the top 20 cm of the harvestable area at Cheboygan Marsh (n=20).

35 Cheboygan Marsh Harvestable nutrients conditions N P 120 Harvestable Nutrients (kg/ha) Living Biomass Litter Living Biomass Pre-treatment 1-year Post-treatment Harvestable N and P (kg/ha) at each harvest period in 2015 and 2016 in the single harvest treatment (n=5, ±SE).

36 A Pre-treatment year Post-treatment 2016 Cheboygan Marsh Effects of harvesting on sediment nutrients: 1-year post-harvest Differences occurred between years BUT No statistical differences in N (NO3, NH4) or P (PO4) by treatment NO3-N (µg/10 cm²/2 weeks) B NH4-N (µg/10 cm²/2 weeks) a Control b b a Double Harvest 0 Control Double Harvest C 7 PO4-P (µg/10 cm²/2 weeks) Control Double Harvest

37 New projects Increasing biodiversity and habitat complexity in invaded wetlands. EPA GLRI Lishawa, Tuchman, Albert, Clark, Reo, Schrank, Lawrence.

38 New projects Increasing biodiversity and habitat complexity in invaded wetlands Biodiversity, greenhouse gases, habitat complexity Plant communities Fish Macroinvertebrates Herpetofauna Birds Greenhouse gases Vegetation structure

39 New projects Increasing biodiversity and habitat complexity in invaded wetlands Biodiversity, greenhouse gases, habitat complexity Plant communities Fish Macroinvertebrates Herpetofauna Birds Greenhouse gases Vegetation structure

40 New projects Increasing biodiversity and habitat complexity in invaded wetlands Biodiversity, greenhouse gases, habitat complexity Plant communities Fish Macroinvertebrates Herpetofauna Birds Greenhouse gases Vegetation structure

41 New projects Increasing biodiversity and habitat complexity in invaded wetlands

42 Team Typha: Adaptive restoration of Great Lakes coastal wetland ecosystems Questions?