Control of invasive Phragmites australis (European common reed) alters macroinvertebrate communities

Abstract

AbstractWetland restoration often involves invasive plant species suppression to encourage the recovery of native-dominated vegetation communities. However, assessment of recovery is usually focused only on vegetation and the response of other critical wetland biota, such as macroinvertebrates, is seldom assessed. We characterized the aquatic, semi-aquatic, and terrestrial macroinvertebrate communities in remnant, uninvaded marsh to identify restoration targets and compared this to the communities in Phragmites australis-invaded marsh, and in formerly invaded marsh that was treated with the herbicide glyphosate in 2016 to simultaneously evaluate the effects of invasion and of invasive species suppression. We sampled invertebrates in 2017 and 2018 to track two years following herbicide treatment. The invertebrate community composition captured by the emergence traps was similar between P. australis and remnant marsh, suggesting invasion has little effect on macroinvertebrate community structure. There was also high concordance between the aquatic and emerging invertebrate communities in the invaded and uninvaded habitats. In contrast, herbicide-treated sites had a unique community composition, characterized by very high densities of Chironomidae (Diptera) and low taxa richness and evenness. Herbicide-treated sites also exhibited low concordance between the aquatic and emerging invertebrate communities, potentially attributable to the sparse emerging vegetation cover providing limited substrates for emergence. Herbicide-based invasive species control results in considerable changes to the macroinvertebrate community in freshwater marshes for at least two years after treatment, which may have consequences for aquatic food webs and species that rely on macroinvertebrates as prey.