Determining Effective Riparian Buffer Width for Nonnative Plant Exclusion and Habitat Enhancement
Date
2012-03-18
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Ecology
Abstract
Nonnative plants threaten native biodiversity in landscapes where habitats are fragmented. Unfortunately, in developed areas, much of the remaining forested habitat occurs in fragmented riparian corridors. Because forested corridors of sufficient width may allow forest interior specializing native species to retain competitive advantage over edge specialist and generalist nonnative plants, identifying appropriate corridor widths to minimize nonnative plants and maximize ecosystem integrity is of habitat management concern. We measured the occurrences of 4 species of nonnative plants across the widths of 31 forested riparian corridors of varying widths in the White Clay Creek watershed of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Using repeated measures ANOVA, Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) prevalence did not significantly decline across buffer widths. However, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) declined strongly within the first 15–25 m. Managing for riparian corridor widths a minimum of 15–25 m has the potential to enhance habitat quality but no corridor width (≤55 m) will exclude all invasive plants.
Description
This article was originally published in International Journal of Ecology. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/170931. Copyright © 2012 Gavin Ferris et al.
Keywords
life on land
Citation
Ferris, Gavin, Vincent D’Amico, and Christopher K. Williams. “Determining Effective Riparian Buffer Width for Nonnative Plant Exclusion and Habitat Enhancement.” International Journal of Ecology 2012 (2012): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/170931.