Effectiveness of vegetation buffers surrounding playa wetlands at contaminant and sediment amelioration.

Playa wetlands, the dominant hydrological feature of the semi-arid U.S. High Plains providing critical ecosystem services, are being lost and degraded due to anthropogenic alterations of the short-grass prairie landscape. The primary process contributing to the loss of playas is filling of the wetland through accumulation of soil eroded and transported by precipitation from surrounding cultivated watersheds. We evaluated effectiveness of vegetative buffers surrounding playas in removing metals, nutrients, and dissolved/suspended sediments from precipitation runoff. Storm water runoff was collected at 10-m intervals in three buffer types (native grass, fallow cropland, and Conservation Reserve Program). Buffer type differed in plant composition, but not in maximum percent removal of contaminants. Within the initial 60 m from a cultivated field, vegetation buffers of all types removed >50% of all measured contaminants, including 83% of total suspended solids (TSS) and 58% of total dissolved solids (TDS). Buffers removed an average of 70% of P and 78% of N to reduce nutrients entering the playa. Mean maximum percent removal for metals ranged from 56% of Na to 87% of Cr. Maximum removal was typically at 50 m of buffer width. Measures of TSS were correlated with all measures of metals and nutrients except for N, which was correlated with TDS. Any buffer type with >80% vegetation cover and 30-60 m in width would maximize contaminant removal from precipitation runoff while ensuring that playas would continue to function hydrologically to provide ecosystem services. Watershed management to minimize erosion and creations of vegetation buffers could be economical and effective conservation tools for playa wetlands.

Land use and conservation reserve program effects on the persistence of playa wetlands in the High Plains.

Watershed cultivation and subsequent soil erosion remains the greatest threat to the service provisioning of playa wetlands in the High Plains. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) plants perennial vegetation cover on cultivated lands including playa watersheds, and therefore, the program influences sediment deposition and accumulation in playas. Our objective was to measure the effects of the CRP on sediment deposition by comparing sediment depth and present/historic size characteristics in 258 playas among three High-Plains subregions (northern, central, and southern) and the three dominant watershed types: cropland, CRP, and native grassland. Sediment depth and resultant volume loss for CRP playas were 40% and 57% lower than cropland playas, but 68% and 76% greater than playas in native grassland. Playas in CRP had remaining volumes exceeding those of cropland playas. Grassland playas had nearly three times more original playa volume and 122% greater wetland area than CRP playas. Overall, playas were larger in the south than other subregions. Sediment depth was also three times greater in the south than the north, which resulted in southern playas losing twice as much total volume as northern playas. However, the larger southern playas provide more remaining volume per playa than those in other subregions. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of proper watershed management in preserving playa wetland ecosystem service provisioning in the High Plains. Furthermore, we identify regional differences in playas that may influence management decisions and provide valuable insight to conservation practitioners trying to maximize wetland services with limited resources.

Effects of agricultural tillage and sediment accumulation on emergent plant communities in playa wetlands of the U.S. High Plains.

Identifying community assembly filters is a primary ecological aim. The High Plains, a 30 million ha short-grass eco-region, is intensely cultivated. Cultivation disturbance, including plowing and eroded soil deposition down-slope of plowing, influences plant composition in depressional wetlands, such as playas, within croplands. We evaluated influences of wetland cultivation and sediment deposition on plant composition in playas embedded within croplands (46 plowed and 32 unplowed) and native grasslands (79) across 6 High Plains' states. Sediment accumulation ranged from 7 to 78 cm in cropland and 1 to 35 cm in grassland playas. Deeper sediments and plowing each decreased wetland plant richness, 28% and 70% respectively in cropland wetlands. Sediment depth reduced richness 37% in small grasslands playas while it increased richness 22% in larger ones, suggesting moderate disturbance increased richness when there were nearby propagule sources. Sediment depth was unrelated to species richness in plowed wetlands, probably because plowing was a strong disturbance. Plowing removed perennial plants from vegetation communities. Sediment accumulation also influenced species composition in cropland playas, e.g., probability of Eleocharis atropurpurea increased with sediment depth, while probability of Panicum capillare decreased. In grassland playas, observed lighter sediment depths did not influence species composition after accounting for wetland area. Sediment accumulation and plowing shift wetland plant communities toward annual species and decrease habitat connectivity for wetland-dependent organisms in cropland playas over 39,000 and 23,400 ha respectively. Conservation practices lessening sediment accumulation include short-grass buffer strips surrounding wetlands. Further, wetland tillage, allowed under federal agricultural conservation programs, should be eliminated.

Physical loss and modification of Southern Great Plains playas.

Playas are the primary wetland system in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) of North America providing critical stopover habitats for migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere. Collectively, these wetlands form the keystone ecosystem in this region supporting biodiversity for North America and provide habitat for native plants and animals that are essential for maintenance of international biological diversity along with other local and regional ecological services. Large-scale landscape changes in this region, primarily as a result of agriculturally-based anthropogenic impacts, threaten playas with functional loss and physical extinction. These impacts are not considered in current estimates of the number of extant functional playas, leading to biased estimates by groups or agencies extrapolating research or monitoring results, conducting conservation planning, and modeling impacts of future climate change. Using a combination of stochastic and empirical data, we identified impacts to playas and playa watersheds and quantified the extent and rate of these impacts relative to physical loss. Only 0.2% of playas had no wetland or watershed modification and we conservatively estimate that 17% of playas recently existing on the landscape no longer are represented by an apparent depression. With the inclusion of sediment volume estimates where ≥100% of the volume of original differentiated playa soil has been filled, 60% or 16,855 playas have been physically lost from the SGP despite a continued presence of a depression. Data also show that small playas are being lost more rapidly than larger ones; the average size (±SE) of extant playas has increased from 7.5 ± 0.47 to 8.5 ± 0.55 ha. The reduced ecological condition of 95.3% of playas remaining on the landscape exceeds historical predictions of a maximum 85% of playas ever being modified. Given the results of this study these changes can now be accounted for, resulting in more informed management and conservation of playas and bring awareness to the urgency of implementation of effective conservation measures for playas and the species that depend on this keystone ecosystem.

Year-round water management for desert bighorn sheep corresponds with visits by predators not bighorn sheep.

Managing water (e.g., catchments) to increase the abundance and distribution of game is popular in arid regions, especially throughout the southwest United States, where biologists often manage water year-round for desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni). Bighorn may visit water when predators (e.g., mountain lions [Puma concolor], coyotes [Canis latrans]) do not, suggesting that differences in species ecology or their surface water requirements influence visit timing. Alternatively, visits by desert bighorn sheep and predators may align. The former outcome identifies opportunities to improve water management by providing water when desert bighorn sheep visit most, which hypothetically may reduce predator presence, range expansion and predation, thereby supporting objectives to increase sheep abundances. Since advancing water management hinges on understanding the patterns of species visits, we identified when these three species and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) visited managed waters in three North American deserts (Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave). We unraveled the ecological basis describing why visits occurred by associating species visits with four weather variables using multi-site, multi-species models within a Bayesian hierarchical framework (3.4 million images; 105 locations; 7/2009-12/2016). Desert bighorn sheep concentrated visits to water within 4-5 contiguous months. Mountain lions visited water essentially year-round within all deserts. Higher maximum temperature influenced visits to water, especially for desert bighorn sheep. Less long-term precipitation (prior 6-week total) raised visits for all species, and influenced mountain lion visits 3-20 times more than mule deer and 3-37 times more than sheep visits. Visits to water by prey were inconsistent predictors of visits to water by mountain lions. Our results suggest improvements to water management by aligning water provision with the patterns and ecological explanations of desert bighorn sheep visits. We exemplify a scientific approach to water management for enhancing stewardship of desert mammals, be it the southwest United States or arid regions elsewhere.

Intraspecific phylogeography of red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in the central Rocky Mountain region of North America.

We used variation in a portion of the mitochondrial DNA control region to examine phylogeography of Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, a boreal-adapted small mammal in the central Rocky Mountain region. AMOVA revealed that 65.66% of genetic diversity was attributable to variation within populations, 16.93% to variation among populations on different mountain ranges, and 17.41% to variation among populations within mountain ranges. Nested clade analysis revealed two major clades that likely diverged in allopatry during the Pleistocene: a southern clade from southern Colorado and a northern clade comprising northern Colorado, Wyoming, eastern Utah, and eastern Idaho. Historically restricted gene flow as a result of geographic barriers was indicated between populations on opposite sides of the Green River and Wyoming Basin and among populations in eastern Wyoming. In some instances genetic structure indicated isolation by distance.