Long-term vegetation changes in a Texas coastal prairie wetland complex with insights for managers

Abstract

Restoration efforts can enhance the value of wetlands and their ecosystem services, yet they are often performed without understanding the long-term trajectory of plant community development . To describe this trajectory for Texas coastal prairie wetlands composed of interspersed mima mounds and ponds, plant species and community composition were recorded over 9 years in 2 restored ponds at Sheldon Lake State Park. An analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) across all years and depths showed that plant communities changed substantially over time, regardless of depth, such that the plant communities from later years (2017-2019) did not resemble the communities present in earlier years (2012-2013) . Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) showed that the largest contributors to the community change were the native natural recruits, representing 60.8% to 83.0% of the total dissimilarity between years. These results suggest that native plants in Texas coastal prairie wetlands will recruit, establish, and dominate regardless of whether vegetation is planted by managers. However, planting can still accomplish key restoration goals, including a boost to overall vegetation diversity and the replacement of extirpated plant species that may be no longer present in the seed bank.