Ecological resilience in a restored desert spring

Authors: Abbey Paulson

Year: 2016 (xlviii)

Abstract

The success of ecological restoration is often gauged by the change in community composition in relation to a target state. Community trajectory during succession, and the associated ecological outcome, can be influenced by abiotic and biotic variab les, including environmental filtering, interspecific competition and predation, priority effects, and habitat partitioning. We conducted a twelve-month chronosequence study in a desert spring (South Scruggs, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge) to follow community change over time during and after restoration. We used environmental DNA and metagenetic surveying to estimate whole eukaryotic communities in the restored spring, and three adjacent reference springs that defined the restoration target. The restored spring exhibited rapid recovery of alpha diversity, and a community trajectory directed towards the composition found in the reference springs. Our results suggest environmental selection of the ecological community in this restored desert spring, highlight the importance of nearby sources of dispersing individuals in restored or disturbed freshwater systems, and demonstrate the applicability of molecular methods for restoration monitoring.