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- Title
MONITORING TALLGRASS PRAIRIE RESTORATION PERFORMANCE USING FLORISTIC QUALITY ASSESSMENT.
- Authors
Mclndoe, Janna M.; Rothrock, Paul E.; Reber, Robert T.; Ruch, Donald G.
- Abstract
Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA), a tool that allows botanists to quickly and effectively determine a site's natural quality, has primarity been used to identify and rank areas of remnant natural quality. In this study FQA was employed for long-term monitoring of the Upland Prairie, an ecological restoration project in Grant County, Indiana. In 1993, the year of planting, permanent transects were established to monitor community development as well as the effects of nitrogen enrichment and intermittent seasonal flooding. FQA was applied to sprcies coser data collected nine times from 1993 through 2006. Analysis resealed that mean conservatism (MC) and floristic qaality index (FQI) values rose with increasing site age as species dominance shifted from native and exotic weeds to native prairie grasses and forbs. Quadrat level metrics were more salnablc for elucidating trends becaase transect level metrics were easily affected by slight differences in species composition year to year. FQA monitoriitg confirmed the impact of nitrogen enrichmetit reported in previous. intensive studies of the site. Areas praise to interouttent Ilooding scored lower MC and FQI scores because flooding inhibited the establishmetit of most prairie species. Mean wetness scores for these transects indicated that the vegetation was more representative of a svet meadow than mesic tallgrass prairie. This research determined that FQA is a useful, cost-effctise tool for examining trends and responses to treatments and disturbances in prairie restoratiolts.
- Subjects
GRANT County (Ind.); INDIANA; GRASSLAND restoration; PRAIRIE restoration; GRASSLAND management; FORAGE plants; TOTAL quality management
- Publication
Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, 2008, Vol 117, Issue 1, p16
- ISSN
0073-6767
- Publication type
Article