Management Experiments on Lake Erie Flowering Rush

• Main Author: Dietz, Alyssa
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks@BGSU 2013
• Subjects: Butomus umbellatus
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/honorsprojects/19; https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/context/honorsprojects/article/1020/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf

Invasive aquatic species of plants have caused great harm to Great Lakes ecosystems by limiting habitat availability and altering community structure. Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus L.) is an invasive currently threatening Lake Erie wetlands. The aim of this study is to understand the response of B. umbellatus to an experiment designed to simulate the management techniques of flooding and clipping. Plants collected from Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge were subjected to six combinations of clipping and flooding treatments in controlled mesocosms in a greenhouse. By comparing responses to these environmental stresses, we have acquired a better understanding of the processes by which this species impacts native species and will apply these data to develop management approaches.