Biology ETDs

Publication Date

Summer 7-29-2025

Abstract

As riparian communities become increasingly degraded, restoration treatments are being implemented in streams to recover ecosystem functions. In the Jemez Mountains, beaver dam analogs (BDAs) are used to restore degraded streams by connecting the floodplain and increasing the extent of anoxic soil conditions. These environmental disturbances are expected to alter how riparian plants recruit, particularly their allocation to seed-based and vegetative regeneration strategies. We investigated whether BDAs and associated changes in soil water filled pore space (WFPS) affected riparian plant recruitment. We investigated the number of flowering stems as a proxy for seed-based regeneration and rhizome length and mass as a measure of vegetative regeneration. At 40-50% WFPS, plants increased investments in rhizomes and decreased investments in flowering stems. Results suggest that disturbances following restoration treatments are likely to impact plant recruitment by both altering mean recruitment and shifting plants’ relative investment in seed-based versus vegetative reproduction.

Project Sponsors

U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, National Science Foundation MRT Program

Language

English

Keywords

restoration ecology, riparian ecology, plant reproduction, beaver dam analogs, persistence niche, regeneration niche

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Biology

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

UNM Biology Department

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. Thomas Turner

Second Committee Member

Dr. Jennifer Rudgers

Third Committee Member

Dr. Hannah Marx

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