Grantee Research Project Results

Effects of Fluvial Disturbance and Flow Regulation on Great Plains Riparian Trees

EPA Grant Number: U915357
Title: Effects of Fluvial Disturbance and Flow Regulation on Great Plains Riparian Trees
Investigators: Katz, Gabrielle L.
Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder
EPA Project Officer: Lee, Sonja
Project Period: August 1, 1998 through June 1, 2001
Project Amount: $73,104
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Fellowship - Geography Earth Sciences , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Academic Fellowships

Objective:

The objectives of this project are to: (1) examine the downstream effects of dams on riparian forests in the southern Great Plains; and to(2) determine the ecological factors contributing to the invasive success of the exotic Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) in these ecosystems.

Approach:

This project is designed to be as a multi-scale analysis. At the landscape scale, I compare the riparian forest along 3three river reaches in eastern Colorado, USA - the unregulated Arikaree River, and the regulated South Fork Republican River - both upstream and downstream of Bonny Dam. At the stand scale, I examine the composition, population age structure, and geomorphic distribution of the floodplain forest at 3three sites within each of the three study reaches. At the micro-scale, I use manipulative field experiments to investigate the influence of physical disturbance and granivory on seedling establishment of Russian olive and plains cottonwood,. and I also examine the distribution of seedlings of these two species at the 9nine field sites.

Supplemental Keywords:

fellowship, biological invasion, Colorado, CO, dam effects, riparian forests, southern Great Plains.

Progress and Final Reports:

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.