Stormwater ponds: An overlooked but plentiful urban designer ecosystem provides invasive plant habitat in a subtropical region (Florida, USA)

James S Sinclair; Alexander J Reisinger; Eban Bean; Carrie R Adams; Lindsey S Reisinger; Basil V Iannone 3rd

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135133

Stormwater ponds: An overlooked but plentiful urban designer ecosystem provides invasive plant habitat in a subtropical region (Florida, USA)

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Apr 1:711:135133. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135133. Epub 2019 Nov 22.

Authors

James S Sinclair¹, Alexander J Reisinger², Eban Bean³, Carrie R Adams⁴, Lindsey S Reisinger⁵, Basil V Iannone 3rd⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 136 Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: james.sinclair@ufl.edu.
² Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida, 2181 McCarty Hall A, PO Box 110290, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
³ Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, 1741 Museum Road, PO Box 110570, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
⁴ Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, 1549 Fifield Hall, PO Box 110670, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁵ School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 136 Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
⁶ School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 136 Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: biannone@ufl.edu.

PMID: 31837878
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135133

Abstract

Designed ecosystems are built as part of ongoing urban expansion, providing a suite of valued ecosystem services. However, these new ecosystems could also promote disservices by facilitating the colonization and spread of invasive species. We conduct the first assessment of the quantity and invasion of an overlooked designed ecosystem: stormwater ponds. These ponds are commonly recommended for managing urban hydrology, but little is known about their ecology or extent of proliferation. Using a broad-scale survey of pond coverage in Florida, USA, we found that over 76,000 stormwater ponds have been built just in this state, forming 2.7% of total urban land cover. This extensive pondscape of manufactured habitats could facilitate species spread throughout urban areas and into nearby natural waterbodies. We also conducted a survey of the severity of plant invasion in 30 ponds in Gainesville, FL, US across two pond types (dry vs. wet), and a gradient of management intensities (low, medium, high) and pond ages. We unexpectedly found a high number of invasive plant species (28 in just 30 ponds). Ninety-six percent of surveyed ponds contained from one to ten of these species, with ponds exhibiting high turnover in invader composition (i.e., high beta diversity). The bank sections of dry unmanaged ponds exhibited the highest mean invasive species richness (5.8 ± 1.3) and the inundated centers of wet medium managed ponds exhibited the highest mean invasive species cover (34 ± 12%). Invasive plant richness and cover also tended to be greater in dry ponds with higher soil nutrient levels, and in older wet ponds. Therefore, we found that highly maintained and younger wet ponds were the least invaded. Nevertheless, common management practices that limit plant invasions may also limit native species establishment and invasion may increase in the decades following pond construction.

Keywords: Designed ecosystem; Ecosystem disservices; Invasion; Invasive plant; Stormwater pond; Urban.

MeSH terms

Ecosystem*
Florida
Plants
Ponds*