Hydric vegetation communities across rural, peri-urban, and urban zones within the Prairie Pothole Region

Abstract

Wetland and pond hydric vegetation is impacted across the rural, peri-urban, and urban zones by anthropogenic activities such as agricultural production, industrial manufacturing, and urban development. Previous studies have assessed urban and rural wetland vegetation, but have rarely explored the peri-urban zone of development. Therefore, to investigate the impacts of urbanization on hydric vegetation, thirty pond sites (10 rural, 10 peri-urban, and 10 urban) were randomly selected within each of the three zones. The vegetation community at each site was assessed using a quadrat method to compare the vegetation composition. In addition, floristic quality based on the conservatism value of each plant species was used to assess wetland vegetation. Results show plant communities of rural sites differed from both urban and peri-urban sites due partly to urbanization reducing the cover of obligate wetland species. Peri-urban sites contained the highest species richness, due to the increase in introduced plants associated with urbanization. Urban sites contained the lowest species richness, some of which is due to the use of rock riprap surrounding the edges of most sites. The plant conservatism values of vegetation were not different for rural and peri-urban sites, but were significantly lower in urban sites. Information from this study is useful to wetland professionals, environmental managers, and urban planners to predict hydric vegetation responses within peri-urban areas in the Prairie Pothole Region.