Native Scrub Research Articles

Development of an assay for the detection of the federally threatened Florida eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) using soil eDNA

AbstractAccurate information on species range contraction is the cornerstone of effective biodiversity conservation. The eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is an apex predator in Florida and, similar to many species native to Florida, is threatened by widespread habitat destruction. Environmental deoxyribonucleic acid (eDNA) monitoring of this elusive snake would provide a non‐invasive approach to improve our knowledge of the species' range and distribution. We designed and tested an eDNA assay that can detect the presence of D. couperi from soil samples from their natural scrub habitat in Florida. We validated our assay in silico, in vitro, and in situ. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of temperature and humidity on the degradation rate of eDNA over time. We successfully amplified the cytochrome b gene for D. couperi at concentrations as low as 3 × 10−3 ng/μL and successfully detected the presence of D. couperi in 2 of 30 in situ field soil samples. The degradation experiment resulted in detectable DNA for 10 days. Interestingly, temperature and humidity had no effect on the degradation rate of eDNA in our experimental conditions. This study provides support for soil eDNA applications to detect the presence of a federally threatened species in their natural environment bolstering our ability to monitor the conservation and management of imperiled species. Environmental DNA provides an additional conservation tool to quickly and effectively monitor species range shifts driven by multiple anthropogenic stressors to promote the persistence of imperiled species.

A comparative study of the saproxylic diversity of a natural and a reforested forest in Morocco: Implications for conservation and ecosystem management

Moroccan forest ecosystems are rich in biodiversity. However, they are threatened by deforestation. To reduce this, the country has adopted plans involving reforestation. This study compares the diversity of saproxylic litter beetles in two forests in the province of El Jadida, Morocco: the natural Haouzia matorral and the reforested Chiadma forest. The Winkler method and Tullgren funnel were used to assess saproxylic beetles, which serve as bioindicators to evaluate the effectiveness of reforestation efforts. A total of 160 specimens were sampled in the natural forest, symmetrically and concentratedly distributed, with 3% being saproxylic. In the natural bushes, anthropogenic activities have caused a low percentage of species richness. Conversely, the reforested forest has a similar abundance and richness, with 85 specimens and 7% saproxylic. However, the distribution of specimens in the reforested forest is less symmetrical and concentrated than in the natural forest. The differences in species richness are attributed to the different systems present at each site. The natural scrub has an endemism rate of 33%, which is higher than that of Chiadma (13%). These results highlight the significance of management, planning, and protection efforts to conserve these natural ecosystems, which are a national heritage.

Factors Influencing Prevalence and Intensity of Haemosporidian Infection in American Kestrels in the Nonbreeding Season on the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

ABSTRACT Overwintering areas can act as reservoirs for haemosporidians, and their blood-sucking vectors may easily survive and flourish in warm climates. The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is a small-sized raptor that includes both resident and migratory individuals that overwinter in agriculture areas of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. We measured and collected blood samples from 54 individual kestrels captured in a fragmented habitat located within a matrix of agricultural and native scrub in the southern part of the peninsula during the autumn and winter of 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. We identified and quantified haemosporidians in blood smears of each individual. We used decision tree classification models of prevalence and intensities of haemosporidians to assess the importance of season, host body size, and environmental characteristics of the capture site (proximity to the nearest infected host, number of ponds used for irrigation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index [NDVI], distance to the edge of the agricultural matrix, and distance to the nearest city). Overall prevalence was 42.6%, with an average intensity of 2.4 haemosporidian-infected cells per 2000 erythrocytes. Most haemosporidians (91.3%) were identified as Haemoproteus tinnunculi, and the rest as Plasmodium spp. The prevalence of haemosporidians increased with pond availability, the distance from the edge of the agricultural matrix, and the proximity of infected individuals. Parasite intensity increased with the availability of ponds, the distance to the edge of the agriculture matrix, and the NDVI. Spatial and temporal patterns of parasite prevalence and intensity illustrated local infection dynamics, suggesting a complex scenario of haemosporidian transmission in migratory and resident kestrels.

Differentiation of natural scrub communities of the Cotoneastro-Amelanchieretum group in Central Europe.

Most of Central European rocky scrub communities formed by Cotoneaster integerrimus, Juniperus communis and Amelanchier ovalis are included in the association Cotoneastro-Amelanchieretum (= Junipero-Cotoneasteretum). However, this leads to the creation of syntaxon whose internal diversity is so great that it seems necessary to examine validity of its existence in the current form. This diversity entails species composition, habitat requirements and geographical distribution. Therefore, we posed the following objectives: i) to investigate the variability of species composition of the rocky scrub; (ii) to determine if there are ecological differences between the communities distinguished by species variability; (iii) to determine the geographical ranges of individual syntaxa. Altogether we analyzed 387 phytosociological relevés from Central Europe. Vegetation types of rocky scrubs were identified using the unsupervised K-means algorithm and detrended correspondence analysis. Mean Ellenberg’s indicator values were applied to identify the environmental gradients shaping the plant communities. Obtained results confirmed the validity of dividing this broadly defined syntaxon into six distinct vegetation units. In order to present the studied communities in a broader context, we included into our analyses other rocky scrub with the occurrence of Cotoneaster sp. and A. ovalis, which formed the remaining three clusters. The observed differences in species composition were further supported by significant differences in soil reaction, temperature and continentality between the syntaxa. Moreover, the distinguished communities differed among one another in geographical range. Our study provides a new typology of the selected type of natural rocky scrub vegetation in Central Europe which involves environmental aspects, hence better reflects community-habitat relationships. This study also indicates a need for further revision of the classification of other types of natural scrub communities. Such classification should be based on modern data analysis methods and should primarily focus on lower vegetation units at pan-European scale.

MEMBUAT DESAIN PACKAGING PRODUK BODY CARE REVEUSE

In increasing self-confidence in appearance, it is necessary to maintain a clean and healthy body by exfoliating the skin. Reveuse comes with a beauty product in the form of a natural body scrub cube that can treat skin efficiently and can increase the confidence of women aged 18 to 29 who love skincare. In an effort to solve these problems, Reveuse faces a problem in making a suitable design for the packaging of Reveuse body scrub products because the product being offered is a body scrub cube which is still not well known and recognized by the public. Therefore, the problem formulation of this journal is how to make packaging design for Reveuse body care products. The purpose of designing this final project is to create a packaging design for Reveuse body care products so that the product is easier to recognize as a beauty product and has its own charm. The research methods used were qualitative and quantitative through literature studies, interviews with three expert users, three extreme users, and a survey to 100 target audiences. Based on the results of a trial analysis of Reveuse's packaging design work, several designs will be revised, namely the use of Reveuse's main typeface and designs for packaging pouches that don't look like skincare products.
 
 Keywords: Body Care, Packaging, Design Style, Color Palette, Typography

Pyrolysis of invasive woody vegetation for energy and biochar has climate change mitigation potential

Woody plant encroachment in agricultural areas reduces agricultural production and is a recognised land degradation problem of global significance. Invasive native scrub (INS) is woody vegetation that invades southern Australian rangelands and is commonly cleared to return land to agricultural production. Clearing of INS emits carbon to the atmosphere, and the retention of INS by landholders for the purpose of avoiding carbon emissions has been incentivized in Australia as an emission reduction strategy. Retaining INS, however, means land remains relatively unproductive because INS negatively impacts livestock production. This desktop study examined whether clearing INS to return an area to production, and pyrolysing residues to produce biochar, has the potential to provide climate change mitigation (the “pyrolysis scenario”). The syngas produced via pyrolysis was assumed to be used to generate electricity that was fed into the electricity grid and avoided the production of electricity from existing sources. In addition, the biochar was assumed to be applied to soils used for wheat production, giving mitigation benefits from reduced N2O emissions from fertiliser use and reduction in the use of lime to ameliorate soil acidity. Relative to clearing INS and burning residues in-situ, the pyrolysis scenario resulted in a reduction in radiative forcing of 1.28 × 10−4 W m2 ha−1 of INS managed, 25 years after clearing, and was greater than the reduction of 1.06 × 10−4 W m2 ha−1 that occurred when INS was retained. The greatest contribution to the climate change mitigation provided by the pyrolysis scenario came from avoided emissions from grid electricity production, while avoided N2O and lime emissions made a relatively minor contribution towards mitigation.

Prospects for sustainable use of the pastoral areas of Australia’s southern rangelands: a synthesis

There is growing recognition of the need to achieve land use across the southern Australian rangelands that accommodates changing societal preferences and ensures the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own preferences. This paper considers the prospects for sustainable use of the pastoral lands based either on continued grazing or emerging, alternative land uses. After an overview of the southern rangelands environment, the status of the pastoral industry, its environmental impacts, and key issues for pastoral management, we propose four principles and 19 associated guidelines for sustainable pastoralism. Although some continued withdrawal of land from pastoralism is anticipated, we expect that pastoralism will continue throughout much of the region currently grazed, particularly in the higher rainfall environments in the east. Within these areas, sustainable pastoral land use should be achievable by the application of four broad management principles, as follows: (1) manage grazing within a risk management framework based on the concept of tactical grazing, (2) develop infrastructure to allow best management of both domestic and non-domestic grazing pressure, (3) incorporate management of invasive native scrub, where required, into overall, ongoing property management and (4) manage grazing to enhance biodiversity conservation at landscape scale. Application of these principles and guidelines will require the development of appropriate policy settings, particularly in relation to kangaroo management, climate change, and natural resource governance, together with innovative approaches to research, development and extension. Policy development will also be required if the new industry of carbon sequestration is to deliver socio-ecological benefits without perverse outcomes. Other emerging industries based on renewable energy or ecosystem services appear to have considerable potential, with little risk of adverse ecological consequences.

Impact of wildfire on granite outcrops in archaeological sites surrounded by different types of vegetation

The lack of scientific information about the effects of wildfire on prehistoric structures and rock art, such as dolmens and petroglyphs, impedes the development of conservation guidelines. In this study, the impact of a recent wildfire (late 2017) on granite outcrops in the San Salvador de Coruxo archaeological site (Vigo, SW Galicia) was evaluated. Samples of the same type of granite were obtained from three sites characterised by different types of vegetation (natural scrub, native deciduous oak and non-native pine-eucalypt forest) in order to determine how the vegetation influences the fire-caused damage to the rock. Three subsamples were taken from each of the granite samples at depths of 1 cm–3 cm to study how fire affects the rock at depth.In all sites, the temperature reached at the granite surface was below 380 °C. No mineralogical changes due to fire exposure were detected, and no physical changes that could be attributed to the effect of the fire on the fissure system of the granite were identified. However, aesthetic colour changes due to the deposition of organic and charred matter, which even penetrated the fissures, were detected. The existence of lignin-derived compounds, lipids and carbohydrates in the samples from the oakwood site indicates greater resistance to fire effects in this type of vegetation than in the other two types. Although preliminary, these findings suggest that oakwoods could act as protective belts around archaeological sites by reducing the wildfire severity, because of their greater resistance to being burnt, and that they could buffer the damaging effects of fire in natural areas where parietal art is found.

Protecting the Wildland-Urban Interface in California: Greenbelts vs Thinning for Wildfire Threats to Homes

This study utilized native chaparral and sage scrub shrubs planted in lightly irrigated greenbelts around homes to evaluate the impact on live fuel moisture content (LFMC) and predicted fire behavior. As to be expected LFMC varied markedly throughout the year being over 100% in winter in all species and treatments that included adjacent thinned native shrublands and untreated control shrublands. However, in the summer and fall there were marked differences between treatments. For most species lightly irrigated plants had the highest LFMC in the summer and fall, followed by thinned treatments and controls. These differences in moisture content coupled with structural differences in the vegetation contributed to expected differences in flame length and rate of spread. Lightly irrigated native shrubs planted around homes can reduce fire hazard while possessing other desirable features of utilizing native vegetation.

Management of Forest-Dwelling and Urban Species: Case Studies of the Lion-Tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) and the Bonnet Macaque (M. radiata)

Species conservation depends on the needs of the species concerned. For example, obligatory forest-dwelling and typically urban primate species require different conservation approaches. Here, I compare the ecology, life history, and behavior of two species of macaques in southern India; review what we know about the conservation challenges for each; and propose conservation measures. Lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) are endemic to the rainforests of the Western Ghats and are endangered as a result of fragmentation of their habitats and low population growth. I recommend identification of contiguous forest habitats for viable lion-tailed macaque populations, improving the quality of their degraded habitats, and the linking of forest fragments with native vegetation as management measures for their conservation. In contrast, the bonnet macaque (M. radiata) is a habitat generalist endemic to southern India, but is losing its range to the relatively larger bodied and more aggressive rhesus macaque (M. mulatta). It is not a typically forest-dwelling species, and its populations are declining drastically in its traditional habitats that include Hindu temples, tourist spots, and roadsides with fruit-bearing trees and agricultural crops. The population has remained stable only where the habitat allows the macaques to forage in scrub jungle and includes a temple where the monkeys can obtain food from visitors. India is dotted with small hillocks with natural scrub or deciduous forest vegetation with one or two Hindu temples, and it appears that such habitats are the most suitable places for the long-term conservation of this species. These two case studies serve as examples of the different approaches needed to conserve forest-dwelling and urban primates, and with appropriate modifications, may inform the conservation of many other species.

Prickly pear crops as bee diversity reservoirs and the role of bees in Opuntia fruit production

Certain agroecosystems can contribute to regional biodiversity conservation and to the maintenance of ecosystem services. Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia albicarpa) crops on the Mexican Plateau could fulfill these roles, but little is known about their potential. The objective of this study was to analyze the diversity of bee communities in prickly pear cactus crops and natural cactus xerophilous scrub dominated by Opuntia spp., and to identify the possible influence of bee diversity in prickly pear production. Using colored pan traps, we collected 4012 bees, 2405 in crops and 1607 in natural scrub. There were no significant differences between habitats in any of the bee community parameters (richness, average abundance, diversity, and species composition). There was a negative relationship between bee abundance and the proportion of area covered by other types of crops in landscape units measuring 1 km radius around the sampling sites. In the prickly pear crops, there was a positive relationship between the number of fruits and bee diversity, although the number of fruits was also strongly dependent on the number of flowers. In the natural scrub, the number of fruits was positively related to both bee abundance and the number of flowers. Future studies should be carried out to study O. albicarpa pollination in depth. The results support the idea that prickly pear crops have a high conservation potential for local bee diversity, and that they provide habitat and food resources just like the natural scrub does. Moreover, the results suggest that bee diversity may have a positive influence on food production (Opuntia fruit) and may contribute to socio-economic well-being in the region.

‘This country just hangs tight’: perspectives on managing land degradation and climate change in far west NSW

Discussions of land degradation often display a disconnect between global and local scales. Although global-scale discussions often focus on measuring and reversing land degradation through metrics and policy measures, local-scale discussions can highlight a diversity of viewpoints and the importance of local knowledge and context-specific strategies for sustainable land management. Similarly, although scientific studies clearly link anthropogenic climate change to land degradation as both cause and consequence, the connection may not be so clear for local rangelands communities due to the complex temporal and spatial scales of change and management in such environments. In research conducted in October 2015, we interviewed 18 stakeholders in the far west of New South Wales about their perspectives on sustainable land management. The results revealed highly variable views on what constitutes land degradation, its causes and appropriate responses. For the pastoral land managers, the most important sign of good land management was the maintenance of groundcover, through the management of total grazing pressure. Participants viewed overgrazing as a contributor to land degradation in some cases and they identified episodes of land degradation in the region. However, other more contentious factors were also highlighted, such as wind erosion, grazing by goats and kangaroos and the spread of undesired ‘invasive native scrub’ at the expense of more desirable pasture, and alternative views that these can offer productive benefits. Although few participants were concerned about anthropogenic climate change, many described their rangeland management styles as adaptive to the fluctuations of the climate, regardless of the reasons for these variations. Rather than focusing on whether landholders ‘believe in’ climate change or agree on common definitions or measurement approaches for land degradation, these results suggest that their culture of adaptation may provide a strong basis for coping with an uncertain future. The culture of adaption developed through managing land in a highly variable climate may help even if the specific conditions that landholders need to adapt to are unlike those experienced in living memory. Such an approach requires scientific and expert knowledge to be integrated alongside the context-specific knowledge, values and existing management strategies of local stakeholders.

The Effects of Landscape Urbanization on the Gut Microbiome: An Exploration Into the Gut of Urban and Rural White-Crowned Sparrows

Urban habitats present new ecological and evolutionary challenges for animals. Noise and infrastructure often change behavior and community composition, with potential physical costs such as decreased condition. However, the underlying mechanisms driving these patterns are virtually unknown. One potential driver of condition within a species is the diversity of the gut microbiome. Here, we investigate how the urban habitat affects the gut microbiome of White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) using spatial analyses of land cover (impervious, scrub, grass, and trees) at the regional level and territory level in urban San Francisco, CA and nearby rural Point Reyes, CA. We hypothesized that urbanization of habitats affects gut microbial composition and diversity through direct effects on diet and/or indirect environmental effects. We measured gut microbial community diversity from 16s rRNA sequences amplified from cloacal swabs. We find that the urban and rural microbiomes are significantly different, such that the urban microbiome is more diverse than the rural microbiome. This relationship may be due to a more variable landscape in urban habitats as compared to rural habitats, which are mainly composed of native scrub. We do not find support for regional impervious cover affecting the gut microbiome, but the more precise territory level analyses show that higher tree cover correlates with increased alpha diversity and impervious cover correlates with relative abundances of gut microbial taxa (Unifrac beta diversity). Although some studies show that gut diversity affects physiology, our measures of body condition do not indicate a strong relationship. Our results highlight how changes in the landscape may affect the gut microbiome of animals in an ever-urbanizing world, and provides a baseline for future studies of how anthropogenic change affects communities at multiple levels.

Restoration of Florida scrub vegetation in an old field through 23 years after planting

Florida scrub, a fire‐maintained, xeromorphic shrubland, hosts many rare and declining species, but most scrub habitat has been lost to development and agriculture. Formerly cultivated sites offer an opportunity to restore Florida scrub. In this 23‐year study, we test whether scrub species could be restored to an old field and whether scrub vegetation composition and structure could be reestablished over time. Scrub oaks were planted in a section of an old field in 1992 after the site was cleared and treated with herbicide. Additional oaks and other scrub species were planted in 1993. We determined survival and growth annually of a marked sample of scrub species. We sampled vegetation cover in two height strata annually on 10 permanent line‐intercept transects in the old grove and on 20 transects in adjacent, intact scrub. Initial survival of Quercus geminata exceeded that of Q. chapmanii or Q. myrtifolia. Cover of scrub oaks greater than 0.5 m increased from 1.3% in 1992 to 65.2% in 2010. However, the vegetation structure of large Q. geminata did not resemble that of native scrub. Adaptive management led to cutting large oaks in the fall of 2010, and burning the site in early 2011. Cutting and burning appeared to stimulate sprouting and clonal spread of scrub oaks. Ordination analysis indicated directional change related to increasing scrub oak cover and time since planting but the old field still differed from intact scrub. Vegetation has developed toward scrub composition and structure but exotic grasses persist.

Interplay between land use changes and soil erosion in a small mountainous catchment in southern Italy

Land use is one of the most important factors controlling soil erosion. Moreover, erosion rates may vary through time as a response to land use changes. The aim of this work was to analyze the main land use changes in the last 60 years and to assess the relationships between them and spatial and temporal distribution of soil loss at catchment scale.The study was carried out in the Torano catchment (northern Calabria), which is representative of wide sectors of Calabria Region, where the overall soil erosion susceptibility is high. Aerial photos interpretation of different years (1954 and 2012), and field survey were used to assess and map types and variations of land use in the study area. The mean annual rate of soil erosion and the effects of land use changes on soil erosion since 1954 to 2014 were analyzed by using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) in a GIS environment.Results showed that the total soil loss estimated in the Torano catchment was 2216.76 t yr-1 in 1954, 3242.22 t yr-1 in 2014. Furthermore, the rate of mean annual soil loss increased from 4.30 t ha-1 yr-1 in 1954 to 6.29 t ha-1 yr-1 in 2014. Increasing erosion rates was mainly caused by the transformation of natural forest, scrub and pasture areas into crop fields. In addition, from 1954 to 2014 the barren land progressively increased from 0.2% to more than 2 %; in these areas and the highest soil loss values were observed. The increase of cultivated and barren lands, from 1954 to 2014, caused a 46.3 % increase soil loss. Therefore, the spatio-temporal changes of land use in the Torano catchment had an important role on soil erosion control.

Soil Seed Bank in Nantucket's Early Successional Communities: Implications for Management

ABSTRACT: Globally rare sandplain grassland and coastal heathland plant communities of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, merit high conservation priority because they support many rare and endangered species. Management (brush-cutting, grazing, and prescribed fire) has been effective in maintaining these communities, but less successful in transforming overgrown native scrub oak shrubland to diverse grassland. These scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia Wangenh.) communities may lack a seed bank of grassland species in their soil. To examine this on Nantucket, we used the seedling emergence method to compare the soil seed bank of grassland, heathland, and scrub oak sites. We classified seedlings by growth form (graminoid, forb, or woody) and identified them to genus and species when possible. We observed that seedling density declined along a successional gradient, with the highest total density and highest graminoid density at grassland sites and the lowest at one of the scrub oak sites. A nMDS ordination grouped...

Small effective size limits performance in a novel environment.

Understanding what limits or facilitates species' responses to human‐induced habitat change can provide insight for the control of invasive species and the conservation of small populations, as well as an arena for studying adaptation to realistic novel environments. Small effective size of ancestral populations could limit the establishment in, or response to, a novel or altered habitat because of low genetic variation for ecologically important traits, and/or because small populations harbor fixed deleterious mutations. I estimated the fitness of individuals from populations of the endangered plant Hypericum cumulicola, of known census and effective size, transplanted into native scrub habitat and unpaved roadsides, which are a novel habitat for this species. I found a significant positive relationship between estimates of population size and mean fitness, but only in the novel roadside habitat. Fitness was more than 200% greater in the roadside habitat than the scrub, mostly due to increased fecundity. These results combined with previous estimates of heterosis in this species suggest that fixed deleterious mutations could contribute to lower fitness of field transplants from small populations in the novel environment.

Managing Invasive Native Scrub to Rehabilitate Native Pastures and Open WoodlandsT.Gavel, R.Treweeke and D.Saunders (eds). Central West Catchment Management Authority, Wellington, NSW and Western Catchment Management Authority, Cobar, NSW, 2010. 143 pp. ISBN 978‐0‐7313‐3437‐7 (freely available from: http://cw.cma.nsw.gov.au/OurNaturalAssets/managinginvasivenativescrub.html).

Managing Invasive Native Scrub to Rehabilitate Native Pastures and Open WoodlandsT.Gavel, R.Treweeke and D.Saunders (eds). Central West Catchment Management Authority, Wellington, NSW and Western Catchment Management Authority, Cobar, NSW, 2010. 143 pp. ISBN 978‐0‐7313‐3437‐7 (freely available from: http://cw.cma.nsw.gov.au/OurNaturalAssets/managinginvasivenativescrub.html).

Species composition, seasonal changes and comm-unity ordination of alkalotolerant micro fungal diversity in a natural scrub jungle ecosystem of Tamil Nadu, India

Species composition, seasonal changes and comm-unity ordination of alkalotolerant micro fungal diversity in a natural scrub jungle ecosystem of Tamil Nadu, India

Utilizing soil indicators to explain historical vegetation changes of a peatland subjected to flood inundation

Flooding and land use changes can be a significant source of nutrients to wetlands and contribute to ecosystem changes at a community level. We studied changes in vegetation composition and peat properties in a New Zealand wetland incorporated into a flood control scheme. Lack of hydrological records pre-development of the flood control scheme allowed the opportunity to use nutrient and physical indicators developed for restiad vegetation groups, to identify if increased flooding was the primary cause for ecological succession. Vegetation changes along a 2.3-km transect were related to hydrological processes, peat characteristics and atmospheric ammonia inputs. Measurements for peat and vegetation composition were taken from 27 sites, whereas hydrological analysis incorporated seven automated water level sites and a historical investigation of 46 years of river flood records. Ammonia deposition was higher on the farmland/wetland fringe (4.0 kg N ha−1 year−1) but decreased to background levels (2–2.5 kg N ha−1 year−1) 500 m into the wetland. Classification and ordination of vegetation data with environmental variables identified six main groups along a gradient from low nutrients and stable water tables (farthest from the river) to high nutrients and a dynamic water table near the river. Invasion over 50 years of the native scrub tree Leptospermum scoparium into restiad bog was linked to enhanced nutrient inputs and physical degradation from flooding, portrayed through levels higher than restiad indicator target ranges. This study shows that target ranges for vegetation indicators can be used as a tool to identify ecological succession and invasion. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.