First season effects of managed flooding on the invasive species Phalaris arundinacea L. and shoreline vegetation communities in an urban wetland

Recent management efforts in the Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area (SBL), a 700-ha preserve in north Portland, Oregon, have included using a water control structure to suppress invasive reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) by flooding during spring and early summer growth periods. For the first year of managed flooding, I sought to determine: (a) the extent and distribution of reed canarygrass at SBL; (b) the effectiveness of the change in water level at suppressing reed canarygrass; and ( c) the effects of the change in water level on other plant species. I established 30 vegetation transects throughout SBL before completion of the water control structure. These transects were randomly distributed, placed perpendicularly to the shorelines of the wetlands, and had a cumulative length of 3.1 km. I measured vegetation on the transects in autumn 2003 and autumn 2004 using the line intercept method at 10-cm intervals. I surveyed the transects to generate elevation profiles, accurate to 0.15 cm, to determine depth and duration of flooding, which I correlated with vegetative changes. I also monitored inundation depth, growth, and phenological response of individual stands of reed canarygrass during the 2004 growing season