Invasive Plants We Study: Russian Olive
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By Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program
October 2, 2022
The abundance of Russian olive varies across the Western United States; these species can be dominant, codominant, or subdominant relative to native species.
Russian Olive Research
Russian Olive Research
Species Distribution Modeling
A requirement for managing a species, be it a common native species, a species of conservation concern, or an invasive species, is having some information on its distribution and potential drivers of distribution. Branch scientists have been tackling the question of where these types of species are and where they might be in the future.
Ecology and Management of Invasive Riparian Plants
Due to high rates of disturbance and human activity, streamside or “riparian” areas are prone to colonization and spread of invasive plants. In the western United States, hundreds of thousands of riparian acres are occupied by the invasive shrubs/trees tamarisk and Russian olive, as well as numerous exotic herbaceous plants. Our work focuses on understanding the factors driving the distribution...
Biological Invasions of Riparian Ecosystems
Beginning in the early twentieth century, non-native trees and shrubs, including tamarisk (also commonly known as saltcedar) and Russian-olive, were introduced to the United States for use as ornamental plants and in erosion-control plantings. These plants spread extensively, becoming the third and fourth most frequently occurring woody riparian plants in the American West.
Explore our science with the data below.
Geomorphic, climate, streamflow and vegetation data sets to reconstruct channel and vegetation changes associated with the invasion of Russian olive along the Escalante River, Utah 1950-2015.
We analyzed historical aerial photography and used dendrochronology to quantify long-term spatial and temporal patterns of narrowing and vegetation expansion, including native cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and non-native Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), along the largely unregulated Escalante River in Utah, USA. Our general study area was between the town of Escalante and...
Woody riparian invasive plant presence, stem density, and rank dominance and environmental conditions in 2012 at 238 bridge crossings in the Colorado Headwaters, upper/middle Rio Grande, upper Arkansas, and South Platte River Basins, USA
This dataset presents observations and measurements of riparian plant invasion, community composition, and environmental conditions at 238 bridge crossings in four western USA river basins: the Colorado Headwaters, upper/middle Rio Grande, upper Arkansas River, and South Platte River (281,946 square kilometers). The 238 sites are a stratified random sample of all bridge crossings in the...
Explore our science through the publications below.
Filter Total Items: 19
Cottonwoods, water, and people-Integrating analysis of tree rings with observations of elders from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
We assessed the history of flow and riparian ecosystem change along the Wind River using cottonwood tree-ring data, streamgage records, historical temperature and precipitation data, drought indices, and local observations and Traditional Ecological Knowledge from elders of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. This assessment identified...
Authors
Shannon M. McNeeley, Jonathan M. Friedman, Tyler A. Beeton, Richard D. Thaxton
The role of a non-native tree in riparian vegetation expansion and channel narrowing along a dryland river
Along rivers, native and invasive species may establish and persist on active channel bedforms as part of channel narrowing. Using historical aerial photography and dendrochronology, we quantified spatial and temporal patterns of narrowing and vegetation expansion, including native Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and non‐native Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), along the...
Authors
Michael L. Scott, Lindsay V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth, John R. Spencer
Divergent effects of land-use, propagule pressure, and climate on woody riparian invasion
Landscape-scale analyses of biological invasion are needed to understand the relative importance of environmental drivers that vary at larger scales, such as climate, propagule pressure, resource availability, and human disturbance. One poorly understood landscape-scale question is, how does human land-use influence riparian plant invasion? To evaluate the relative importance of land-use...
Authors
Laura G Perry, Lindsay V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth
Local environmental context conditions the impact of Russian olive in a heterogeneous riparian ecosystem
Local abiotic and biotic conditions can alter the strength of exotic species impacts. To better understand the effects of exotic species on invaded ecosystems and to prioritize management efforts, it is important that exotic species impacts are put in local environmental context. We studied how differences in plant community composition, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and...
Authors
Graham M. Tuttle, Gabrielle L. Katz, Jonathan M. Friedman, Andrew P. Norton
Woody riparian vegetation near selected streamgages in the western United States
Areal cover and occupancy of woody riparian species near 456 streamgages in the western United States were obtained from site visits during the growing seasons of 1996-2002. We made concomitant estimates of grazing intensity, channel stabilization and incision, gradient, sediment particle size, and nearby planting of Russian olive. The purpose of this publication is to describe the data...
Authors
Gregor T. Auble, Jonathan M. Friedman, Patrick B. Shafroth, Michael F. Merigliano, Michael L. Scott
The influence of chilling requirement on the southern distribution limit of exotic Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) in western North America
Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.), a Eurasian tree now abundant along rivers in western North America, has an apparent southern distribution limit running through southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. We used field observations to precisely define this limit in relation to temperature variables. We then investigated whether lack of cold temperatures south of the...
Authors
Kimberly R. Guilbault, C. S. Brown, J. M. Friedman, P.B. Shafroth
Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act Science Assessment
The primary intent of this document is to provide the science assessment called for under The Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-320; the Act). A secondary purpose is to provide a common background for applicants for prospective demonstration projects, should funds be appropriated for this second phase of the Act. This document synthesizes the...
Authors
Patrick B. Shafroth, Curtis A. Brown, David M. Merritt
Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) in the Western United States-A Report on the State of the Science
The Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-320) directs the Department of the Interior to submit a report to Congress that includes an assessment of several issues surrounding these two nonnative trees, now dominant components of the vegetation along many rivers in the Western United States. This report was published in 2010 as a U.S. Geological...
Authors
Patrick Shafroth
Saltcedar and Russian olive control demonstration act science assessment [Executive summary]
The primary intent of this document is to provide the science assessment called for under The Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–320; the Act). A secondary purpose is to provide a common background for applicants for prospective demonstration projects, should funds be appropriated for this second phase of the Act. This document synthesizes the...
Authors
Pamela L. Nagler, Patrick B. Shafroth, James W. LaBaugh, Keirith A. Snyder, Russell L. Scott, David M. Merritt, John Osterberg
Background and introduction: Chapter 1
The Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-320; hereafter the Act) directs the Department of the Interior to submit a report to Congress1 that includes an assessment of several issues surrounding these two nonnative trees, now dominant components of the vegetation along many rivers in the Western United States. Specifically, the Act calls for “…an...
Authors
Patrick B. Shafroth
Restoration and revegetation associated with control of saltcedar and Russian olive: Chapter 7
Rationales for controlling or eliminating saltcedar and Russian olive from sites, river reaches, or entire streams include implicit or explicit assumptions that natural recovery or applied restoration of native plant communities will follow exotic plant removal (McDaniel and Taylor, 2003; Quimby and others, 2003). The vegetation that replaces saltcedar and Russian olive after treatment (...
Authors
Patrick B. Shafroth, David M. Merritt, Vanessa B. Beauchamp, Kenneth D. Lair
Saltcedar and Russian olive interactions with wildlife: Chapter 4
Riparian areas of flood plains typically provide a mosaic of productive habitats (Stanford and others, 2005; Latterell and others, 2006) capable of supporting many wildlife species, particularly in the arid and semiarid Western United States. The establishment of nonnative invasive plants can alter riparian habitat by inhibiting native plant recruitment and by increasing the risk of...
Authors
Heather L. Bateman, Eben H. Paxton
The abundance of Russian olive varies across the Western United States; these species can be dominant, codominant, or subdominant relative to native species.
Russian Olive Research
Russian Olive Research
Species Distribution Modeling
A requirement for managing a species, be it a common native species, a species of conservation concern, or an invasive species, is having some information on its distribution and potential drivers of distribution. Branch scientists have been tackling the question of where these types of species are and where they might be in the future.
Ecology and Management of Invasive Riparian Plants
Due to high rates of disturbance and human activity, streamside or “riparian” areas are prone to colonization and spread of invasive plants. In the western United States, hundreds of thousands of riparian acres are occupied by the invasive shrubs/trees tamarisk and Russian olive, as well as numerous exotic herbaceous plants. Our work focuses on understanding the factors driving the distribution...
Biological Invasions of Riparian Ecosystems
Beginning in the early twentieth century, non-native trees and shrubs, including tamarisk (also commonly known as saltcedar) and Russian-olive, were introduced to the United States for use as ornamental plants and in erosion-control plantings. These plants spread extensively, becoming the third and fourth most frequently occurring woody riparian plants in the American West.
Explore our science with the data below.
Geomorphic, climate, streamflow and vegetation data sets to reconstruct channel and vegetation changes associated with the invasion of Russian olive along the Escalante River, Utah 1950-2015.
We analyzed historical aerial photography and used dendrochronology to quantify long-term spatial and temporal patterns of narrowing and vegetation expansion, including native cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and non-native Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), along the largely unregulated Escalante River in Utah, USA. Our general study area was between the town of Escalante and...
Woody riparian invasive plant presence, stem density, and rank dominance and environmental conditions in 2012 at 238 bridge crossings in the Colorado Headwaters, upper/middle Rio Grande, upper Arkansas, and South Platte River Basins, USA
This dataset presents observations and measurements of riparian plant invasion, community composition, and environmental conditions at 238 bridge crossings in four western USA river basins: the Colorado Headwaters, upper/middle Rio Grande, upper Arkansas River, and South Platte River (281,946 square kilometers). The 238 sites are a stratified random sample of all bridge crossings in the...
Explore our science through the publications below.
Filter Total Items: 19
Cottonwoods, water, and people-Integrating analysis of tree rings with observations of elders from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
We assessed the history of flow and riparian ecosystem change along the Wind River using cottonwood tree-ring data, streamgage records, historical temperature and precipitation data, drought indices, and local observations and Traditional Ecological Knowledge from elders of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. This assessment identified...
Authors
Shannon M. McNeeley, Jonathan M. Friedman, Tyler A. Beeton, Richard D. Thaxton
The role of a non-native tree in riparian vegetation expansion and channel narrowing along a dryland river
Along rivers, native and invasive species may establish and persist on active channel bedforms as part of channel narrowing. Using historical aerial photography and dendrochronology, we quantified spatial and temporal patterns of narrowing and vegetation expansion, including native Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and non‐native Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), along the...
Authors
Michael L. Scott, Lindsay V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth, John R. Spencer
Divergent effects of land-use, propagule pressure, and climate on woody riparian invasion
Landscape-scale analyses of biological invasion are needed to understand the relative importance of environmental drivers that vary at larger scales, such as climate, propagule pressure, resource availability, and human disturbance. One poorly understood landscape-scale question is, how does human land-use influence riparian plant invasion? To evaluate the relative importance of land-use...
Authors
Laura G Perry, Lindsay V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth
Local environmental context conditions the impact of Russian olive in a heterogeneous riparian ecosystem
Local abiotic and biotic conditions can alter the strength of exotic species impacts. To better understand the effects of exotic species on invaded ecosystems and to prioritize management efforts, it is important that exotic species impacts are put in local environmental context. We studied how differences in plant community composition, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and...
Authors
Graham M. Tuttle, Gabrielle L. Katz, Jonathan M. Friedman, Andrew P. Norton
Woody riparian vegetation near selected streamgages in the western United States
Areal cover and occupancy of woody riparian species near 456 streamgages in the western United States were obtained from site visits during the growing seasons of 1996-2002. We made concomitant estimates of grazing intensity, channel stabilization and incision, gradient, sediment particle size, and nearby planting of Russian olive. The purpose of this publication is to describe the data...
Authors
Gregor T. Auble, Jonathan M. Friedman, Patrick B. Shafroth, Michael F. Merigliano, Michael L. Scott
The influence of chilling requirement on the southern distribution limit of exotic Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) in western North America
Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.), a Eurasian tree now abundant along rivers in western North America, has an apparent southern distribution limit running through southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. We used field observations to precisely define this limit in relation to temperature variables. We then investigated whether lack of cold temperatures south of the...
Authors
Kimberly R. Guilbault, C. S. Brown, J. M. Friedman, P.B. Shafroth
Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act Science Assessment
The primary intent of this document is to provide the science assessment called for under The Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-320; the Act). A secondary purpose is to provide a common background for applicants for prospective demonstration projects, should funds be appropriated for this second phase of the Act. This document synthesizes the...
Authors
Patrick B. Shafroth, Curtis A. Brown, David M. Merritt
Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) in the Western United States-A Report on the State of the Science
The Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-320) directs the Department of the Interior to submit a report to Congress that includes an assessment of several issues surrounding these two nonnative trees, now dominant components of the vegetation along many rivers in the Western United States. This report was published in 2010 as a U.S. Geological...
Authors
Patrick Shafroth
Saltcedar and Russian olive control demonstration act science assessment [Executive summary]
The primary intent of this document is to provide the science assessment called for under The Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–320; the Act). A secondary purpose is to provide a common background for applicants for prospective demonstration projects, should funds be appropriated for this second phase of the Act. This document synthesizes the...
Authors
Pamela L. Nagler, Patrick B. Shafroth, James W. LaBaugh, Keirith A. Snyder, Russell L. Scott, David M. Merritt, John Osterberg
Background and introduction: Chapter 1
The Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-320; hereafter the Act) directs the Department of the Interior to submit a report to Congress1 that includes an assessment of several issues surrounding these two nonnative trees, now dominant components of the vegetation along many rivers in the Western United States. Specifically, the Act calls for “…an...
Authors
Patrick B. Shafroth
Restoration and revegetation associated with control of saltcedar and Russian olive: Chapter 7
Rationales for controlling or eliminating saltcedar and Russian olive from sites, river reaches, or entire streams include implicit or explicit assumptions that natural recovery or applied restoration of native plant communities will follow exotic plant removal (McDaniel and Taylor, 2003; Quimby and others, 2003). The vegetation that replaces saltcedar and Russian olive after treatment (...
Authors
Patrick B. Shafroth, David M. Merritt, Vanessa B. Beauchamp, Kenneth D. Lair
Saltcedar and Russian olive interactions with wildlife: Chapter 4
Riparian areas of flood plains typically provide a mosaic of productive habitats (Stanford and others, 2005; Latterell and others, 2006) capable of supporting many wildlife species, particularly in the arid and semiarid Western United States. The establishment of nonnative invasive plants can alter riparian habitat by inhibiting native plant recruitment and by increasing the risk of...
Authors
Heather L. Bateman, Eben H. Paxton