Diane Larson, PhD
Diane Larson is a Research Wildlife Biologist with the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and is stationed at the St. Paul, Minnesota duty station.
What is a functional prairie ecosystem? Where can we begin to address such a huge question? With only a tiny fraction of the once vast prairies remaining, understanding their key functions and how to best preserve or reconstruct these functions is of utmost importance. Questions may begin with vegetation, but quickly propagate downward into soil communities and processes and upward to pollinators and herbivores. These are the motivations for my research.
My goals are to assist resource managers in ways that improve sustainability. Prairie reconstructions that both express the range of species planted and are resistant to noxious weeds, thereby minimizing subsequent management inputs, are more sustainable than those that degenerate into weedy fields in need of repeated herbicide applications. Can we improve planting methods and seed mixes to better achieve sustainable prairies?
Functioning ecosystems support mutualists, herbivores, commensals, predators. How will legacies of prior land use and vegetation impinge on these functions? Can we mitigate negative legacies? Create positive legacies to improve outcomes? What roles do invasive plant species play? If they support mutualists such as pollinators, how will we sustain these mutualists while controlling weeds?
Professional Experience
Research Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Discipline (formerly Fish and Wildlife Service), Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, 1991 to present
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. (Biology) University of Illinois, Chicago
B.A., M.A. (Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology) University of Colorado, Boulder
Affiliations and Memberships*
Adjunct Associate Professor, Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, January 1998 to present
Science and Products
Restoration of impaired ecosystems: An ounce of prevention or a pound of cure? introduction, overview, and key messages from a SETAC-SER workshop
Using a network modularity analysis to inform management of a rare endemic plant in the northern Great Plains, USA
Legumes in prairie restoration: evidence for wide cross-nodulation and improved inoculant delivery
Effects of native herbs and light on garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) invasion
Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) affects vegetation more than seed banks in mixed-grass prairies of the Northern Great Plains
Tallgrass prairie restoration: seeding for success
Using prairie restoration to curtail invasion of Canada thistle: the importance of limiting similarity and seed mix richness
Soil-occupancy effects of invasive and native grassland plant species on composition and diversity of mycorrhizal associations
Book review: The Tallgrass Prairie Center guide to seed and seedling identification in the Upper Midwest
A framework for sustainable invasive species management: environmental, social and economic objectives
Native and European haplotypes of Phragmites Australis (common reed) in the central Platte River, Nebraska
Effects of planting method and seed mix richness on the early stages of tallgrass prairie restoration
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 70
Restoration of impaired ecosystems: An ounce of prevention or a pound of cure? introduction, overview, and key messages from a SETAC-SER workshop
A workshop on Restoration of Impaired Ecosystems was held in Jackson, Wyoming, in June 2014. Experts from Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States in ecotoxicology, restoration, and related fields from both the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the Society for Ecological Restoration convened to advance the practice of restoring ecosystems that have bAuthorsAïda M. Farag, Ruth N. Hull, Will H. Clements, Steve Glomb, Diane L. Larson, Ralph G. Stahl, Jenny StauberUsing a network modularity analysis to inform management of a rare endemic plant in the northern Great Plains, USA
1. Analyses of flower-visitor interaction networks allow application of community-level information to conservation problems, but management recommendations that ensue from such analyses are not well characterized. Results of modularity analyses, which detect groups of species (modules) that interact more with each other than with species outside their module, may be particularly applicable to maAuthorsDiane L. Larson, Sam Droege, Paul A. Rabie, Jennifer L. Larson, Jelle Devalez, Milton Haar, Margaret McDermott-KubeczkoLegumes in prairie restoration: evidence for wide cross-nodulation and improved inoculant delivery
Background and aims Prairie restoration aims to create self-sustaining, resilient prairies that ameliorate biodiversity loss and soil deterioration associated with conversion of native grasslands to agriculture. Legumes are a key component of the nitrogen-limited prairie ecosystem. Evidence suggests that lack of suitable rhizobia may explain legume absence from restored prairies. This study explorAuthorsElena Beyhaut, Diane L. Larson, Deborah L. Allan, Peter H. GrahamEffects of native herbs and light on garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) invasion
The degree to which invasive species drive or respond to environmental change has important implications for conservation and invasion management. Often characterized as a driver of change in North American woodlands, the invasive herb garlic mustard may instead respond to declines in native plant cover and diversity. We tested effects of native herb cover, richness, and light availability on garlAuthorsLaura Phillips-Mao, Diane L. Larson, Nicholas R. JordanLeafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) affects vegetation more than seed banks in mixed-grass prairies of the Northern Great Plains
Exotic plants have the ability to modify soil seed banks in habitats they invade, but little is known about the legacy of invasion on seed banks once an exotic plant has successfully been controlled. Natural areas previously invaded by leafy spurge in the northern Great Plains typically have one of two fates following its removal: a return of native plants, or a secondary invasion of other exoticAuthorsDiane L. Larson, Dustin F. Haines, Jennifer L. LarsonTallgrass prairie restoration: seeding for success
Tallgrass prairie is one of the most imperiled ecosystems on Earth. A 2004 estimate indicated that only 2.4 percent of the original northern tallgrass prairie remained in the United States. If tallgrass prairie and the species dependent on it are to survive, management must include restoration of cropland and degraded prairies, in addition to preservation of the few remaining fragments. Despite thAuthorsDiane L. LarsonUsing prairie restoration to curtail invasion of Canada thistle: the importance of limiting similarity and seed mix richness
Theory has predicted, and many experimental studies have confirmed, that resident plant species richness is inversely related to invisibility. Likewise, potential invaders that are functionally similar to resident plant species are less likely to invade than are those from different functional groups. Neither of these ideas has been tested in the context of an operational prairie restoration. HereAuthorsDiane L. Larson, J.B. Bright, Pauline Drobney, Jennifer L. Larson, Nicholas Palaia, Paul A. Rabie, Sara Vacek, Douglas WellsSoil-occupancy effects of invasive and native grassland plant species on composition and diversity of mycorrhizal associations
Diversified grasslands that contain native plant species can produce biofuels, support sustainable grazing systems, and produce other ecosystem services. However, ecosystem service production can be disrupted by invasion of exotic perennial plants, and these plants can have soil-microbial “legacies” that may interfere with establishment and maintenance of diversified grasslands even after effectivAuthorsNicholas R. Jordan, Laura Aldrich-Wolfe, Sheri C. Huerd, Diane L. Larson, Gary MuehlbauerBook review: The Tallgrass Prairie Center guide to seed and seedling identification in the Upper Midwest
This attractive, slim volume provides a wonderful introduction to a neglected aspect of prairie plant identification: seeds and seedlings. Williams, and the illustrator Brent Butler, take the mystery out of dichotomous keys with clear descriptions, vivid illustrations, and abundant photographs of characteristics that distinguish common, tallgrass prairie, seedlings. A botanical novice should haveAuthorsDiane L. Larson, Susan M. GalatowitschA framework for sustainable invasive species management: environmental, social and economic objectives
Applying the concept of sustainability to invasive species management (ISM) is challenging but necessary, given the increasing rates of invasion and the high costs of invasion impacts and control. To be sustainable, ISM must address environmental, social, and economic factors (or *pillars*) that influence the causes, impacts, and control of invasive species across multiple spatial and temporal scaAuthorsDiane L. Larson, Laura Phillips-Mao, Gina Quiram, Leah Sharpe, Rebecca Stark, Shinya Sugita, Annie WeilerNative and European haplotypes of Phragmites Australis (common reed) in the central Platte River, Nebraska
Phragmites australis (common reed) is known to have occurred along the Platte River historically, but recent rapid increases in both distribution and density have begun to impact habitat for migrating sandhill cranes and nesting piping plovers and least terns. Invasiveness in Phragmites has been associated with the incursion of a European genotype (haplotype M) in other areas; determining the genoAuthorsD. L. Larson, S.M. Galatowitsch, J.L. LarsonEffects of planting method and seed mix richness on the early stages of tallgrass prairie restoration
Tallgrass prairie restoration has been practiced for more than 75. years, yet few studies have systematically tested restoration methods over large geographic regions with the intent of refining methodology. In this study, we used three planting methods (dormant-season broadcast, growing-season broadcast and growing-season drill) fully crossed with three levels of seed species richness (10, 20, anAuthorsD. L. Larson, J.B. Bright, P. Drobney, J.L. Larson, N. Palaia, P.A. Rabie, S. Vacek, D. Wells - Science
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*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government