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Data from: Muskrat disturbances and their analogues reduce invasive plant dominance within a Great Lakes coastal wetland

Lishawa, Shane1; Monks, Andrew2; Lawrence, Beth3; Fegan, Danielle4; Clark, Eric4

Published May 05, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wstqjq2xw

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Abstract

For some Ojibwe communities of the Great Lakes region, wazhashk (muskrat in Anishinaabemowin; Ondatra zibethicus [Linnaeus, 1766]) plays a prominent role in stories and has important responsibilities, including modifying the environment and providing habitat for other organisms. Muskrats create disturbances in cattail marshes, contributing to heterogeneity and species diversity, though the effects on invasive cattails and associated invasive plants varies or has not been documented. We evaluated the ecological effects of muskrat disturbances and muskrat-disturbance-analogue (MDA) management treatments (vegetation treatments modeled on muskrat disturbance) on plant communities and 2 common invasive plants, hybrid cattail (Typha × glauca Godr.; hereafter Typha) and European frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L.; hereafter Hydrocharis), in a large northern Great Lakes coastal marsh. Muskrats effectively reduced invasive plant species cover of both species, reducing Typha by 71% and Hydrocharis by 88% compared with unmanipulated controls. MDA treatments reflected the pattern of muskrat disturbance by reducing invasive Typha but did not reduce Hydrocharis cover. Neither muskrat disturbances nor MDA treatments resulted in consistent effects on plant diversity or floristic quality metrics, however MDA-harvest treatments increased floristic quality metrics compared with invaded controls. Thus, muskrats and MDA treatments were all effective at producing desirable ecological outcomes, though the responses varied. Muskrats are important disturbance agents that promote heterogeneity in Typha- and Hydrocharis-invaded Great Lakes coastal wetlands, and management efforts to increase their populations should be considered.