Great Salt Lake wetland vegetation and what it tells us about environmental gradients, drought, and disturbance

Abstract

Great Salt Lake (GSL) wetlands support more than 300 species of migratory birds and provide many ecosystem functions, including flood and drought attenuation, dust mitigation, and water quality improvement. Wetland vegetation is a key factor in providing those services and can also tell us about how healthy a wetland is. From 2103 to 2022, 135  GSL wetlands were surveyed to develop a multi-metric index of GSL wetland condition. That wetland condition data, along with environmental variables like soil and water chemistry and physical disturbance, are summarized here as 1) an ecological characterization of the three main types of GSL wetlands, 2) a description of how the plant community differs across environmental and anthropogenic disturbance gradients, and 3) assessment of the major risks to GSL wetland health. GSL wetland plant species are generally resistant to environmental disturbance because of the anatomical and physical adaptations that allow them to survive in dynamic wetland environments. However, land use conversion and the rapid expansion of invasive species, the major threats to GSL wetland health, have seriously degraded wetland condition around GSL. In addition to being useful in wetland monitoring and assessment, the results presented here can also identify wetlands in need of enhanced protection or those with restoration potential as well as setting realistic wetland restoration goals for the region.