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

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.