Data from: Northern wild-rice (manoomin) is limited by a warm lake and the co-occurrence of native and non-native aquatic plants in northern Michigan, USA

Zizania palustris (northern wild-rice, manoomin) is foundational to the
cultural heritage of indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of North
America, provides habitat for diverse fauna, and its regional distribution
and abundance have been substantially reduced. Restoration and sustainable
stewardship of manoomin is a shared goal of tribes across the region. Our
research objective was to refine our understanding of manoomin’s
ecological niche and competitive dynamics in order to improve restoration
outcomes through four related studies: Study one (Q1) evaluated
differences between lakes with differing seeding successes; study two
(Q2), quantified manoomin growth and environmental conditions within mixed
aquatic plant communities; study three (Q3) tested experimental manoomin
seeding within three dominant aquatic plant types; and study four (Q4)
evaluated the indirect effects of shading and invasive plant (Typha ×
glauca) litter on manoomin. We found that the warmer of the two lakes
sampled had dramatically lower manoomin productivity (Q1); Pontederia
cordata was negatively associated with manoomin (Q2); manoomin was more
abundant and larger in Nuphar variegata stands (Q3); and litter from T. ×
glauca and a proxy for floating plant cover reduced germination and early
growth (Q4). Our findings illustrate that both native and invasive plants
can be detrimental to the germination, growth, and productivity of
manoomin. T. × glauca and its litter caused particularly strong negative
effects, indicating that invasive plant management is necessary for
sustainable restoration. Our study points toward areas for future manoomin
research and highlights the multifaceted threats of global change factors
(e.g., climate change and non-native macrophytes) on plant species of high
cultural importance.