Characterizing the Invasion of Water Primrose in the California Bay-Delta

Water primrose, Ludwigia spp., is one of the most globally invasive aquatic weeds. The goal of this project is to determine which traits may be leading to marsh mortality after an invasion in California's Bay-Delta. This study is testing hypotheses related to growth strategy, allelopathy, and factors related to marsh community structure and biodiversity. We are also leveraging nearly two decades of airborne imaging spectroscopy to identify and map the marshes most vulnerable to loss and quantify the spatial trajectory of marsh loss during the past 15 years. These libraries were made using the Angiosperms353 Target Capture Kit, with the purpose of confirming our Delta samples are Ludwigia hexapetala.