A rare riverscour community along the Delaware River's New Jersey shoreline that supports numerous state-listed rare plant species was monitored three times between 1998 and 2020, revealing numerous significant trends in plant species richness and abundance. Cover of nonnative species and nonnative invasive species increased annually by 3.8% and 3.7%, respectively, while nonnative and nonnative invasive species richness increased annually by 1.1% and 1.3%. Cover of native species was stable; however, native species richness declined annually by 0.42%. Cover of trees and shrubs increased significantly by nearly 6% annually, while graminoid cover declined by 1.5% annually and herbaceous cover showed no significant trend. Shifts in plant species' importance values documented the establishment and spread of several invasive shrub and herbaceous species, as well as the extensive spread of the invasive reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea). Native grasses and sedges characteristic of the riverscour community, as well as over half of the 147 native herbaceous species identified, declined in importance value over the sampling period. Future declines in winter ice scour due to projected warmer, shorter winters underscore the importance of managing woody invasive plants at this site. Reed canarygrass and herbaceous invasive species also pose a challenge to the management and preservation of this rare community.

Plant invasions are generally associated with lower biodiversity and ecosystem function, but the impacts of plant invasions on species richness are often scale-dependent. Like species richness, metrics of community structure and quality likely differ in their sensitivity to plant invasions with area. Therefore, depending on the spatial scale of sampling, some metrics are unlikely to capture the impacts of plant invasions. Lonicera maackii is a shrub native to Asia and invasive across the eastern United States. The impact of L. maackii invasion on species richness and two floristic quality assessment (FQA) metrics, floristic quality index (FQI) and mean coefficient of conservatism (mean C), was studied across multiple spatial extents to determine the spatial breadth of the sensitivity of these metrics to plant invasions. We selected 12 forest plots: 6 uninvaded plots (<1% L. maackii cover) and 6 invaded plots (>70% L. maackii cover), which we divided into subplots of 1 m², 62.5 m², 125 m², 250 m², and 500 m². Within each plot, we calculated average plant richness, mean C, and FQI for each spatial extent. Invaded plots displayed lower total richness at smaller spatial scales, with richness within L. maackii–invaded plots recovering to levels found among uninvaded plots at an extent of 62.5 m². Invasion lowered both mean C and FQI at spatial extents ≤125 m². Consequently, invasion impacts on FQA metrics likely manifest themselves at small spatial extents, and comparing invasion impact among management units should be carried out at these scales for proper comparison.

Many research teams that work at remote field sites include undergraduate and graduate students. It is the responsibility of project directors to be informed about the frequency of sexual misconduct among research teams and to implement best practices and policies to reduce the risk of sexual misconduct. Students and other individuals from lower positions of power experience higher rates of sexual misconduct when participating in research at remote locations. Our research group hosted a two-day focus group with experienced researchers and administrators from academia, government agencies, and biological field stations to identify best practices and policies that reduce the risk of sexual misconduct for members of research teams working at remote locations. The participants identified 43 best practices and policies with 15 items rated as “essential,” 27 items rated as “very important,” and one item rated as “somewhat important.” The focus group participants identified codes of conduct as an essential tool for defining sexual misconduct, clearly stating behavioral expectations, establishing a review process for potential violations, and enforcing penalties for violators. The code of conduct must be shared with research team members prior to departure to the field site and be revisited multiple times throughout the research experience. All members of the research team must be able to trust that reports of sexual misconduct will be fairly evaluated by leadership and violations will result in consequences for the responsible individuals. Reducing the risk of sexual misconduct among remote research teams requires conscious effort and actions from administrators and research directors.

Invasive plant species present a growing threat to biodiversity. Many invasive plants recruit microbial symbionts in their novel range that influence their growth and fitness. These soil legacy effects can linger after the removal of invasive species and impact restoration efforts. In a growth room experiment to investigate the legacy effects of an invasive legume and herbicide, Lespedeza cuneata was grown with either an intraspecific competitor or a native species in field-collected soils with and without history of an L. cuneata invasion and use of glyphosate herbicide. In separate experiments, we investigated seed germination and seed bank composition in these different soil types. Taken together, results suggest that legacy effects of L. cuneata invasion do not significantly contribute to its growth or spread in a floodplain in eastern North Carolina. The absence of soil legacy effects, which have been documented in other systems, may be attributed to frequent flooding observed in the system and the resulting homogenization of soil biota. Study findings also suggest that the application of glyphosate herbicide creates areas where L. cuneata can readily reinvade, as it significantly reduced the number and diversity of seedlings to emerge from the seed bank while increasing the aboveground biomass and nodule formation of L. cuneata. Concerning the restoration of native flora, data suggest that Chasmanthium latifolium may be negatively impacted by a L. cuneata invasion or glyphosate herbicide, while Solidago altissima and Chamaecrista nictitans could be successful in preventing areas from being reinvaded.

Transition and recovery from prolonged effects of climate change on an ecosystem will be affected by geography, topography, and plant physiology. Fire, grazing, flooding, succession, biodiversity, invasive species, and stewardship all affect the “resilience” (the capacity to recover) of an ecosystem to the effects of long-term changes in weather patterns. These significant “controls” should be part of climate change discussions. Research from various disciplines suggests that the actions of humans on the landscape minimized and/or ameliorated some of the impacts of past changes in climate. Today, stewardship and restoration efforts may mitigate some of the effects of climate change, especially in fire-dependent natural communities.