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The Long-term Development of Wetland Plant Communities with Water Deliveries in a Created Wetland in the Desert Southwest


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Created: Mar 11, 2025 at 8:47 p.m. (UTC)
Last updated: Mar 26, 2026 at 9:10 p.m. (UTC)
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Abstract

In the middle Rio Grande, valuable wetlands and riparian areas have been lost due to the expansion of urban and agricultural
land. Additionally, the channelization of the river along the US–Mexico border has altered hydrological dynamics,
contributing to the degradation of these ecosystems. The Rio Bosque wetlands were constructed in El Paso, Texas, USA,
to mitigate the loss of these habitats. Unfortunately, these wetlands faced issues with water availability until 2016, when
they began to receive the resource more frequently. Vegetation was allowed to establish naturally over time in response to
winter water deliveries (2005–2014) and summer water deliveries (2016–2017). This study investigated how changes in
water delivery influenced the plant community development over more than a decade of restoration activities. We observed
that water depth was an important predictor of increasing the relative frequency and cover of wetland plants, as well as
macrophyte diversity. A non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination showed a transition of the vegetation
community from limited water years to more regular water availability. The plant community changed from one dominated
by upland plants, including invasive tumbleweed (Salsola tragus), to one dominated by flood-tolerant, competitive
wetland plants (Lemna spp. and Polygonum lapathifolium). Deeper areas had a greater proportion of wetland plants, while
facultative wetland plants occurred on the edges of ponds. In general, this 12-year study has helped to understand how the
Rio Bosque ecosystem has changed after more regular water availability and will assist managers in tracking the future
recovery and restoration of this valuable desert wetland.

Garcia, E., Lee, L., & Lougheed, V. (2025). The Long-term Development of Wetland Plant Communities with Water Deliveries in a Created Wetland in the Desert Southwest. Wetlands, 45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-025-02000-z

Subject Keywords

Coverage

Spatial

Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
Rio Bosque Wetlands Park
Longitude
-106.3103°
Latitude
31.6403°

Content

Credits

Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
National Science Foundation Network Cluster: Patterns and controls of ecohydrology, CO2 fluxes, and nutrient availability in pedogenic carbonate-dominated dryland critical zones 2012475

How to Cite

Garcia, E. D., V. Lougheed (2026). The Long-term Development of Wetland Plant Communities with Water Deliveries in a Created Wetland in the Desert Southwest , HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/83de61ef19c34547b55cf0a463b4c6fe

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CC-BY

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