ORAL PRESENTATION IN WETLAND CHALLENGES SESSION: CO-AUTHOR: Chris Noll (UW Madison) TITLE: Patterns of plant invasions in Wisconsin wetlands ABSTRACT: Understanding why some high-quality wetlands are more susceptible to plant invasions than others is important to management and restoration, yet we still have little idea why some intact systems have higher invasive plant richness and cover than others. This study predicts levels of invasion in over 700 WI wetlands (from the Wisconsin DNR Wetland Benchmark Survey) with measures of pH, physiognomy, hydrology, and nutrients. By any measure, forested floodplains and wet-mesic prairies had the highest invasion levels, while bogs, poor fens, and central poor fens were lowest. Acidic and saturated/flooded systems showed lower invasion levels, with lowest levels in systems with both conditions, suggesting that maintaining these conditions is vital for managing these systems. Relationship between invasion levels and nutrients was varied and often negative, suggesting that maintaining acidic and saturated conditions in appropriate systems counteracts some impacts of higher nutrients. Acid systems, saturated systems, flooded systems, and systems without any of these stressors had distinct sets of indicators, suggesting that these stressors can be used to predict sets of species that are likely to be restricted from systems with these conditions. These results suggest that more invasive species management will be required in neutral-alkaline systems, systems with fluctuating hydrology, or both even in the absence of major disturbances. ORAL PRESENTATION IN WETLANDS & PEOPLE SESSION: TITLE: Why do we do this? Communicating our love of wetlands ABSTRACT: When asked to explain why we should care about wetlands, we relate why they are important rather than why we fell in love with them. In short, we explain why they are important in a material sense, but not why we care about them. I will suggest that a narrative approach focusing on natural history and personal stories should be part of how we communicate to the public. For many of us, wetlands are special places full of some of the most interesting tales in all of natural history, as well as the locations of some of our most beloved memories. These stories and memories are what inspired many of us to do what we do, and communicating these narratives might do more to excite people about wetlands than assertions of importance. I provide examples from my own experiences to demonstrate why these stories are important. BIO: David Bart received a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 2003. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture since 2006. His research focuses on invasive species in wetlands and the impacts of groundwater extraction on fens.