Plant communities in wetland mitigation banks surpass the quality of those in the most degraded, naturally occurring wetlands, but fall short of high-quality wetlands

Tillman, Stephen C.; Spyreas, Greg; Olnas, Andrew; Matthews, Jeffrey W.

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106526

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…It is possible that equivalence with natural wetlands, and thus species replacement, would be greater if banks were assessed beyond 4–6 years. However, evaluations of 8–23 year‐old compensation wetlands have revealed a lack of similarity to reference wetlands and even decreases in plant community quality through time (Robertson et al, 2018; Tillman et al, 2022). These studies suggest that species replacement does not increase inevitably beyond the mandatory monitoring phase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies of wetland mitigation have often used vegetation‐based metrics, such as plant species richness or relative cover of native plant species, to compare mitigation projects to natural reference wetlands (Fennessy et al, 2013; Tillman et al, 2022), rather than determining if the plant communities in mitigation wetlands possess the specific plant species that were present in the natural wetlands they were intended to replace. We attempted to address this question of plant species replacement by combining a novel simulation modelling approach with biological data to evaluate the ability of wetland banks, under typical regulatory conditions, to replace the specific native plant species lost from natural wetlands during the offsetting process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the ability of wetland mitigation banks to replace plant species lost from destroyed wetlands

Tillman

Matthews

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Offset policies are used world‐wide as a means to compensate for destruction of ecosystems by requiring developers to restore or preserve ecosystems elsewhere. A key challenge to effectively implementing offset policies is ensuring ecological equivalence between impacted ecosystems and compensation sites, yet equivalence is rarely tested. Using data from wetland mitigation banks and naturally occurring wetlands in Illinois, USA, we evaluated the ability of wetland offsetting to replace the plant species composition of wetlands impacted by development. We simulated the effects of three policy strategies used to promote equivalence: disallowing the replacement of one type of habitat with another, requiring a greater ratio of offset area to impacted area, and spatially restricting wetland trades. Wetland banks replaced an average of 45% of the native plant species present in impacted natural wetlands. Allowing only in‐kind habitat replacement and quadrupling the offset ratio resulted in modest increases in the percentage of plant species replaced, but restricting trades to within counties did not. Synthesis and application. Many of the plant species present in wetlands that are vulnerable to development were absent from wetland mitigation banks. Policies intended to ensure equivalence between impacted wetlands and banks did not ensure protection of biodiversity. If preservation of taxonomic diversity is to be a goal of offsetting, offset policies will need to ensure that offset sites have similar biophysical conditions to the ecosystems they replace.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the ability of wetland mitigation banks to replace plant species lost from destroyed wetlands

Tillman

Matthews

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…In addition to the potential of such specific "green" bonds, there are emerging approaches on insurance, being piloted in locations such as Mexico, where tourism entities, which are reliant on intact ecosystems to attract tourists, help fund the care and maintenance of those ecosystems for their continued business prospects. The concepts of wetland banking [79] and biodiversity offset programs [80,81] are also being explored under no-net-loss approaches.…”

Section: Nature-based Economics and Financingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multifunctional ‘Scape Approach for Sustainable Management of Intact Ecosystems—A Review of Tropical Peatlands

Hiller

Fisher

2023

Sustainability

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Nature is declining globally at unprecedented rates with adverse consequences for both ecological and human systems. This paper argues that only transformative change—a fundamental, system-wide reorganization—will be sufficient to arrest and reverse this loss and to meet globally agreed development goals, including the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. In search for a credible platform to help facilitate such transformative change, this paper explores the potential of multifunctional ‘scape approaches to improve sustainable management outcomes at scale. Beyond a current international focus on nature restoration, this paper emphasizes the urgency and criticality of confirming approaches for sustainably preserving large ‘intact’ natural areas. Through a semi-systematic review of contemporary academic and gray literature and derivation of a theory of change, the authors consider tropical peatland systems—which can interconnect multiple ecosystem types and be of global biodiversity and carbon sequestration significance—to help derive potentially broader sustainable ecosystem management lessons. Beyond identifying key considerations for implementing multifunctional ‘scape approaches, the paper recommends further work to deepen understanding of the multidimensional ‘value’ of nature; strengthen governance frameworks; empower indigenous peoples and their knowledge sharing and community management; align nature-positive and climate-positive goals; andmobilize commensurate business and financial support.

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Created wetlands support similar communities of low conservation value as established wetlands in Michigan

Austin

Schriever

2023

Wetlands Ecol Manage

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Plant communities in wetland mitigation banks surpass the quality of those in the most degraded, naturally occurring wetlands, but fall short of high-quality wetlands

Cited by 5 publications

References 30 publications

Evaluating the ability of wetland mitigation banks to replace plant species lost from destroyed wetlands

Evaluating the ability of wetland mitigation banks to replace plant species lost from destroyed wetlands

A Multifunctional ‘Scape Approach for Sustainable Management of Intact Ecosystems—A Review of Tropical Peatlands

Created wetlands support similar communities of low conservation value as established wetlands in Michigan

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