Succession of a Southern Appalachian Mountain Wetland Six Years following Hydrologic and Microtopographic Restoration

Abstract

Microtopography, which is known to play a key role in the structure and function of wetland communities, is receiving increasing attention in wetland restoration projects. One goal of the Tulula Wetlands Mitigation Bank, which was the first large-scale wetland restoration project in the Blue Ridge Province, was to restore the microtopography in a degraded swamp forest-bog complex. This wetland type has become increasingly rare in the southern Appalachians and is characterized by a distinct microtopography of depressions and low ridges. We examined vegetation and soils in depression and ridge plots over a 6-year period, during which the hydrology and microtopography of the floodplain were restored. Our results showed that the flora of the depression and ridge plots differed, with greater coverage by obligate wetland species in the depression plots but greater overall taxonomic richness in the ridge plots. The edaphic characteristics that we measured varied very little during the study period. Creating microtopographic relief during the restoration of this wetland seems to have provided a variety of niches and may have increased the likelihood that the site will succeed back to a swamp forest-bog complex, rather than as a forested terrace of Tulula Creek.

Succession rates and patterns twelve years after land use abandonment in the estuary of the river aliakmon, n. greece

“…The latter specifically affected more than 50% of Greek marshes and estuaries (ZALIDIS et al 1997). Given the ecological importance of wetlands, alongside their over-exploitation, especially in Greece (ZALIDIS et al 1997, GERAKIS and KALBURTJI 1998, SMARDON 2009, it is not surprising that the development of protection and restoration strategies accompanied by appropriate legislation gained importance at both international and national levels (SMARDON 2009). The tight relation between restoration and vegetation succession explains why the latter is widely discussed in the relevant literature (ROOZEN and WESTHOFF 1985, ROSSELL et al 2009, MATTHEWS and ENDRESS 2010.…”

“…Given the ecological importance of wetlands, alongside their over-exploitation, especially in Greece (ZALIDIS et al 1997, GERAKIS and KALBURTJI 1998, SMARDON 2009, it is not surprising that the development of protection and restoration strategies accompanied by appropriate legislation gained importance at both international and national levels (SMARDON 2009). The tight relation between restoration and vegetation succession explains why the latter is widely discussed in the relevant literature (ROOZEN and WESTHOFF 1985, ROSSELL et al 2009, MATTHEWS and ENDRESS 2010. Nevertheless, in Greece there is still a considerable lack of experience regarding the successional pattern of wetland vegetation and within this concept, our objective is to analyze the vegetation succession after 12 years of land use abandonment (agriculture and grazing) using a case study approach in the estuaries of the River Aliakmon, N. Greece.…”

Vegetational Characteristics and Management Measures of the North-gate Mountainous Wetland, Mt. Geumjeong

“…내 부 지역은 습윤지성 식생이 우점하여 현 상태를 유지하겠으나 진퍼 리새와 참억새가 경쟁하는 지역은 향후 습윤지성에서 건조지성으 로 천이될 가능성이 높은 지역이므로 수계 관리를 통한 지하수위 유지가 필요한 것으로 사료되었다. 한편, 식생유형은 물의 속성변 화, 이탄 표면의 유형, 물 흐름의 경로(Heinselman, 1970)와 미세 지형에 따라 달라진다고 하였는데(Rossell et al, 2009), 대상지의 식생 다양성은 미세지형과 연관성이 있는 것으로 판단되었다. 결과…”

Restoration of forest wetlands: Case studies in Michigan and Finland

“…Thus, wetland species established in pools would be able to more easily establish on the lower portions of hummocks. Rossell et al (2009) also observed the colonization of both OBL and FACW species on drier ridge microtopography. Not all site conditions support wetland species on elevated microforms, however, as Bruland et al (2005) observed very distinct vegetation communities between microforms, in which hummocks did not support any OBL or FACW species.…”

“…Microtopography was also a strong driver in the development of herbaceous vegetation communities. The effects of microtopography on understory species partitioning has been observed in natural communities (Beaty 1984, Paratley andFahey 1986), and increasingly has been shown to influence vegetation patterns in created wetlands (Vivian-Smith 1997, Bruland and Richardson 2005, Moser et al 2007, Rossell et al 2009, Simmons et al 2011. In this study, it was expected that most wetland species would occur in pools, and decrease in coverage with increasing elevation.…”