Vegetation development in created, restored, and enhanced mitigation wetland banks of the United States

Published source details Spieles D.J. (2005) Vegetation development in created, restored, and enhanced mitigation wetland banks of the United States. Wetlands, 25, 51-63.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Restore/create freshwater marshes or swamps (specific action unclear) Action Link

Restore/create freshwater marshes or swamps (specific action unclear)

A replicated study in the early 2000s of 45 created, restored and enhanced freshwater wetlands in the USA (Spieles 2005) reported that they typically contained wetland vegetation after 1–7 years. In 43 of the 45 studied wetlands, the overall plant community was more characteristic of wetlands than uplands. The other two wetlands contained vegetation that was marginally more characteristic of uplands than wetlands (data reported as a wetland indicator index). On average, the wetlands contained 11 plant species/10 m² (range: 0.2–56 species/10 m²), of which 16% were not native (range: 0–53%). The study also reported effects of intervention type (creation, restoration or enhancement), wetland setting (depressional, riverine or lakeshore) and wetland age on these metrics, and reported data on the frequency of some individual plant species (see original paper). Methods: Data on vascular plant species and cover were collected from monitoring reports for 45 wetlands (within 36 project areas across 21 states). The wetlands were 1–562 ha in area and 1–7 years old. Of the 45 wetlands, 17 had been created (from scratch), 19 restored (from degraded wetlands) and nine enhanced (increasing value of existing wetlands) as part of mitigation projects. Thirty-two wetlands contained areas of marsh and 19 contained areas of shrubby/forested swamp. The study does not consistently separate results for marsh and swamp vegetation.

(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)