Study

Removing the sands (sins?) of our past: dredge spoil removal and saltmarsh restoration along the Indian River Lagoon, Florida (USA)

  • Published source details Taylor D.S. (2012) Removing the sands (sins?) of our past: dredge spoil removal and saltmarsh restoration along the Indian River Lagoon, Florida (USA). Wetlands Ecology and Management, 20, 213-218.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Reprofile/relandscape: brackish/salt marshes

Action Link
Marsh and Swamp Conservation
  1. Reprofile/relandscape: brackish/salt marshes

    A study in 2003–2010 aiming to restore a salt marsh in an estuary in Florida, USA (Taylor 2012) reported than an area where excess fill material was removed to restore tidal influx was colonized by salt marsh plants within one year. After one year, 18 plant species “appropriate for salt marsh habitats” had colonized the reprofiled sediment. These included smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora, annual seablite Suaeda linearis and three species of mangrove tree. After seven years, 27 salt marsh plant species were present. A “few” upland species were also recorded, but not Brazilian pepper Schinus terebinthifolius that dominated the site prior to relandscaping. Methods: In 2003, excess material (sand/shell mix from a historic dredging operation) was removed from the surface of a former salt marsh. The elevation was restored to within the range of adjacent healthy marshes. Plant species present were recorded one and seven years after relandscaping.

    (Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)

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