Re-colonisation of wetland plants following scrub removal at the Open Pits, Dungeness RSPB reserve, Kent, England
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Published source details
Akers P. & Allcorn R.I. (2006) Re-colonisation of wetland plants following scrub removal at the Open Pits, Dungeness RSPB reserve, Kent, England. Conservation Evidence, 3, 92-93.
Published source details Akers P. & Allcorn R.I. (2006) Re-colonisation of wetland plants following scrub removal at the Open Pits, Dungeness RSPB reserve, Kent, England. Conservation Evidence, 3, 92-93.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Restore/create freshwater marshes or swamps (multiple actions) Action Link |
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Restore/create freshwater marshes or swamps (multiple actions)
A replicated, before-and-after study in 1953–2002 of two freshwater wetland restoration sites in England, UK (Akers & Alcorn 2006) reported that following multiple interventions, nine plant species (re)appeared. Five years after restoration, seven wetland plant species had recolonized the sites (i.e. present before degradation in 1953, absent after degradation in 1983, then present after restoration in 2002). Two new plant species colonized the wetlands (i.e. not present in 1953 or 1983). Eight locally rare plant species that were present in 1983 were absent in 2002. The study also reported reduced cover of Cladonia lichens following intervention (but this was not quantified). Methods: In 1997, multiple interventions were applied in two degraded wetland depressions (overgrown by willow Salix spp. after grazing stopped in the 1950s and water levels dropped in the 1970s). Willow trees and common reed Phragmites australis were cut and removed, willow stumps were treated with herbicide, and late-summer grazing by sheep and goats was reintroduced (further details not reported). Vegetation surveyed in 2002 was compared to previously published records from 1953 and 1983.
(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)
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