A place to call home: amphibian use of created and restored wetlands

Published source details Brown D.J., Street G.M., Nairn R.W. & Forstner M.R.J. (2012) A place to call home: amphibian use of created and restored wetlands. International Journal of Ecology, 2012, ID 989872.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Create wetland Action Link
	Restore wetland Action Link

Create wetland

A global review in 2012 of studies comparing created and restored wetlands to natural wetlands (Brown et al. 2012) found that amphibian species richness or abundance at created and restored wetlands tended to be similar to or greater than natural wetlands. Species richness or abundance of some or all species was greater at created or restored wetlands in 54% of studies, similar in 35% of studies and lower than natural wetlands in 11%. Created and restored wetlands tended to be larger, deeper and were wet for more of the year than natural wetlands. Species richness and abundance tended to be positively associated with abundance of emergent vegetation, proximity of source wetlands and the availability of wetlands with varying water levels. They were also influenced by upland habitat and tended to be negatively associated with fish presence. Only peer-reviewed studies were included (n = 37; 70% in USA). Only studies that converted existing upland or shallow-water areas to wetland habitat (created; n = 27), or restored wetlands (n = 14) were included. Wetlands built specifically for water quality improvement were not included. Twenty-six studies had controls, either natural reference wetlands or historic data.
Restore wetland

A review in 2012 of studies examining restored and created wetlands across the world (Brown et al. 2012) found that amphibian species richness or abundance at restored and created wetlands tended to be similar or greater than at natural wetlands. Species richness or abundance of some or all species was greater at restored or created wetlands in 54% of studies, similar in 35% of studies and lower than natural wetlands in 11%. Restored and created wetlands tended to be larger, deeper and were wet for more of the year than natural wetlands. Species richness and abundance tended to be positively associated with abundance of emergent vegetation, proximity of source wetlands and the availability of wetlands with varying water levels. They were also influenced by upland habitat and tended to be negatively associated with fish presence. Only peer-reviewed studies were included (n = 37; 70% in USA). Only studies that converted existing upland or shallow-water areas to wetland habitat (created; n = 27), or restored wetlands (n = 14) were included. Wetlands built specifically for water quality improvement were not included. Twenty-six studies had controls, either natural reference wetlands or historic data.