Study

Hydrology, physiochemistry, and amphibians in natural and created vernal pool wetlands

  • Published source details Korfel C.A., Mitsch W.J., Hetherington T.E. & Mack J.J. (2010) Hydrology, physiochemistry, and amphibians in natural and created vernal pool wetlands. Restoration Ecology, 18, 843–854.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Create wetland

Action Link
Amphibian Conservation
  1. Create wetland

    A replicated, site comparison study in 2007 of a complex of 10 created temporary ponds in central Ohio, USA (Korfel et al. 2010) found that amphibian biomass was similar in the created and a natural complex of temporary ponds, although natural ponds supported more species (7 vs 4). There was no significant difference between created and natural ponds in overall biomass (dip-net: 3 vs 1; funnel trap: 3 vs 6 g/pond) or family biomass (hylidae: 1 vs 1; ranidae: 1 vs 4; ambystomatidae: 1 vs 2 g/pond). Created ponds had higher taxa diversity than the natural ponds (0.95 vs 0.70 Shannon-Weaver index) due to a more even distribution between the three families. Eleven years after construction, significant differences between created and natural ponds were found for hydrology, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and temperature. Wetland construction was completed in 1996. Amphibian larvae were sampled in May-July 2007 using dip-netting (all ponds) and funnel traps (in one of each pond type). Hydrology and physiochemistry were recorded for each pond in April–July. Comparisons were made with six natural temporary ponds in a nature preserve.

     

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