The vegetation of restored and natural prairie wetlands

Published source details Galatowitsch S.M. & van der Valk A.G. (1996) The vegetation of restored and natural prairie wetlands. Ecological Applications, 6, 102-112.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Raise water level to restore/create freshwater marshes from other land uses Action Link

Raise water level to restore/create freshwater marshes from other land uses

A replicated, paired, site comparison study in 1991 of 20 prairie potholes in Iowa, USA (Galatowitsch & van der Valk 1996b) found that restored potholes (rewetted and planted with cover crops) contained a distinct plant community to natural wetlands after three years, with fewer plant species. The plant community composition differed more between restored and natural wetlands (12–44% similarity) than it did amongst restored or natural wetlands (31–63% similarity). The study reported lower richness in restored than natural wetlands of plant species overall, floating, shallow emergent, wet prairie and sedge meadow species, but higher richness of submerged species (data reported in 4b). The study also reported data on the cover of common individual plant species (see original paper). Methods: In April–October 1991, plant species and cover were recorded in 10 pairs of similarly sized pothole marshes (twenty 1-m² quadrats/pothole). In each pair, one marsh had been restored three years previously (by blocking/breaking drainage structures to raise the water level and, in some sites, planting cover crops; note that the study evaluates the combined effect of these interventions in some potholes). Restored potholes had previously been drained and farmed for ≥25 years. The other marshes were natural (never drained or farmed, but surrounded by farmland). This study used a subset of the restored potholes from (4) and exactly the same potholes as (8). Some of the potholes were also studied in (12).

(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)