Plant diversity, composition, and invasion of restored and natural prairie pothole wetlands: implications for restoration
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Published source details
Seabloom E.W. & Valk A.G. (2003) Plant diversity, composition, and invasion of restored and natural prairie pothole wetlands: implications for restoration. Wetlands, 23, 1-12.
Published source details Seabloom E.W. & Valk A.G. (2003) Plant diversity, composition, and invasion of restored and natural prairie pothole wetlands: implications for restoration. Wetlands, 23, 1-12.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Raise water level to restore/create freshwater marshes from other land uses Action Link |
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Raise water level to restore/create freshwater marshes from other land uses
A replicated, site comparison study in 1993–1994 of 27 prairie pothole marshes in Iowa, USA (Seabloom & van der Valk 2003) found that restored potholes (rewetted and planted with cover crops) had lower vegetation cover and species richness than natural potholes, and were characterized by a different set of species. After 5–7 years, restored potholes had lower overall vegetation cover than natural potholes (see original paper for data and statistical model). Restored potholes also contained fewer plant species: overall (restored: 19; natural: 29 species/pothole) and per quadrat (restored: 3.2; natural: 4.8 species/m2). Finally, restored potholes contained a different plant community to natural potholes (statistical significance not assessed). Of 47 analyzed species, 23 were significantly more common in natural potholes whilst only eight were significantly more common in restored potholes (data reported as statistical model results). Methods: In 1993 or 1994, vegetation was surveyed in 27 prairie potholes. Seventeen potholes had been restored from farmland 5–7 years previously, by breaking/blocking drainage systems, and planting cover crops “along the margins of several sites”. Ten potholes were natural (never drained). Plant species and cover were recorded in 11–42 quadrats, each 1 m2, across each pothole. Note that the study evaluates the combined effect of rewetting and planting cover crops in some potholes. This study used a subset of the restored potholes from (4), and used some of the potholes from (7) and (8).
(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)
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