The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and Wetlands Reserve Program are U.S. federal programs that provide financial and technical assistance to restore wetland habitats on private property, and are important tools for the conservation and management of waterfowl. This study examined whether these wetland restorations successfully restored one important component of waterfowl habitat, the availability of vegetative forage, at sites in the St. Lawrence River valley of New York. We conducted surveys at 47 restored and 18 reference wetlands to characterize the vegetation assemblage in terms of its value as forage for waterfowl. Results suggest that these public–private partnership wetland restorations develop assemblages of wetland vegetation that are similar to reference wetlands. Vegetation assemblage metrics, including estimates of species richness, the richness of species of food value, the Vegetative Forage Quality Index, and the cover of species of food value, did not differ between restored–reference wetland pairs. However, invasive species were common at sites, and we detected a negative association between the cover of invasive species and the Vegetative Forage Quality Index at both restored and reference wetlands. On the basis of these results, we conclude that Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and Wetland Reserve Program wetland restorations provide quality forage for breeding and migratory waterfowl in this region, but that the presence of invasive vegetation at sites has the potential to decrease the quality of vegetative forage at sites over time.
We tested the hypothesis that upland wetland restorations provide the same quality of wetland, in terms of ecosystem services and biodiversity, as natural wetlands in the St. Lawrence River Valley. Water quality (pH, alkalinity, colored dissolved organic matter, phytoplankton community composition, chlorophyll-a, fecal coliform, total phosphorus, dissolved nitrate, turbidity, specific conductivity) in 17 natural and 45 restored wetlands was compared to determine whether wetland restoration provided similar physicochemical conditions as natural wetlands in the Saint Lawrence River Valley of northeastern New York State. Natural wetlands were more acidic, which was hypothesized to result from the avoidance of naturally acidic regions by farmers seeking to drain wetlands for crop and pasture use. Natural wetlands had significantly greater fecal coliform concentrations. Restored wetlands had significantly greater specific conductivity and related ions, and this is attributed to the creation of wetlands upon marine clay deposits. Other water quality indicators did not differ between restored and natural wetlands. These findings confirm other research at these same wetlands showing no substantial differences between restored and natural wetlands in major biotic indicators. Thus, we conclude that wetland restoration does result in wetlands that are functionally the same as the natural wetlands they were designed to replicate.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.