Restoration of Tidal Flow to Degraded Tidal Wetlands in Connecticut

Rozsa, Ron

doi:10.5822/978-1-61091-229-7_8

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Reconnecting tidal hydrology by removing tide gates and widening culverts restores the exchange of saltwater and sediments between restricted marshes and estuaries, allowing natural flooding regimes, salinity, and vegetation to rebound (Konisky et al 2006). Over the past several decades, the state of Connecticut initiated >80 tidal restoration projects with over 730 ha of tidal marsh restored (Rozsa 2012). Across the 20 marsh complexes we sampled, we found higher organic carbon density in surface soils of unrestricted reference than tidally restored sites.…”

Section: Effects Of Tidal Restorationmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…We communicated with the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection staff to identify 10 tidally unrestricted and 10 tidally restored sites (R. Wolfe and H. Yamalis, personal communication). Salt marsh ditching was historically a pervasive strategy in New England (USA) to support marsh haying, grazing, and mosquito control (Miller and Egler 1950;Rozsa 2012); thus both our tidally unrestricted "reference" and tidally restored sites had a legacy of human disturbance. Our tidally restored sites were historically restricted, but had tidal flow restored via culvert replacement, fill removal, installation of self-regulating tide gates, or tide gate removal at various times from 1978 to 2012.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation Zonation Predicts Soil Carbon Mineralization and Microbial Communities in Southern New England Salt Marshes

Barry

Ooi

Helton

et al. 2021

Estuaries and Coasts

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Coastal marshes are important blue carbon reservoirs, but it is unclear how vegetation shifts associated with tidal restoration and sea level rise alter soil microbial respiration rates and bacterial community composition. Within 20 Connecticut salt marshes (10 without tidal restrictions, 10 tidally restored), we sampled three vegetation zones dominated by Spartina alterniflora (short-form, < 30 cm tall), S. patens, and Phragmites australis to estimate microbial respiration rates (SIR, substrate-induced respiration; carbon mineralization), root zone bacterial 16S rRNA genes, and a suite of plant and soil characteristics. Carbon density was greater in unrestricted marshes than tidally restored marshes and was the only parameter that differed among sites with varying restoration histories. We observed strong differences among vegetation zones, with vegetation being a top predictor of both SIR and carbon mineralization. Electrical conductivity (EC) was also a top predictor for SIR, and we observed strong, positive correlations between EC and both metrics of microbial respiration, with elevated rates in more frequently inundated S. alterniflora than P. australis zones. We also observed distinct root zone microbial communities associated with vegetation zones, with greater abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria in Spartina spp. zones. Our findings suggest that dominant salt marsh vegetation zones are useful indicators of hydrologic conditions and could be used to estimate microbial respiration rates; however, it is still unclear whether differences in microbial respiration and community composition among vegetation zones are driven by plant community, environmental conditions, or their interactions.

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Section: Effects Of Tidal Restorationmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation Zonation Predicts Soil Carbon Mineralization and Microbial Communities in Southern New England Salt Marshes

Barry

Ooi

Helton

et al. 2021

Estuaries and Coasts

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“…Most restoration efforts along the North Atlantic coast of North America and in Australia include restoring tidal flow by placement of culverts or removing/opening tide gates (Bakker and Piersma, 2006;Fell et al, 2000;Haines, 2013;Reiner, 2012;Sinicrope et al, 1990;Smith and Medeiros, 2013;Warren et al, 2002;Winning and Saintilan, 2009). Furthermore, reinstating the tide has been realized using self-regulating tide gates (SRT) in US tidal marshes (Connecticut, (Giannico and Souder, 2005;Roman et al, 1984;Rozsa, 1995Rozsa, , 2012; Rhode Island (DiQuinzio et al, 2002); Massachusetts, (Reiner, 2012); Oregon, Washington state, (Giannico and Souder, 2005), Maine (Adamowicz and O'Brien, 2012) and Australia (Glamore, 2012;Russell et al, 2012). These SRTs are tide gates with a buoyant lid which remains open most of the time, allowing tidal inflow at defined heights during rising tide and outflow during ebb tide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of tidal re-introduction design on sedimentation rates in previously embanked tidal marshes

Oosterlee

Cox

Temmerman

et al. 2020

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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“…Whether such Ecoengineering tide gates will partially attain desired improvements in estuarine wetland connectivity and habitat quality, depends on temporal access and habitat quality requirements of the targeted nekton species versus those more adapted to restricted tidal systems (Boys et al, 2012;Franklin and Hodges, 2015). Similarly, the amount of investment and sustained maintenance are an acceptable compromise, but made more complicated by the often energy-demanding characteristics of SRTG and other 'automatic' tide gates (Glamore, 2012;Reiner, M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 9 evolutionary dead-end" (Rozas, 2012). In cases aiming for more restorative Ecohydrology processes, Ecoengineering approaches such as the controlled reduced tidal system (CRTS) have been designed, such as in the Scheldt Estuary, to attempt to replicate the spring-neap tidal cycle and allow flood water storage, producing somewhat modified, early successional tidal marshes (Beauchard et al, 2011).…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecoengineering approaches can be emulative, where precise tidal geometry principles are applied to design the endpoint morphology (Zeff, 1999), or adaptive in which simple channels are constructed and expected to eventually adjust to a more natural cross-section equilibrium (Rozas, 2012).…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecoengineering with Ecohydrology: Successes and failures in estuarine restoration

Elliott

Mander

Mazik

et al. 2016

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

149

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Ecological Engineering (or Ecoengineering) is increasingly used in estuaries to re-create and restore ecosystems degraded by human activities, including reduced water flow or land poldered for agricultural use. Here we focus on ecosystem recolonization by the biota and their functioning and we separate Type A Ecoengineering where the physico-chemical structure is modified on the basis that ecological structure and functioning will then follow, and Type B Ecoengineering where the biota are engineered directly such as through restocking or replanting. Modifying the physical system to create and restore natural processes and habitats relies on successfully applying Ecohydrology, where suitable physical conditions, especially hydrography and sedimentology, are created to recover estuarine ecology by natural or human-mediated colonisation of primary producers and consumers, or habitat creation. This successional process then allows wading birds and fish to reoccupy the rehabilitated areas, thus restoring the natural food web and recreating nursery areas for aquatic biota.We describe Ecohydrology principles applied during Ecoengineering restoration projects in Europe, Australia, Asia, South Africa and North America. These show some successful and sustainable approaches but also others that were less than successful and not sustainable despite the best of intentions (and which may even have harmed the ecology). Some schemes may be 'good for the ecologists', as conservationists consider it successful that at least some habitat was created, albeit in the short-term, but arguably did little for the overall ecology of the area in space or time. We indicate M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2 the trade-offs between the short-and long-term value of restored and created ecosystems, the success at developing natural structure and functioning in disturbed estuaries, the role of this in estuarine and wetland management, and the costs and benefits of Ecoengineering to the socio-ecological system. These global case studies provide important lessons for both the science and management of estuaries, including that successful estuarine restoration is a complex and often difficult process, and that Ecoengineering with Ecohydrology aims to control and/or simulate natural ecosystem processes.

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Restoration of Tidal Flow to Degraded Tidal Wetlands in Connecticut

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Vegetation Zonation Predicts Soil Carbon Mineralization and Microbial Communities in Southern New England Salt Marshes

Vegetation Zonation Predicts Soil Carbon Mineralization and Microbial Communities in Southern New England Salt Marshes

Effects of tidal re-introduction design on sedimentation rates in previously embanked tidal marshes

Ecoengineering with Ecohydrology: Successes and failures in estuarine restoration

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