Using Tidal Salt Marsh Mesocosms to Aid Wetland Restoration

Abstract

Tidal wetland mesocosms at Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve failed to elucidate effects of hydrologic treatments (excluded, impounded, and fully tidal systems) for most parameters measuring Salicornia virginica (pickleweed). Although soil salinity increased where tidal flushing was excluded for 10 months (salinities rose ∼20 to 50%), pickleweed cover and algal chlorophyll did not differ among treatments. Effects were seen only in pickleweed growth rates (∼30% decrease where tides were excluded) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) measurements. We failed to show any differences between impounded and fully tidal conditions, because the mesocosms had coarse sediments, and impounded water drained easily via subsurface flow. However, the problems that we encountered with the mesocosms led to the following advice for future wetland restoration projects: (1) Mesocosms are useful for testing restoration techniques before an actual restoration project takes place. (2) Mesocosms should be used to test factors that may lead to more successful restoration in the future, including planting techniques, substrate conditions, and hydrology. (3) Mesocosms should be used to develop new assessment methods for monitoring wetland ecosystems. Because of the ability to control some environmental parameters while maintaining seminatural conditions, mesocosms offer great potential for the future evaluation of experimental restoration techniques.

A Field Experiment to Assess the Transplant Success of Salt Marsh Plants into Tidal Wetlands

“…Both this, and previous research by Partridge and Wilson (1988) suggest that, for S. pungens, the salinity and environmental conditions required for initial colonisation may be narrower than those for survival after establishment. This has been found in several other marsh species including Salicornia virginica (Beare and Zedler 1987;Callaway et al 1997) and S. subterminalis (Kuhn and Zedler 1997).…”

“…Then, although the soil texture differed between the two soil types they followed generally similar trends in salinity. However, in November during drought the soil salinity increased in the restoration soil most likely because of the increased clay content which reduces drainage rates (Mitsch and Gooselink 1993;Callaway et al 1997).…”

“…But it is also necessary to understand how other environmental factors including soil characteristics affect survival establishment, growth and reproduction (Keddy 2000). In addition, laboratory and field microcosms have been used to predict the effects of environmental factors on individual species and communities (Weiher and Keddy 1995;Callaway et al 1997;Fraser and Keddy 1997;Trnka and Zedler 2000). The use of experimental field plots is another approach that could be useful where there may be site specific problems with establishment in a potential reclamation area.…”

Soil Water Chemistry as an Indicator of the Reproducibility of Artificially Contaminated Soil Mesocosms

“…The best way to study an ecosystem is to work at field-scale (Kampichler et al, 2001;Mitsch & Wilson, 1996;Mitsch et al, 1998), but this can prove to be costly and also complex in terms of interpretation (Ahn & Mitsch, 2002;Kadlec, 1997;Walters & Holling, 1990). Some authors recommend working first at microcosm-scale and then confirming the results at field-scale (Callaway, Zedler, & Ross, 1997;Carpenter, 1999;Drenner & Mazumder, 1999;Sarnelle, 1997). Various authors have suggested that mesocosm studies might fill the gap between laboratory-and field-scale investigations Kampichler et al, 2001;Odum, 1984;Reilly, 1999).…”

Inoculación con hongos micorrízicos y fertilización con urea de plantas de Fraxinus uhdei en acrisoles provenientes de sitios degradados

“…Lo anterior se puede lograr con el uso de mesocosmos y que han probado ser una aproximación experimental útil para la restauración ecológica (Callaway et al, 1997;Szanser et al, 2011 Krüger et al, 2012), solos o en interacción en un experimento de mesocosmos, a fi n de evaluar el comportamiento del sistema en un suelo con las características antes mencionadas, partiendo de la hipótesis de que la adición de N incrementará el desempeño y supervivencia del sistema F. uhdei-R. intraradices-P. tinctorius.…”