Abstract
Seasonally inundated wetlands are threatened ecosystems worldwide and increasingly important targets for wetland restoration programs. However, restoring such ecosystems is difficult, as it requires mimicking the historical shifts between dry and flooded states. In this study, we evaluate the responses of agriculturally impacted seasonal wetlands to pasture-scale hydrological restoration. We selected 15 seasonal wetlands in central Florida (10 within restoration easements and five in unrestored pastures) and excluded cattle from five of the restored wetlands. We monitored each wetland from 2011 to 2016 to document potential changes in water levels, plant species richness, beta diversity, floristic quality, and cover of obligate wetland species. Vegetation responses to restoration were gradual and subtle, becoming detectable only five years following restoration. By 2016, restored wetlands had significantly lower cover of facultative upland species and higher cover of obligate wetland species. Species richness was higher in unrestored wetlands due to the presence of many facultative upland species. Beta diversity within wetlands and floristic quality based on coefficient of conservatism were not affected by restoration. We did not find strong effects of cattle exclusion on post-restoration diversity metrics, but we observed a large increase in the native grass, Panicum hemitomon Schult. This study showed mixed outcomes when measured against the goals of restoring wetland communities. It also highlighted the need for more active restoration approaches to regain historical communities or promote target species (e.g. Coleataenia abscissa (Swallen) LeBlond). We emphasize the need for costly restoration activities to be coupled with long-term monitoring to assess success.
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Data associated to this manuscript will be made publicly available through the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) portal.
Change history
10 July 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01713-3
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the operations staff of Archbold Biological Station (B. Crawford, J. Gonzalez) for installing and maintaining cattle fences for this study. We thank Josh Daskin and Laura Elston for leading field data collection in 2011-12 and 2016, respectively, and Amanda Chang, Cari Ficken, Harrison Goldspiel, Simon King, Kevin Moses, Clay Noss, and K. Nicole White for helping with data collection and data entry. Eric Menges provided input on initial study design and Kye Ewing created the database. We also thank the Florida State Office of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service for implementing the hydrological restoration of our study sites. This research was a contribution from the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network. LTAR is supported by the USDA.
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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service [USDA-NRCS 68-4209-16-500], the Mosaic Company and the Florida Cattlemen’s Association provided funding to support a postdoctoral position.
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Order of authors reflects relative contributions. GS performed the statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript with contributions from all co-authors. BBR initiated and maintained the experiment and collected data with help from RCT and GS. RCT led data management and quality control. BBR and EHB secured funding for analysis and write-up. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Sonnier, G., Rothermel, B.B., Tucker, R.C. et al. Post-Restoration Plant Community Changes in Grazed and Ungrazed Seasonal Wetlands in Florida. Wetlands 43, 55 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01695-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01695-2