Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The use of hydrologic and Ecological indicators for the restoration of drainage ditches and water diversions in a Mountain Fen, Cascade Range, California

  • Published:
Wetlands Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An intact hydrologic regime and the presence of peat forming vegetation are critical for the persistence of fen wetlands. Fen restoration projects often focus on reestablishing water tables near the soil surface, with little effort directed toward identifying historic hydrologic regimes, hydrologic modifications, and the sources of degradation. We used inconsistencies in the modern hydrologic regime and historic hydrologic indicators present in the soil seedbank, vegetation, and organic soil composition to identify areas of Drakesbad Meadow, a mountain fen in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, that had been degraded. A network of ground-water monitoring wells and piezometers were used to identify the hydrologic regime of the 4.7-ha site. The presence of thick organic soils in sites with deep late summer water tables, inconsistencies between species present in the seedbank and the existing vegetation, and the presence of dry meadow species such as Poa pratensis and Hordeum brachyantherum in areas with organic soils were used to determine that 2.4 ha of the site was degraded. A drainage ditch within the fen and diversions of the fen’s water supply caused by a road outside of the fen were identified as the source of hydrologic modification and degradation. These were restored by blocking the flow of water in the main drainage ditch and by installing a series of channels to allow water to cross the road. Reconnecting flow beneath the road resulted in raising the summer water table from 80 cm below the soil surface to less than 10 cm in areas downslope of the road. The addition of five sheet-metal dams perpendicular to flow in the main drainage ditch resulted in raising the water table to within 10 to 20 cm of the soil surface in areas adjacent to and down gradient of the ditch. Before restoration, average late August water table levels across the entire site were 30 cm below the soil surface, while average post-restoration water table levels were 19 cm below the soil surface. One year following hydrologic restoration, the percent canopy cover of species indicative of uplands and wet meadows, but not fens including Deschampsia cespitosa, Hordeum brachyantherum, and Poa pratensis decreased compared with pre-restoration years, while the cover of the peat-forming species Carex utriculata, Scirpus microcarpus, and Carex simulata increased. It is clear from our study that fens in this region will not persist under drought-like conditions created by water diversions, yet well-designed restoration projects can be used to restore modified hydrologic regimes and peat-forming vegetation necessary for the persistence of fen wetlands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Aaviksoo, K. 1993. Changes of plant cover and land use types (1950’s to 1980’s) in three mire reserves and their neighborhood in Estonia. Landscape Ecology 8: 287–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almendinger, J. E. and J. H. Leete. 1998. Regional and local hydrogeology of calcareous fens in the Minnesota River Basin, USA. Wetlands 18: 184–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armentano, T. V. and E. S. Menges. 1986. Patterns of change in the carbon balance of organic soil-wetlands of the temperate zone. Journal of Ecology 74: 755–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boelter, D. H. 1969. Physical properties of peat soils related to decomposition. Proceedings of the Soil Science Society of America 33: 606–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, T. 2005. A History of Photographs, Drakesbad Guest Ranch, Lassen Volcanic National Park: http://www.nps.gov/lavo/drakesbadhome.htm, accessed March 2005.

  • California Department of Water Resources. 2005. California Data Exchange Center: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/, accessed March 2005.

  • Charman, D. 2002. Peatlands and Environmental Change. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chimner, R. A. and D. J. Cooper. 2003a. Carbon dynamics of pristine and hydrologically modified fens in the southern Rocky Mountains. Canadian Journal of Botany 81: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chimner, R. A. and D. J. Cooper. 2003b. Influence of water table levels on CO2 emissions in a Colorado subalpine fen: an in situ microcosm study. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 35: 345–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clymo, R. S. 1983. Peat. p. 159–224. In A. J. P. Gore (ed.) Ecosystems of the World 4A. Mires: Swamp, Bog, Fen and Moor. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. J. 1996. Water and soil chemistry, floristics, and phytosociology of the extreme rich High Creek fen, in South Park, Colorado, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Botany 74: 1801–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. J. and R. E. Andrus. 1994. Patterns of vegetation and water chemistry in peatlands of the west-central Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA. Canadian Journal of Botany 72: 1586–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. J. and L. H. MacDonald. 2000. Restoring the vegetation of mined peatlands in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, U.S.A. Restoration Ecology 8: 103–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. J., L. H. MacDonald, S. K. Wenger, and S. W. Woods. 1998. Hydrologic restoration of a fen in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. Wetlands 18: 335–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. J. and J. S. Sanderson. 1997. A montane Kobresia myosuroides fen community type in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research 29: 300–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. J. and E. Wolf. 2006. Fens of the Sierra Nevada. Unpublished report to U.S. Forest Service, Vallejo, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Mars, H., M. J. Wassen, and W. H. M. Peeters. 1996. The effect of drainage and management on peat chemistry and nutrient deficiency in the former Jegrznia-floodplain (NE-Poland). Vegetatio 126: 59–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erman, D. C. and N. A. Erman. 1975. Macroinvertebrate composition and production in some Sierra Nevada minerotrophic peatlands. Journal of Ecology 56: 591–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, A. S., G. S. Podniesinski, and D. J. Leopold. 1996. Effects of drainage ditches on vegetation patterns in abandoned agricultural peatlands in Central New York. Wetlands 16: 397–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fojt, W. J. 1994. Dehydration and the threat to East Anglian fens, England. Biological Conservation 69: 163–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E., E. H. Stanley, and M. G. Turner. 2003. Analysis and conservation implications of landscape change in the Wisconsin River floodplain, USA. Ecological Applications 13: 416–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galatowitsch, S. M. and A. G. van der Valk. 1995. Natural revegetation during restoration of wetlands in the southern Prairie Pothole Region of North America. p. 129–42. In B. D. Wheeler, S. C. Shaw, W. J. Fojt, and R. A. Robertson (eds.) Restoration of Temperate Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillett, G. W., J. T. Howell, and H. Leschke. 1995. A Flora of Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. California Native Plants Society, Sacramento, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, P. H. 1983. Vegetation patterns in the North Black River peatland, northern Minnesota. Canadian Journal of Botany 61: 2085–2104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, P. H., J. A. Janssen, and D. I. Siegel. 1990. The response of vegetation to chemical and hydrological gradients in the Lost River Peatland, northern Minnesota. Journal of Ecology 78: 1021–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, P. H., D. I. Siegel, E. A. Romanowicz, and Y. P. Shen. 1997. Regional linkages between raised bogs and the climate, ground water, and landscape of north-western Minnesota. Journal of Ecology 85: 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, P. H., G. A. Wheeler, E. Gorham, and H. E. Wright Jr. 1981. The patterned mires of the Red Lake Peatland, Northern Minnesota: vegetation, water chemistry and landforms. Journal of Ecology 69: 575–99.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grootjans, A. and R. van Diggelen. 1995. Assessing the restoration prospects of degraded fens. p. 73–90. In B. D. Wheeler, S. C. Shaw, W. J. Fojt, and R. A. Robertson (eds.) Restoration of Temperate Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanlon, T. J., C. E. Williams, and W. J. Mariarity. 1998. Species composition of soil seed banks of Allegheny Plateau riparian forests. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 125: 199–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, M. 1993. Redgrave and Lopham fens, East Anglia, England: a case study of change in flora and fauna due to ground-water abstraction. Biological Conservation 66: 35–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, K. R. and G. J. E. Hill. 2001. Vegetation mapping of a tropical freshwater swamp in the Northern Territory, Australia: a comparison of aerial photography, Landsat TM and SPOT satellite imagery. International Journal of Remote Sensing 22: 2911–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holden, J., P. J. Chapman, and J. C. Labadz. 2004. Artificial drainage of peatlands: hydrological and hydrochemical process and wetland restoration. Progress in Physical Geography 28: 95–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jauhiainen, S., R. Laiho, and H. Vasander. 2002. Ecohydrological and vegetational changes in a restored bog and fen. Annales Botanici Fennici 39: 185–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komulainen, V., E. Tuittila, H. Vasander, and J. Laine. 1999. Restoration of drained peatlands in southern Finland: initial effects on vegetation change and carbon dioxide balance. Journal of Applied Ecology 36: 634–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leck, M. A. 1989. Wetland seed banks. p. 283–305. In M. A. Leck, V. T. Parker, and R. L. Simpson (eds.) Ecology of Soil Seed Banks. Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luce, C. H. 2002. Hydrological processes and pathways affected by forest roads: what do we still need to learn? Hydrological Processes 16: 2901–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCune, B. and M. J. Mefford. 1999. PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data, Version 4. MJM Software Design, Gleneden Beach, OR, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGraw, J. B. 1987. Seed bank properties of an Appalachian sphagnum bog and a model of the depth distribution of viable seeds. Canadian Journal of Botany 65: 2028–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch, W. J. and J. G. Gosselink. 2000. Wetlands, third edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okrusko, H. 1995. Influence of hydrological differentiation of fens on their transformation after dehydration and on possibilities for restoration. p. 113–20. In B. D. Wheeler, S. C. Shaw, W. J. Fojt, and R. A. Robertson (eds.) Restoration of Temperate Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oomes, M. J. M., H. Olff, and H. J. Altena. 1996. Effects of vegetation management and raising the water table on nutrient dynamics and vegetation change in a wet grassland. Journal of Applied Ecology 33: 576–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, L. S. 2005. Hydrologic Characterization and Restoration of a Mountain Fen-Complex, Drakesbad Meadow, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Cascade Range, California. M.S. Thesis. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poiani, K. A. and P. M. Dixon. 1995. Seed banks of Carolina Bays: potential contributions from surrounding landscape vegetation. American Midland Naturalist 134: 140–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. S., A. L. Heathwaite, and A. J. Baird. 2003. Hydrological processes in abandoned and restored peatlands: an overview of management approaches. Wetlands Ecology and Management 11: 65–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. S., L. Rochefort, and S. Campeau. 2002. Use of shallow basins to restore cutover peatlands: hydrology. Restoration Ecology 10: 259–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. S. and S. M. Schlotzhauer. 1999. Importance of shrinkage and compression in determining water storage changes in peat: the case of a mined peatland. Hydrological Processes 13: 2591–2601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richert, M., O. Dietrich, D. Koppisch, and S. Roth. 2000. The influence of rewetting on vegetation development and decomposition in a degraded fen. Restoration Ecology 8: 186–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossell, I. M. and C. L. Wells. 1999. The seed banks of a southern Appalachian fen and an adjacent degraded wetland. Wetlands 19: 365–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrautzer, J., M. Asshoff, and F. Muller. 1996. Restoration strategies for wet grasslands in northern Germany. Ecological Engineering 7: 255–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, D. I. 1983. Ground water and the evolution of patterned mires, Glacial Lake Agassiz peatlands, northern Minnesota. Journal of Ecology 75: 743–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, D. I. 1988. The recharge-discharge function of wetlands near Juneau, Alaska: Part I. Hydrogeological investigations. Ground Water 26: 427–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sifford, R. D. 1994. Sixty Years of Siffords at Drakesbad. Lahontan Images, Susanville, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sjors, H. 1950. On the relation between vegetation and electrolytes in north Swedish mire waters. Oikos 2: 241–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1999. Keys to Soil Taxonomy, eight edition. Pocahontas Press, Inc., Blacksburg, VA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Switalski, T. A., J. A. Bissonette, T. H. DeLuca, C. H. Luce, and M. A. Madej. 2004. Benefits and impacts of road removal. Frontiers in Ecology 2: 21–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, K., J. P. Bakker, and R. M. Bekker. 1997. The soil seed banks of northwest Europe: methodology, density and longevity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuittila, E. V., V. Komulainen, H. Vasander, and J. Laine. 1999. Restored cut-away peatland as a sink for atmospheric CO2. Ocecologia 120: 311–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Valk, A. G., T. L. Bremholm, and E. Gordon. 1999. The restoration of sedge meadows: seed viability, seed germination requirements, and seedling growth of Carex species. Wetlands 19: 756–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Diggelen, R., A. P. Grootjans, and R. Burkunk, R. 1994. Assessing restoration perspectives of disturbed brook valleys: the Gorecht Area, the Netherlands. Restoration Ecology 2: 87–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waksman, S. A. and E. R. Purvis. 1932. The influence of moisture upon the rapidity of decomposition in lowmoor peat. Soil Science 34: 323–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wassen, M. J., A. Barendregt, P. P. Schot, and B. Beltman. 1990. Dependency of local mesotrophic fens on a regional ground-water flow system in a poldered river plain in the Netherlands. Landscape Ecology 5: 21–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wassen, M. J. and A. P. Grootjans. 1996. Ecohydrology: an interdisciplinary approach for wetland management and restoration. Vegetatio 126: 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, B. D. 1995. Introduction, p. 1–18. In B. D. Wheeler, S. C. Shaw, W. J. Fojt, and R. A. Robertson (eds.) Restoration and Wetlands in Restoration of Temperate Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, B. D. and S. C. Shaw. 1995. A focus on fens-controls on the composition of fen vegetation in relation to restoration, p. 49–72. In B. D. Wheeler, S. C. Shaw, W. J. Fojt, and R. A. Robertson (eds.) Restoration and Wetlands in Restoration of Temperate Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, G. A., P. H. Glaser, E. Gorham, C. M. Wetmore, F. D. Bowers, and J. A. Janssen. 1983. Contributions to the flora of the Red Lake peatlands, northern Minnesota, with special attention to Carex. American Midland Naturalist 110: 62–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, G. G., J. Meyer, G. J. West, E. Dwyer, J. Jangala, and A. DeGeorgey. 2001. Report of archeological, geoarchaeological, and palynological investigations in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. Archaeological Research Program, California State University, Chico, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox, D. A., M. J. Sweat, M. L. Carlson, and K. P. Kowalski. 2006. A water-budget approach to restoring a sedge fen affected by diking and ditching. Journal of Hydrology 320: 501–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Lindsay Patterson

    Present address: Conservation Research Center of the Teton Science Schools, 700 Coyote Canyon Road, 83001, Jackson, Wyoming, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

    Lindsay Patterson & David J. Cooper

Authors
  1. Lindsay Patterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David J. Cooper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Patterson, L., Cooper, D.J. The use of hydrologic and Ecological indicators for the restoration of drainage ditches and water diversions in a Mountain Fen, Cascade Range, California. Wetlands 27, 290–304 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2007)27[290:TUOHAE]2.0.CO;2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2007)27[290:TUOHAE]2.0.CO;2

Key Words

Search

Navigation