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Wetland Design and Development

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Wetland Techniques

Abstract

The history of efforts to design and develop wetland sites is extensive and rich, especially in the United States. This chapter provides an annotated view of the current state of wetland design and recommends an approach to future efforts using “Hydrogeomorphic Methodology.” Experience over the past century indicates that the most important part of wetland design and development is upfront work to: (1) determine what type of wetland historically occurred in, and is appropriate for a site; (2) understand and attempt to emulate the key ecological processes that created and sustained specific wetland types; (3) compare historical landscapes and wetland attributes with contemporary landscape and site conditions to understand remediating needs; and (4) determine management objectives and capabilities. The foundation for hydrogeomorphic assessments is analysis of historical and current information about geology and geomorphology, soils, topography and elevation, hydrological regimes, plant and animal communities, and physical anthropogenic features. The availability of this information is discussed and the sequence of actions used to prepare hydrogeomorphic matrices of potential historical vegetation communities and maps is provided as in application of information. Specific considerations for designing wetland infrastructure and restoring wetland vegetation are reviewed. An example of a wetland restoration project for the Duck Creek Conservation Area, Missouri is provided to demonstrate use of the hydrogeomorphic approach. We believe that future wetland design and development strategies should include the following actions: (1) wetland conservation must seek to achieve incremental gains at landscape-level scales; (2) the foundation of wetland design is determining the appropriate wetland type for the site being considered; (3) wetland designs should seek to restore and emulate historical form and process as completely as possible and to make systems as self-sustainable as possible; and (4) future design and development of wetlands must anticipate change related to climate, land uses, encroachments, and water availability and rights.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Greenbrier Wetland Services, Rt. 82, 2735, Advance, MO, 63730, USA

    Mickey Heitmeyer

  2. Wetland Management and Education Services, Puxico, MO, 63960, USA

    Leigh Fredrickson

  3. Environmental Services Section, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pratt, KS, 67124, USA

    Murray Laubhan

  4. Missouri Department of Conservation, Jackson, MO, 63755, USA

    Frank Nelson

  5. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, West Tennessee National Wildlife Refuges Complex, Dyersburg, TN, 38024, USA

    Gary Pogue

  6. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Neal Smith NWR, Prairie City, IA, 50228, USA

    Doug Helmers

  7. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO, 80225-0486, USA

    Wayne King

Authors
  1. Mickey Heitmeyer
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  2. Leigh Fredrickson
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  3. Murray Laubhan
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  4. Frank Nelson
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  5. Gary Pogue
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  6. Doug Helmers
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  7. Wayne King
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mickey Heitmeyer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry & Natural Resources & Environmental Research Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

    James T. Anderson

  2. Department of Natural Resource Ecology a, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

    Craig A. Davis

Student Exercises

Student Exercises

3.1.1 Laboratory Exercise: Developing a General Restoration Design for a Degraded Former Wetland Site

This exercise is intended to provide experience in obtaining and integrating hydrogeomorphic information to develop a restoration design, and accompanying development strategies, for sites that formerly were wetlands but now have been converted to other land uses or are degraded to varying degrees in physical form and ecological processes/functions. Examples of sites that could be chosen include wetlands converted to agricultural production such as is often the case in sites being restored under USDA WRP easements; wetland sites modified by roads, ditches, levees and water diversion structures; and fragmented larger tracts of floodplains, bottomland hardwood forests, or coastal marshes. The site chosen can be provided to the study group by an instructor or conversely be chosen by the study group from some geographical region. The exercise can be conducted in any geographical area and of any size based on the objectives of the class or individuals. The exercise also can be conducted by an individual or a small group. Ideally, several persons working as a group could obtain the various data sets and collectively work to integrate the information and evaluate various scenarios or options for a restoration and development design.

The first part of the exercise after a study site has been selected, is to obtain the following categories of information specific to the site:

  • Geology and geomorphology

  • Soils

  • Topography/elevation data and maps

  • Local and regional climate and hydrology

  • Aerial photographs and maps, current and historical

  • Botanical and faunal information

The sources of these data sets will vary depending on the location selected, but general guidance and potential websites to begin searching for the information is available in the chapter text. For example, soil maps and accompanying attribute information is available for most U.S. counties at www.websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov. The information obtained should be usable in an ArcView or ArcMap geospatial version if possible. Obviously, some older information may not be available in electronic form or georeferenced and some hand processing and visual comparison and analyses may be needed. The group should produce several maps showing the various geospatial information clipped to the study site boundary.

The study group will need to attempt to produce a hydrogeomorphic matrix for the study site using the nine-point methodology provided in the text. This development of a matrix is the core part of the exercise and requires that the study group individuals integrate multiple information sources and use acquired ecological understanding about relationships of vegetation to abiotic attributes of the ecosystem in question. It is understood that individuals of the study group will have different degrees of education about the hydrogeomorphic attributes and botanical relationships. Hopefully, the group includes persons familiar with soils, climate, and botanical data. The integration of hydrogeomorphic information is not quantitative computer software enabled equation, but rather is a synthesis of multiple pieces of information available for the site and of varying quantity and quality. This synthesis represents real-world application experience that practicing professionals face daily in actual career employment circumstances. It is understood that some information and data sets may be unavailable or of different quality depending on the site selected. Ultimately, the success of the exercise to make a hydrogeomorphic matrix for the site will be determined by how much information is obtained and how the study group attempts to determine and confirm vegetation-abiotic attribute relationships. For example, in a bottomland hardwood restoration site, the exercise should attempt to understand and map the distribution of various forest species to soils, geomorphic surfaces, and hydrological regimes. Several recent publications offer examples of matrix development in bottomland settings (e.g., Heitmeyer et al. 2006, 2010a).

After the hydrogeomorphic matrix for the site is constructed, the study group can develop restoration options for the site using the “Application of Information” section of the chapter text. Here, four basic questions must be answered about the historic and contemporary condition of the site and the “new desired state” of the site must be recommended. Based on this recommendation of future site condition, then the actual development strategies for the site can be addressed by asking “What physical and biological changes are needed to create and sustain the new desired community?”

Finally, the exercise must identify and discuss the many considerations for designing wetland infrastructure and restoring basic ecological processes and desired vegetation communities. The types of infrastructure developments will depend on the nature of the wetland to be restored and managed with specific reference to how the natural hydrological regimes and other disturbance processes (e.g., fire, drought, herbivory) can be provided and be effectively managed. For example, if seasonal flooding regimes historically caused by overbank flooding from local streams and rivers are deemed important and desirable, then infrastructure must be designed to accommodate periodic flood flows without excessive damage to the infrastructure and also to allow flood waters to be stored and then released at natural intervals. In another example, if seasonal herbaceous wetlands are desired, then infrastructure should be designed to efficiently bring water into the site at desired times and then also be drained when needed.

Last, if time is available, the exercise should discuss how the new restored and managed site can provide important resources to different faunal groups endemic to the site and region of interest. This discussion, by default, would consider the effective “role” of the restoration site in meeting resource needs of animals of different taxa and ranges and essentially describe how the restoration site helps improve the ecological integrity of the broader ecoregion in which it sets.

Heitmeyer ME, Nelson FA, Fredrickson LH (2006) An evaluation of ecosystem restoration and management options for the Duck Creek/Mingo Basin area of southeast Missouri. University of Missouri-Columbia, Gaylord Memorial Laboratory Special Publication No. 12, Puxico, MO.

Heitmeyer ME, Artmann MJ, Fredrickson LH (2010a) An evaluation of ecosystem restoration and management options for Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. Greenbrier Wetland Services Report No. 10-02. Blue Heron Conservation Design and Printing, LLC, Bloomfield.

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Heitmeyer, M. et al. (2013). Wetland Design and Development. In: Anderson, J., Davis, C. (eds) Wetland Techniques. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6907-6_3

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