Wetland Monitoring: A Critical Component of any Wetland Restoration Project
Restoration monitoring is a complex process that requires expert ecological and statistical knowledge, as it informs decisions for adaptive management, timelines for goals, and evidence for successful credit approval.
Wild rice is one of many specialized plants that rely on healthy wetlands.
Why is Monitoring of Restored Wetlands Necessary?
Wetland regulatory agencies require specific performance standards to be met in order to approve credit releases. This information must be provided by the applicant (you), and Mitigation Partners’ monitoring work provides this scientifically-based, documented evidence.
Monitoring provides important information for determining whether adjustments to management techniques need to be made or additional measures taken. This is called adaptive management and it will maximize the success of restoration by responding to the needs of the ecosystem. Every project site is different and requires specialized methods depending on site conditions such as hydrology, weather events, climate, and topography.
Monitoring data also provides information on the progress of the restoration and if the goals are projected to be met by a certain time frame (ex. 5-10 years, when restored wetlands are typically expected to become self-sustaining). The achievement of project goals can be put into measurable and comparable data, which can then be used to provide clear, documented evidence of meeting performance standards using graphics to present the scientific data.
How Do We Monitor Wetlands?
Professional judgment is important when selecting parameters and methods because they will be used in decision-making of ongoing management practices. Ecological professionals such as Landbridge Ecological will base these metrics on the required performance standards, which results in targeted monitoring that improves the health of the site while ensuring that full credits will be received. Typically these standards are described as a certain percentage of native cover, or no more than 10% cover of invasive species, a measure of species richness/diversity, and specific measures of hydrology during the growing season.
Methods and measurements must be tailored to the scale of the site. A few sampling methods that are commonly used are plots, transects, and random sampling. Each method serves a different purpose and provides different data so it is important to take into account the data that is being collected and how to sample in a way that will accurately portray the data.
Clearly defined protocols for sampling methods are necessary to maintain the integrity of the data, especially when data is being collected over multiple years and by multiple people. These methods should be written step by step and include a list of necessary materials and equipment, record keeping standards, and include explicit limitations of data collection such as extreme weather conditions, time of day and/or seasonality. Environmental conditions such as temperature and seasonality can cause discrepancies in data collection due to growing stages of plants, and many seedlings are very difficult to distinguish until they have established into adult plants. This is why it is important to set clear standards for when to sample, how to sample, and how to record data.
How Does Monitoring Help Overcome Restoration Challenges?
Challenges that can arise during a restoration are abnormal weather conditions, such as drought, flooding, extreme temperatures, and other disturbances. Monitoring data can be an important resource in responding to these challenges in the most effective way.
Factors having the greatest impact on vegetation development should be measured and analyzed in tandem with vegetation in order to make decisions that will ensure the successful restoration of an ecosystem. Hydrology is one of the most common parameters that is measured and compared with vegetation data because it is a key factor in vegetation development. It is important to see this relationship and take management actions if the two are not working together.
Ecological experts understand the practicality of field sampling; what’s doable and what isn’t, what resources are available, what sampling methods are appropriate for the scale of the site, and other important considerations. For example, counting every plant of a particular species on a 40 acre site is not efficient or necessary. Instead, taking samples from random sample plots of the same size across the site would be efficient and still an effective measurement of the species richness of the site.
Wetland restoration and monitoring supports a vast array of species specialized to wetland habitats.
What Do We Do With the Results?
More often than not, there are outliers that can skew data. It is important to use statistical analysis to get an accurate understanding of the relationship between variables or factors. There are many different statistical approaches for environmental data analysis but knowing the right one for the data at hand is crucial for accurate portrayal.
These results allow for appropriate estimations of success and create a visualization of trends and relationships between variables. These results assist in making decisions for adaptive management, estimating when goals will be met, and providing evidence of success for wetland regulatory agencies who will in turn approve the credits.
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Contact MPI today with your ecological restoration and mitigation banking project needs. Our team is ready with answers and expert services to bring your vision to life.
Mitigation Partners, Inc. Founders Dax Dickson & Tory Christensen
