A case study of the effects of wetland restoration on the hydrology, species diversity, species composition and floristic quality of restored wetlands within a Central Florida ranchland, 2003 - ongoing.

In the USA the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural
Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has restored millions of acres of
wetlands through its Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) programs. However
few quantitative studies have explored whether WREs have enhanced
wetland hydrology and wetland plant communities. Additionally USDA
Compatible Use Permits for cattle grazing and other management
practices are sometimes issued for WREs but little is known about
potential benefits/detriments of such practice on the success of
wetland restoration. In this study we tested if hydrological
restoration of previously drained species poor pastures increased
water depth and hydroperiod. Restoration involved plugging key ditches
adding water control structures and a berm. We also tested if
hydrological restoration increased plant diversity (alpha and beta)
floristic quality (using coefficient of conservatism) and increased
the cover of wetland species (using species wetland status). Finally
we tested if cattle grazing had an effect on the success of
restoration by comparing grazed plots to fenced plots. We studied two
conservation easements (a total of 748 acres) located on semi-native
pastures in central Florida USA. We monitored vegetation using
permanent transects stratified by vegetation type before (2004-2005)
and after (2012) the restoration (2008). We assessed wetland
hydroperiod using groundwater wells set up in 2003 and located within
and outside the boundaries of these two easements.

美国农业部（United States Department of Agriculture, USDA）自然资源保护局（Natural Resource Conservation Service, NRCS）通过其湿地储备地役权（Wetland Reserve Easement, WRE）项目，已修复了数百万英亩的湿地。然而目前鲜有定量研究探讨湿地储备地役权是否改善了湿地水文状况与湿地植物群落。此外，美国农业部有时会为湿地储备地役权签发适用于畜牧放牧及其他管理活动的兼容使用许可，但这类实践对湿地修复成效的潜在利弊尚不明晰。本研究旨在开展三项验证：其一，对此前经排水改造的物种贫瘠牧场实施水文修复，是否能够提升水深与水文周期；本次修复工程包括封堵关键沟渠、增设控水设施及护堤。其二，水文修复是否能够提升植物多样性（α多样性与β多样性）、区系质量（采用保守性系数（coefficient of conservatism）进行评估），并增加湿地物种的盖度（依据物种湿地状态进行判定）。其三，畜牧放牧是否会对湿地修复成效产生影响，本研究通过对比放牧样地与围栏封育样地展开验证。本研究选取美国佛罗里达州中部两处半原生牧场的保护地役权地块（总面积748英亩）作为研究对象。在修复前（2004-2005年）与修复后（2012年，修复工程于2008年实施），我们依据植被类型设置分层永久样带开展植被监测。同时，依托2003年布设的、分布于两处地役权地块内外的地下水监测井，对湿地水文周期进行评估。