Design and Performance of Created Wetlands

Details

• Creators:
  Juni, Sara ; Berry, Charles
• Corporate Creators:
  South Dakota State University. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
• Corporate Contributors:
  South Dakota. Department of Transportation. Office of Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Amphibians Animals Aquatic Life Biodiversity Environmental Impacts Fishes Guidelines Mammals Prototypes Wetlands
• Publication/ Report Number:
  SD1995-08 F
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  South Dakota ; United States
• Edition:
  Final Report May 1995-December 2000
• Corporate Publisher:
  South Dakota. Department of Transportation. Office of Research
• Abstract:
  The goal was to develop construction guidelines for compensation wetlands that fostered biodiversity. Objectives were 1) inventory birds, mammals, amphibians, fish, butterflies, and invertebrates in restored, dam-created, borrow-pit, and natural wetlands, 2) identify environmental factors associated with biodiversity, and 3) evaluate prototype wetlands constructed using design criteria to enhance biodiversity. Number of birds and invertebrates varied by wetland type (Objective 1), and was usually less in borrow pits than in other wetland types. Biodiversity was strongly influenced by shoreline development and slope; other variables with less influence were soil type, wetlands nearby, aquatic plants, and surrounding land use (Objective 2). General guidelines were proposed for planning, site preparation, construction, and management. Guidelines allow flexibility because of the variety of wetland types and sites in the prairie pothole region. Two prototype wetlands were excavated adjacent to Dry Run Creek, and monitored during May-June and August -September of 1998-99. Data were compared with that from 9 borrow-pits and 2 restored wetlands (Objective 3). We found 80 bird, 14 fish, 19 mammal, 8 amphibian, and 3 reptile species, and 38 dominant plants. Animals colonized the new wetlands rapidly. There was significantly more bird diversity (mean = 1.9) and richness (mean = 11.6) in prototype wetland than in the older borrow pits (mean diversity = 1.6, mean richness = 8.2). However, mean amphibian richness was less (0.6) in the prototype wetlands than in the older borrow pits (1.4), possibly indicating that more time would be needed for amphibian's colonization. Other taxa have too few species to be used for biomonitoring. Evaluating created wetlands for wildlife functions is difficult because of temporal changes in hydrology and habitat. Recommendations include 1) adopting the wetland engineering guidelines used to create the prototype wetlands, 2) improve knowledge about wetlands among staff and the public, 3) monitor and manage created wetlands to evaluate performance and improve engineering criteria, 4) conduct research on other values of created wetlands, and 5) maintain coordination with resource agencies on wetland conservation issues.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  310364
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b0ad3dc876e1488d6fa53d96a74fd7b260f5eef9c13f773aced39e2ec6d7906e84722438ed76d1a9351b503cd8beb5eae410a41ebccf4c4cc39f06b3f4685cfc
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/80186/dot_80186_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.31 MB ]