ABSTRACT
Scientific advances in our understanding of the functional importance of wetland ecosystems in providing key ecosystem services on the landscape has led to changes in federal policies aimed at protecting wetlands over the past three decades. These policies include Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (1972), the “no net loss” policy (1992), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency compensatory mitigation rule (2002, USACE and USEPA 2008) and requirements for wetlands that are destroyed by development activities. The “no net loss” policy sought to replace lost wetland habitat with new habitat by restoring and/or creating wetlands, and is now the cornerstone of wetland conservation in the United States (Mitsch and Gosselink 2007). As a result, numerous federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private landowners are engaged in wetland restoration and creation across the United States with a keen focus on getting the proper hydrologic conditions needed to support each wetland type’s native vegetation but often with little guidance or thought about the importance of creating the soil characteristics needed to sustain the restoration. Soils are the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems, including wetlands. Soil conditions influence many ecosystem processes and properties, including plant productivity and diversity, microbial community activity and diversity, biogeochemical cycles, and hydrology (Figure 19.1). Here we review these relationships in detail. The goal of this chapter is to quantify how restoring or maintaining physical and chemical soil characteristics of restored wetlands, including
CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 469 Soil Characteristics ...................................................................................................................... 473
Spatial Variability of Soils in Natural versus Restored Wetlands ................................... 473 Elevation, Soils, and Vegetation Data .................................................................................. 474 Created, Restored, and Natural Wetland Soil Comparisons ............................................477 Soil Microtopography and Restoration ...............................................................................480 Soil Carbon and Restoration ................................................................................................. 482
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 489 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... 489 References .................................................................................................................................... 489
spatial and microtopographic features and organic matter, results in a more successful and sustainable wetland restoration.
