Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
Natural wetlands provide ecosystem services such as carbon storage and biodiversity habitat. Anthropogenic impacts have degraded and destroyed wetlands, leading to loss of these services. Finding optimal restoration strategies is essential to recovering these ecosystem services and mitigating climate change. This study focuses on the change in the plant community over time; determining species composition, species diversity, and overall plant quality (FQA and C:N) in one created wetland under experimental conditions in which leaf-litter compost was added and one nearby natural forested wetland. The created wetland was divided into four transects (4 x 50 meters), two of which were kept under experimental conditions, and two as controls, for five years. The study is part of a comprehensive ecosystem analysis of a newly created forested freshwater depressional wetland in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Previous results indicate leaf litter compost experimental transects had increased floristic quality and Shannon Diversity compared to control wetland. Recent data shows the naturally forested wetland and the compost transects showed an increase in Shannon diversity throughout the study period. Also assessed is the potential for mosses in restoration as indicators of ecosystem quality and to initiate succession. Initial data showed the highest C:N ratios for mosses in naturally forested wetland. Future research will determine whether the addition of leaf litter compost and mosses are effective strategies for wetland restoration to inform effective management decisions to drive ecosystem succession toward wetland mitigation.
Recommended Citation
Weidberg, Talia, "194 - Wetland restoration using leaf-litter compost and mosses: Using Shannon Diversity, Floristic Quality Analysis, & C:N ratios to determine effectiveness" (2025). GREAT Day Posters. 53.
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/great-day-symposium/great-day-2025/posters-2025/53
194 - Wetland restoration using leaf-litter compost and mosses: Using Shannon Diversity, Floristic Quality Analysis, & C:N ratios to determine effectiveness
Natural wetlands provide ecosystem services such as carbon storage and biodiversity habitat. Anthropogenic impacts have degraded and destroyed wetlands, leading to loss of these services. Finding optimal restoration strategies is essential to recovering these ecosystem services and mitigating climate change. This study focuses on the change in the plant community over time; determining species composition, species diversity, and overall plant quality (FQA and C:N) in one created wetland under experimental conditions in which leaf-litter compost was added and one nearby natural forested wetland. The created wetland was divided into four transects (4 x 50 meters), two of which were kept under experimental conditions, and two as controls, for five years. The study is part of a comprehensive ecosystem analysis of a newly created forested freshwater depressional wetland in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Previous results indicate leaf litter compost experimental transects had increased floristic quality and Shannon Diversity compared to control wetland. Recent data shows the naturally forested wetland and the compost transects showed an increase in Shannon diversity throughout the study period. Also assessed is the potential for mosses in restoration as indicators of ecosystem quality and to initiate succession. Initial data showed the highest C:N ratios for mosses in naturally forested wetland. Future research will determine whether the addition of leaf litter compost and mosses are effective strategies for wetland restoration to inform effective management decisions to drive ecosystem succession toward wetland mitigation.
Comments
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