School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand; Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 1;837:155760. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155760. Epub 2022 May 6.
Globally wetlands are imperilled and restoring these highly productive and biodiverse ecosystems is key to regaining their lost function and health. Much of the fertile, low-lying land that was historically wetland is now farmed, so privately-owned locations play critical roles in regaining space for wetlands. However, wetland restoration on private property is often small-scale and supported by minimal funding and expertise. Little is known about what these efforts achieve, and what contexts facilitate the greatest gains in wetland health. Using a paired plot design for 18 restored and 18 unrestored wetlands, we aimed to understand changes in wetland health following restoration on private property. We characterised plant and microbial communities and soil characteristics following wetland restoration and explored how environmental settings of restored wetlands related to the clustering of wetland health indicators. We found that all indicators of wetland health significantly increased following restoration except for the ratio of Gram negative to Gram positive bacteria. Restoration enhanced plant alpha and beta diversity, adding ~13 native plant species per plot. Soils in restored wetlands contained 20% more organic matter, and 25% more microbial biomass, which was driven by an increased abundance of fungi. Restoration reduced soil bulk density by 0.19 g cm and Olsen Phosphorus by 23%. These effects on soil physical characteristics and microbial communities were strongest in the wettest locations. Restored wetlands clustered into three main groups based on indicators of wetland health. Hydrological flow explained the clustering of wetlands, with riverine wetlands exhibiting greater indicators of recovery than depressional wetlands, suggesting that hydrological flow may influence post-restoration recovery. Overall, this study shows that small-scale wetland restoration on private land improved wetland health, providing evidence that it can be an effective use of marginal agricultural land.
全球湿地正面临威胁，恢复这些高生产力和生物多样性的生态系统是恢复其失去的功能和健康的关键。历史上曾经是湿地的肥沃低地现在大部分都被开垦了，因此私人拥有的土地在为湿地争取空间方面发挥着关键作用。然而，私人土地上的湿地恢复往往规模较小，资金和专业知识支持也很有限。对于这些努力取得了什么成果，以及哪些背景有利于湿地健康取得最大收益，人们知之甚少。我们使用 18 个已恢复和 18 个未恢复湿地的配对样本地设计，旨在了解私人土地上湿地恢复后湿地健康的变化。我们描述了湿地恢复后的植物和微生物群落以及土壤特征，并探讨了恢复后的湿地的环境设置与湿地健康指标聚类的关系。我们发现，除革兰氏阴性菌与革兰氏阳性菌的比例外，所有湿地健康指标在恢复后都显著增加。恢复增强了植物的α和β多样性，每个样地增加了约 13 种本地植物。恢复后的湿地土壤含有 20%更多的有机质和 25%更多的微生物生物量，这是由于真菌丰度增加所致。恢复使土壤容重降低了 0.19 g cm，降低了 23%的奥尔森磷。这些对土壤物理特性和微生物群落的影响在最潮湿的地方最为强烈。根据湿地健康指标，恢复后的湿地聚类为三个主要组。水文流量解释了湿地的聚类，河流湿地的恢复指标大于洼地湿地，这表明水文流量可能影响恢复后的恢复。总的来说，这项研究表明，私人土地上的小规模湿地恢复改善了湿地健康，这为其作为一种有效利用边际农业土地的方式提供了证据。
