Abstract
Agricultural intensification has led to the loss of most natural wetlands from human-dominated landscapes but, in recent decades, wetland restoration has gained traction worldwide. Restoration of suitable habitat conditions is hampered by nutrient residues from decades of high-input farming, by continued input of nutrients from surrounding farmland and by incomplete restoration of natural hydrology.
We assessed the effect of wetland restoration and disturbance (grazing) on vascular plant and bryophyte diversity in restored wetlands in Denmark at plot and landscape scales.
Compared to near-natural wetlands, we found a lower species richness and community uniqueness in restored wetlands, but we also found that grazing had a positive effect on vascular plant richness in restored wetlands. The size of the local species pool, presence of near-natural habitat prior to restoration and near-natural restored hydrology all had positive effects on plant diversity, whereas high soil iron and nitrogen had negative effects.
Synthesis and applications: Restoration of plant diversity in wetlands is challenging, but our results point to potential remedies: plan restoration areas near colonisation sources of the target biota, restore hydrology to near-natural conditions, discontinue nutrient loads from surrounding arable land and restore near-natural grazing regimes. Bryophytes may be particularly useful as indicators for successful restoration of wetlands.
We assessed the effect of wetland restoration and disturbance (grazing) on vascular plant and bryophyte diversity in restored wetlands in Denmark at plot and landscape scales.
Compared to near-natural wetlands, we found a lower species richness and community uniqueness in restored wetlands, but we also found that grazing had a positive effect on vascular plant richness in restored wetlands. The size of the local species pool, presence of near-natural habitat prior to restoration and near-natural restored hydrology all had positive effects on plant diversity, whereas high soil iron and nitrogen had negative effects.
Synthesis and applications: Restoration of plant diversity in wetlands is challenging, but our results point to potential remedies: plan restoration areas near colonisation sources of the target biota, restore hydrology to near-natural conditions, discontinue nutrient loads from surrounding arable land and restore near-natural grazing regimes. Bryophytes may be particularly useful as indicators for successful restoration of wetlands.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Tidsskrift | Journal of Applied Ecology |
| Vol/bind | 62 |
| Udgave nummer | 1 |
| Sider (fra-til) | 144-154 |
| Antal sider | 11 |
| ISSN | 0021-8901 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - 2025 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:This research was supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (grant number 0217\u201000112B). We thank Tobias Skj\u00E6rlund for assistance in the field, Marilou Chazarin for PRS probe data collection, Thomas Eske Holm from Naturbasen for access to bryophyte records, Louise Imer Nabe\u2010Nielsen for assigning the bryophyte records to a standardised grid, Bo Markussen for advice on statistical modelling and Nicolai Paulsen for proofreading. We also thank Liesbeth Bakker and the anonymous reviewers, whose comments and suggestions helped to improve the manuscript. Graphical abstract was created with BioRender.com .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.