Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007ND147B

Plant Species Composition of Wetlands Located in Restored Native Prairie

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2008-02-29
Total Federal Funds: $2,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $4,000

Principal Investigators: Don Kirby

Project Summary: Wetlands are an important landscape feature in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the Northern Great Plains which provide important habitat and forage for both wildlife and domestic livestock, maintain water quality, recharge ground water, and attenuate flooding. Wetland areas have been impacted in the Prairie Pothole Region by various human activities including agricultural practices. These impacts have lead to the decline of wetland functions and water quality. Restoring species richness and diversity and managing native prairie wetland complexes in a way that mimics natural disturbance processes while minimizing negative human impacts will improve wetland functions and water quality. In recent years, several large scale restorations of native grasslands have occurred in the state of North Dakota. Many of these restorations, often on large tracts of publicly owned land such as National Wildlife Refuges, have focused on restoring native plant species diversity and richness in the prairie areas rather than the wetlands themselves, but it is likely that the wetlands have functionally benefited from the restoration and management of the surrounding prairie areas. Evaluation of the species composition of these restorations and their subsequent management techniques, will give insight towards the restoration of functions such as hydrology and habitat and forage for wildlife and domesticated animals of previously impacted areas (i.e. cropland). The analysis of this data will help develop effective restoration techniques and to make good management decisions in the future. The goal of this study is to evaluate species composition and physical characteristics of wetlands in restored native prairie areas and to incorporate the data obtained into a model that will predict wetland conditions based on environmental variables. The results of this study could be used to assess the quality of wetland plant communities in restored native prairie areas, evaluate the success of restoration and/or management techniques, and predict wetland plant community conditions in relation to important environmental variables.