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Tidal Hydrology and Salinity Drives Salt Marsh Vegetation Restoration and Phragmites australis Control in New England

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Abstract

The Medouie Creek wetland complex on Nantucket Island, MA was historically one contiguous salt marsh. Diking in the 1930s caused tidal restriction, creating a freshwater wetland colonized by Phragmites australis. To restore salt marsh habitat, the tidal restriction was removed and tidal salt water hydrology reestablished. Soil pore water salinity increased rapidly through the site with the majority of the marsh exhibiting salt marsh hydrology and higher salinities (25-30 ppt) eight years post-restoration. Extensive dieback of freshwater vegetation facilitated fairly rapid colonization by salt marsh vegetation, particularly adjacent to the culvert and marsh ditches. A non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis demonstrated that vegetation community composition was driven primarily by soil pore water salinity and marsh surface elevation. Eight years post-restoration, areas under 4 m elevation were dominated by salt marsh species while areas over 4 m retained freshwater vegetation. Unlike some other salt marsh restoration projects, salt marsh vegetation communities successfully established at Medouie primarily due to hydrological alteration and without the need for active revegetation or other restoration methods. P. australis stands were also significantly decreased. Given appropriate marsh conditions, altering hydrology alone to mimic functioning salt marsh hydrology may effectively drive vegetation succession and lead to ecologically functional salt marshes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge funding support for this project from the following: Massachusetts Landowners Incentive Program, USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game Division of Ecological Restoration, US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, FishAmerica Foundation/NOAA Restoration Center Partnership, and Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien, Mr. and Mrs. Wright and Mr. and Mrs. Hanson of the Medouie Creek Homeowners Association. Technical assistance provided by the Massachusetts Wetland Restoration Program, the US Fish and Wildlife Department, NOAA and Horsely-Whitten Consulting. Special thanks to our colleagues Rachael Freeman Slosek and Sarah Treanor Bois, as well as many seasonal field assistants for their time spent on field work, lab work and analysis for this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Science and Stewardship Department, 118 Cliff Rd, Nantucket, MA, 02554, USA

    Jennifer M. Karberg, Karen C. Beattie, Danielle I. O’Dell & Kelly A. Omand

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  1. Jennifer M. Karberg
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  2. Karen C. Beattie
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  3. Danielle I. O’Dell
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  4. Kelly A. Omand
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Correspondence to Jennifer M. Karberg.

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Karberg, J.M., Beattie, K.C., O’Dell, D.I. et al. Tidal Hydrology and Salinity Drives Salt Marsh Vegetation Restoration and Phragmites australis Control in New England. Wetlands 38, 993–1003 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-018-1051-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-018-1051-4

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