Water level drawdown induces a legacy effect on the seed bank and retains sediment chemistry in a eutrophic clay wetland.

The lack of extreme water level fluctuations in managed, non-peat forming wetland ecosystems can result in decreased productivity through the loss of heterogeneity of these ecosystems. Stochastic disruption, such as a water level drawdown, can effectively reverse this effect and return the wetland to a more productive state, associated with higher biodiversity through new vegetation development. Yet, aside from the effect on vegetation dynamics, little is known about longer-term effects (30 years) of a water level drawdown, hereafter referred to as legacy effects, and how this may impact future water level drawdowns.

Restoration ecology meets design-engineering: Mimicking emergent traits to restore feedback-driven ecosystems.

Ecosystems shaped by habitat-modifying organisms such as reefs, vegetated coastal systems and peatlands, provide valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and coastal protection. However, they are declining worldwide. Ecosystem restoration is a key tool for mitigating these losses but has proven failure-prone, because ecosystem stability often hinges on self-facilitation generated by emergent traits from habitat modifiers.

Recovering wetland biogeomorphic feedbacks to restore the world's biotic carbon hotspots.

Biogeomorphic wetlands cover 1% of Earth's surface but store 20% of ecosystem organic carbon. This disproportional share is fueled by high carbon sequestration rates and effective storage in peatlands, mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows, which greatly exceed those of oceanic and forest ecosystems. Here, we review how feedbacks between geomorphology and landscape-building vegetation underlie these qualities and how feedback disruption can switch wetlands from carbon sinks into sources.

Overcoming establishment thresholds for peat mosses in human-made bog pools.

Globally, peatlands have been affected by drainage and peat extraction, with adverse effects on their functioning and services. To restore peat-forming vegetation, drained bogs are being rewetted on a large scale. Although this practice results in higher groundwater levels, unfortunately it often creates deep lakes in parts where peat was extracted to greater depths than the surroundings.

Restoration of biogeomorphic systems by creating windows of opportunity to support natural establishment processes.

In degraded landscapes, recolonization by pioneer vegetation is often halted by the presence of persistent environmental stress. When natural expansion does occur, it is commonly due to the momentary alleviation of a key environmental variable previously limiting new growth. Thus, studying the circumstances in which expansion occurs can inspire new restoration techniques, wherein vegetation establishment is provoked by emulating natural events through artificial means.

Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success.

Restoration is becoming a vital tool to counteract coastal ecosystem degradation. Modifying transplant designs of habitat-forming organisms from dispersed to clumped can amplify coastal restoration yields as it generates self-facilitation from emergent traits, i.e.

Nutrient dynamics of Sphagnum farming on rewetted bog grassland in NW Germany.

The agricultural use of drained peatlands leads to huge emissions of greenhouse gases and nutrients. A land-use alternative that allows rewetting of drained peatland while maintaining agricultural production is the cultivation of Sphagnum biomass as a renewable substitute for fossil peat in horticultural growing media (Sphagnum farming). We studied Sphagnum productivity and nutrient dynamics during two years in two Sphagnum farming sites in NW Germany, which were established on drained bog grassland by sod removal, rewetting, and the introduction of Sphagnum fragments in 2011 and 2016, respectively.

Elevated micro-topography boosts growth rates in Salicornia procumbens by amplifying a tidally driven oxygen pump: implications for natural recruitment and restoration.

Background And Aims: The growth rate of pioneer species is known to be a critical component determining recruitment success of marsh seedlings on tidal flats. By accelerating growth, recruits can reach a larger size at an earlier date, which reduces the length of the disturbance-free window required for successful establishment. Therefore, the pursuit of natural mechanisms that accelerate growth rates at a local scale may lead to a better understanding of the circumstances under which new establishment occurs, and may suggest new insights with which to perform restoration.

Azolla along a phosphorus gradient: biphasic growth response linked to diazotroph traits and phosphorus-induced iron chlorosis.

Azolla spp., a water fern often used for phytoremediation, is a strong phosphorus (P) accumulator due to its high growth rate and N fixing symbionts (diazotrophs). It is known that plant growth is stimulated by P, but the nature of the interactive response of both symbionts along a P gradient, and related changes in growth-limiting factors, are unclear.