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Title: Effects and effectiveness of USDA wetland conservation practices in the Mid-Atlantic region: A report on the conservation effects assessment project Mid-Atlantic regional wetland assessment 2008 - 2015

Author
item LANG, M.W. - University Of Maryland
item McCarty, Gregory
item Ducey, Thomas
item Hunt, Patrick
item Miller, Jarrod
item RABENHORST, M. - University Of Maryland
item BALDWIN, A. - University Of Maryland
item FENSTERMACHER, D. - University Of Maryland
item YEPSEN, M. - University Of Maryland
item MCFARLAND, E. - University Of Maryland
item SHARIFI, AMIR - University Of Maryland
item Church, Clinton
item DEVNER, J. - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item ATOR, S.W. - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item MITCHELL, J. - Collaborator
item WHIGHAM, D. - Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
item Walbridge, Mark

Submitted to: Government Publication/Report
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2016
Publication Date: 3/15/2016
Citation: Lang, M., Mccarty, G.W., Ducey, T.F., Hunt, P.G., Miller, J.O., Rabenhorst, M., Baldwin, A., Fenstermacher, D., Yepsen, M., Mcfarland, E., Sharifi, A., Church, C., Devner, J., Ator, S., Mitchell, J., Whigham, D., Walbridge, M.R. 2016. Effects and effectiveness of USDA wetland conservation practices in the Mid-Atlantic region: A report on the conservation effects assessment project Mid-Atlantic regional wetland assessment 2008 - 2015. Government Publication/Report. APP:1/14/2016.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Although successful wetland restoration is generally considered to provide net benefits to society, the large investment that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made in wetland restoration and increasing societal need for wetland ecosystem services highlights the importance of environmental research and monitoring. These efforts are needed to better understand the effects and effectiveness of wetland conservation practices, and to develop wetland restoration, implementation, and management practices that result in greater environmental outcomes and societal benefits. The Mid-Atlantic Regional (MIAR) Wetland Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP-Wetland) is one of several USDA CEAP-Wetland investigations undertaken to collect and interpret data on ecosystem functions provided by wetlands established through USDA conservation programs. The MIAR CEAP-Wetland study employed a multiscale approach to meet project goals in the Mid-Atlantic portion (Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina) of the Gulf Atlantic Coastal Flat Physiographic Province, focusing on the effects and effectiveness of depressional non-tidal wetland restorations. All study activities were carried-out along a wetland alteration gradient, including hydrologically restored and relatively undisturbed natural wetlands, as well as prior converted croplands. A total of forty-eight primary study sites were selected (18 restored, 16 prior converted cropland, and 14 natural) to support MIAR CEAP-Wetland goals, with additional data being collected at ancillary study sites to support individual project components. Overall study results indicate a trend of wetland functional recovery subsequent to restoration, but this trend was not shared amongst all wetland functions, and intra-regional differences amongst certain criteria were significant.