Effects of Landscape Characteristics on Aquatic Biodiversity in Restored Wetlands

Abstract

Globally, wetlands are one of the most critical ecosystems. Wetlands provide habitat for a diversity of organisms, sequester carbon, cycle nutrients, trap sediments, and abate flooding. Despite their importance, wetlands are one of the most degraded ecosystems in the world. In the United States, wetlands have historically been drained for agricultural and urban expansion. However, more recently this paradigm has shifted as wetland protections have been codified in legislation following the recognition of the value that wetland ecosystem services provide. The recognition of the ecosystem services provided by wetlands has also led to the conservation, restoration, and creation of wetlands. However, little is known regarding what factors at the landscape scale affect biodiversity and other ecosystem services in restored or created wetlands. This study evaluated if water chemistry, land cover type, and other physical characteristics (e.g., distance to other water bodies and soil type) were related to abundance, richness, and diversity of macroinvertebrates and plants, richness of fish, and specifically WWMBI, wFQI, and HDG values at restored wetland sites. This study focused on palustrine unconsolidated bottom organic (PUB-4) wetlands, hereafter referred to as “ponds” (FWS, 2013 [1]). This included examining surrounding land cover types at three spatial scales, proximity of study ponds to other nearby permanent ponds, and water quality parameters of ponds in restored wetlands. To answer these questions, data collected in 2021, 2022, and 2023 from 62 ponds across 41 conservation easements throughout central Wisconsin were examined.