PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #9: Success Criteria and Monitoring Restoration.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Ecological process monitoring for landscape-scale restoration at The Disney Wilderness Preserve in central Florida.

WOIAK, SANDRA^*,1, FOLK, MONICA¹, SMITH, KIMBERLY¹, ¹ The Nature Conservancy - Disney Wilderness Preserve, Kissimmee, Florida

ABSTRACT- The Disney Wilderness Preserve was established as offsite mitigation for wetland impacts in central Florida. The Preserve, located at the headwaters of the Kissimmee River Valley watershed, contains a mosaic of wetland and upland communities. Within the past century, this historically broad floodplain region has been extensively converted to a variety of land uses, primarily cattle grazing, timber harvesting, and residential and commercial development. This project represents an innovative approach to wetland mitigation: restoration at an ecosystem level (wetlands within an upland matrix) through the reintroduction of natural processes (fire and hydrology). Restoration is demonstrated through assessing the interwoven influences of these ecological processes on the landscape. Specific success criteria for the mitigation wetlands include: increased wet season water levels, hydroperiod and water level fluctuations within target ranges, an upslope increase in wetland versus upland plant species, control of exotic and/or invasive species and reduction of woody encroachment on wetland edges. Through our approach using multiple monitoring programs and spatial analysis to integrate them and interpret restoration results at the landscape scale, we have been able to document the overall effect of our restoration. With information from 250 wells and 100 vegetation sampling transects, we can currently show the extent of hydrologic improvement and vegetative response in 30 wetlands covering 1700 acres. In most cases, we achieved predicted restoration results, using historical condition as a target.

KEY WORDS: wetland, restoration, ecology, GIS