Poster Session: Human Influences on Landscape and Hydrological Processes

Comparing Natural and Restored Wetlands of Similar Hydrologies on the Anoka Sand Plain, Minnesota Using Various Biota. Anderson, Sherri¹, ¹ St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MI

ABSTRACT- Minnesota has lost over 50% of its original wetlands in the southern half of the state (MN DNR, 2002). A move to restore lost wetlands is presently underway, but not all restorations succeed in returning the wetland to the previous functional state. Natural and restored wetlands were compared using soil samples, vegetation surveys, invertebrate surveys and marsh bird surveys. Four natural wetlands were hydrologically matched with four restored wetlands. All of the wetlands are in the Anoka Sand Plain, a glacial outwash plain in Central Minnesota. The hypothesis of this study is that the natural wetlands will have a higher diversity of invertebrates, marsh birds, and vegetation species, and that in natural wetlands there will be a higher amount of organic material in the soil samples. From marsh bird surveys performed during the months of May and June, results showed a higher number of marsh birds on the natural wetlands. Invertebrate surveys, performed once a month from May to September showed that there are more family types on the natural wetlands than that of restored wetlands. Vegetation surveys , performed in August, again showed more species types found on the natural wetlands. Soil samples were collected in September and the amount of organic material was determined. It was found that the amount of organic material was higher in the restored wetlands than the natural wetlands. Diversity results were as expected but the organic content results were not predicted.

KEY WORDS: Natural Restored Comparison