Evaluating restoration success using metric‐based indicators of ecosystem recovery in tidal marshes along the northern Gulf of Mexico

Habitat restoration is commonly used to recover ecosystem services, but due to resource constraints, post‐project monitoring often fails to fully evaluate the recovery of important ecosystem functions. Metric‐based indicators use simple‐to‐measure variables to assess ecosystem health and function, t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of applied ecology 2025-01, Vol.62 (1), p.155-168
Main Authors: Dybiec, Jacob M., Ledford, Taylor, Rinehart, Shelby, Tatariw, Corianne, Mortazavi, Behzad, Cherry, Julia A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomass
Bulk density
Carbon
Carbon sinks
coastal wetlands
Constraints
Data recovery
Datasets
Ecological function
Ecosystem assessment
ecosystem creation
ecosystem development
Ecosystem recovery
Ecosystem services
Ecosystems
Environmental restoration
Evaluation
Gulf of Mexico
index of biotic integrity
Indicators
Marshes
monitoring
Nitrogen
Organic matter
Organic soils
Sediments
Soil erosion
Soil organic matter
Tidal marshes
Time measurement
Wetlands
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Habitat restoration is commonly used to recover ecosystem services, but due to resource constraints, post‐project monitoring often fails to fully evaluate the recovery of important ecosystem functions. Metric‐based indicators use simple‐to‐measure variables to assess ecosystem health and function, thereby providing a time‐ and cost‐effective method to improve monitoring. We used a tidal‐marsh data set to develop metric‐based indicators of ecosystem recovery. In 2021 and 2022, we surveyed eight restored/created and three natural reference tidal marshes in the northern Gulf of Mexico to assess the recovery of ecosystem attributes (e.g. above‐ and below‐ground biomass, soil organic matter [SOM] and sediment total carbon [C] and total nitrogen [N]). To determine what combinations of variables best predicted recovery, we split our data into model training and testing data sets, used backwards model selection and then created and tested a metric‐based indicator of ecosystem recovery. Recovery of plant above‐ and below‐ground biomass and sediment structure (i.e. SOM, C and N)—important measures of wetland carbon sink capacity and biogeochemical functioning—could be predicted through a combination of simpler to measure variables, such as time since restoration, percent plant cover and sediment bulk density. The indicator constructed from these relationships was highly effective in predicting the development of ecosystem attributes (r = 0.85, p 
ISSN:0021-8901
1365-2664
DOI:10.1111/1365-2664.14832