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functions, including w11dl1fe habitat, pollinator services, nutrient cycling, and water quality ~~ooper, et al.~ ~~~5},:
<br />suppressing invasive species reduces econa~nic and ecological costs; however, establishing native vegetation with high
<br />diversity while limiting invasive weeds rerr~ains especially challenging, Additionally, compliance monitoring rarely
<br />extends beyond five years, even though the wetlands n~.y still be undergoing rapid succession and invasion by weeds. .
<br />This combination of short jurisdictional monitoring ti~nelxnes and dynamic ecological interactions inal~e it imperative to
<br />develop reliable methods to establish and maintain diverse native plant com.n~unities in wetland restorations that will be
<br />res~stal]t to invasion exotic species over the lon~terln.
<br />The west Eugene wetland {wEw}Mitigation Bank is viewed many regulatory agencies as a successful exat~ple
<br />of wetland mitigation, The wEw Partnership has put extensive effort iota designing and implementing a robust
<br />rnitiatian plan to create a system of interconnected wetlands and preserve native biodiversity and ecosystem
<br />functions, Although successful over the past 1 ~ years, the Partnership is determined to improve upon its mitigation
<br />. performance.
<br />The proposed work will help develop the wetlal~d programs of the Partnership, and is outside the scope of .
<br />existing regulatory requirements, Th1s pra~ect addresses the ~at~onal Priority Area b.i "regulation; Ilnpraving the effectiveness of compensatory n71t1gatlan" by undertaking research
<br />to fill key knowledge gaps limiting wetland
<br />restoration and broadly disseminating results to improve wetland programs locally, regionally, and nationally.
<br />Z i Pao `ect oafs and "ectives l~rn~ ,~P.~ ~St~ate is ~~an, Our proposed work has two rriain goals: I} improve
<br />wetland prairie restaratian methods to maintain diverse native plant calnn~unities which are resistant to invasion over
<br />jurisdictional monitoring time requirements and beyond; and 2} apply lessons learned to anwthe~ground restoration
<br />projects within the west Eugene wetlands area, Thus, this proposai directly addresses the SPA strategic Plan,
<br />aallObjctive 4,~, i "to restore the health of critical natu~•l habitats and ecosystems," Our specific objectives are:
<br />~4d~ess ~~y k~ow~edg~ ~~ps ~i~niti~g success of restoration ef~o~ts, we will design and carry out a focused
<br />research program to answer the fallowing questions:
<br />a, ~Ia~ can we cstab~~s~ and maintain diverse na~r've ve'~tation in re~to~ed wet~and~~airies?
<br />~w can we ~estor~ ~vet~ands that are r~~ristant to invasro~t ~
<br />c, Can regular dist~~ance, f~~nz co~n~n n~anag~e~ent ~ctivitie~s (~u~^ni~g~, gnawing} ~e ~~~a~ to maintain native
<br />pant dive~^sit~ wit~~ut increasing ca~n~~it~ invasibi~i~y?
<br />to previous wank, we found that plant diversity declines aver tame in restored wetlands as early successional
<br />species are lost. Moreover, atrade-off exists between native plant cover and diversity, Many mitigation sites have
<br />high saver of one or two highly competitive native grasses, but very law overall native diversity. The wllw
<br />Partnership has adapted to this trade-off by establishing faro species first and usi~~g very law seeding rates far
<br />dominant grasses. Iowever, we found that reducing the abundance of dominant grasses may increase weed
<br />invasion. Additionally, wetland prairies in the ~Villarnette Valley require regular, law-intensity disturbance to
<br />prevent waad~ encroachment and maintain early successional species. how these disturbances influence nature
<br />diversity and invasion resistance remains unl~nown, Answering these questions is crucial far the long~terin success
<br />afwetland mitigation and restoration, .
<br />~~ans~ate results of this and~prvious ,studies info prac~ica~ ~aana~ment ~oa~s. tnslghts into lrnpraving wetland
<br />restoration from this study wi11 be combined with the results of our previous work, including the SPA-funded study
<br />`~~'cs~ing Effectiveness c,~►~ite ~~^e~aratian ~'ec~niques fir We~~and .Prairie ~~s~o~^ati~n" to infarn~ best practices.
<br />This step is crucial for linking research to an-the-ground restoratlan activities, Our goal i to produce n~anageinent
<br />plans and prescriptions informed by the best available science for a variety of audiences,
<br />3, Ir~cor~ora~e ~es►~ons ~earr~ed into ~oca~ wetland restoration and enha~cen~ent~ro~j~cts within the YY~st Eugene
<br />~Y~t~ands area, The primary goal of this effort is to improving the long~tel~n quality and vtab111ty of wetland
<br />restorations conducted by the Panership,
<br />~ a ~ c~ c ~r~'ect ~escri tian ~Vli~estanes and 'ask; tf na target date is listed, that activity is perfar~ned throughout
<br />the project,
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