Restoration of floating mat bog vegetation after eutrophication damages by improving water quality in a small pond

Abstract

We studied vegetation changes in a small floating mat bog in Mizorogaike Pond (Kyoto, Japan), which had experienced a severe decrease in the number and area of hummocks caused by nutrient loading in the 1960s and 1970s, to examine whether reducing the extent of nutrient loading can restore degraded wetland vegetation. However, nutrient loading in the region has been minimized since the 1980s. We examined the distributions of hummocks and Sphagnum cuspidatum mats in 1980, 1988, and 2006, as well as nine major vascular plants that dominated the hollows on the floating mat in 1980 and 2006. The total area of normal hummocks formed by Sphagnum palustre increased from 5865.3 m2 in 1980 to 5913.6 m2 in 1988 and 8485.2 m2 in 2006. The total area of the S. cuspidatum mats also changed, from 416.4 m2 in 1980 to 322.3 m2 in 1988 and 1012.5 m2 in 2006. Examination of the spatial distribution patterns of major plants revealed that emergent plants decreased in the northern part of the mat, but increased in the southern part. Thus, the improved pond water quality was effective at restoring hummocks, although nutrient loading may have caused some irreversible changes in the wetland vegetation.