Wetland Creation Research Articles

Success of coastal wetlands restoration is driven by sediment availability

Shorelines and their ecosystems are endangered by sea-level rise. Nature-based coastal protection is becoming a global strategy to enhance coastal resilience through the cost-effective creation, restoration and sustainable use of coastal wetlands. However, the resilience to sea-level rise of coastal wetlands created under Nature-based Solution has been assessed largely on a regional scale. Here we assess, using a meta-analysis, the difference in accretion, elevation, and sediment deposition rates between natural and restored coastal wetlands across the world. Our results show that restored coastal wetlands can trap more sediment and that the effectiveness of these restoration projects is primarily driven by sediment availability, not by wetland elevation, tidal range, local rates of sea-level rise, and significant wave height. Our results suggest that Nature-based Solutions can mitigate coastal wetland vulnerability to sea-level rise, but are effective only in coastal locations where abundant sediment supply is available.

Behaviour of Ra-226 and Other Contaminants on the Grote Nete River Bank. Potential Immobilisation Before Wetland Creation

Behaviour of Ra-226 and Other Contaminants on the Grote Nete River Bank. Potential Immobilisation Before Wetland Creation

Key Restoration Methods of a Polluted RiverEcosystem: A Systematic Review

Background: River is one of a freshwater ecosystem that plays an important role in people's living, aquatic and terrestrial living organisms, and agricultural production. Compared to other ecosystems, rivers support a disproportionately large number of plant and animal species. However, excessive human activities have busted the original ecological balance by polluting the river ecosystem. As a result, partial or total affected the structure and functions of the river ecosystem. This review aimed to investigate the major ecological restoration methods of the polluted river ecosystem. Methods: We have adopted the procedures from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The required data were collected via a literature search of MEDLINE/PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, EMBASE, HINARI, and Cochrane Library from the 9th of September, 2019 to the 5th of March, 2020 using combined terms. Articles were included in our review; only if it assessed empirically and comparison and contrast between two or more different restoration methods. This review; it is mainly included published research articles, national reports, and annual reports and excluded opinion essays. Results: Commonly used methods for restoration of polluted rivers around the globe could be categorized depending on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the river. Restoration methods such as channel hydromorphic, aeration, watershed action, riparian, In-stream hydromorphic, and In-stream or wetland creation restoration account for 16%, 19%, 12%, 22%, 17% and 14% of river ecosystem restoration efficiency respectively. From the restoration methods: riparian, artificial aeration and In-stream or wetland creation are preferred for restoration of chemical characteristics. For the restoration of physical characteristics; watershed action and channel hydromorphic are preferred. While for the restoration of biological characteristics; in-stream hydromorphic is the preferred one. Conclusion: Contaminated Rivers can be restored by using different restoration methods. The selection of the preferred restoration methods depends on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the river.

Healthy Port Futures: Rethinking Sediments for Rivermouth Landscapes

Throughout the Great Lakes, port cities are often located on the rivermouth and where rivermouths once sorted, shaped, and moved the riverine sediment into the lake. Their current use as industrial navigation channels requires cyclical mechanical maintenance dredging. Past sediment management practices have either placed the riverine sediment nearshore in confined disposal facilities (CDFs) or out in deeper open water. Both practices remove the sediment from the nearshore system, preventing its potential use in coastal protection, habitat creation, wave attenuation, and sediment nourishment. However, novel rivermouth wetlands can draw from both strategies of containment (as in a CDF) and cost-efficiency of non-containment (open lake disposal) to allow for the processing and use of sediment. This article will describe one such attempt, conducted by the Great Lakes Protection Fund-supported Healthy Port Futures project. Through a collaborative design-research process, Healthy Port Futures used a range of tools to generate, speculate, model, visualize, and test wetland forms under a range of social, ecological, and hydrological conditions. This project, understood colloquially as “the Crescent,” proposed a semi-circular, partially open-cell wetland design as a response to the complexity of rivermouth conditions. Throughout this design-research process, the project sought to acknowledge uncertainty, assess risk, and explore a range of outcomes in order to redefine the public expectations around wetland creation and restoration, and reimagine innovation along the Great Lakes coast.

Policies for wetlands implementation in Denmark and Sweden – historical lessons and emerging issues

Natural wetlands used to cover a significant part of the landscape, but these ecosystems have declined by >50% worldwide, and even more in Denmark and Sweden. However, since the 1980s, various policies have been implemented to restore and create wetlands. This study provides a comprehensive historical overview of policies used to stimulate the creation and restoration of wetlands in Denmark and Sweden, and also analyses what factors have facilitated participation or have been barriers for landowners. The analysis of wetlands implementation programmes in Denmark showed a change towards narrower focus on nitrogen reduction from 1998 and onwards, whereas policies in Sweden often have had a wider multifunctional purpose. In both countries, there has been a change in the compensation structure from a lump sum to annual payments, parallel to an observed increase in costs for wetlands implementation. There is still a large potential for recreating many more wetlands, and the national targets have not been reached in neither Denmark nor Sweden. Key success factors, for future wetlands implementation are sufficient compensation levels, flexible scheme designs and information-based strategies documenting relevant benefits and sustainability issues. In general, more advice and support from the state, regional and local participants, and farmers’ organisations, are required to increase the participation and achieve successful and cost-efficient wetlands implementation. A collaborative and catchment-based approach holds promise, where wetland governance can serve as a platform for collaboration between policy bodies and between farmers. Additionally, politicians and decision makers need to accept the area targets presented to them when setting policy goals for wetlands implementation, and to accept that restoring and constructing wetlands requires long implementation times before results can be demonstrated.

The role of social institutions in indigenous Andean Pastoralists’ adaptation to climate-related water hazards

ABSTRACT Though Andean indigenous communities have a lengthy history of capable responding to water threats, anthropogenic climate change and soaring water demand have changed preterit water challenges into serious hazards. Using an ethnographic approach, this study examines how a Peruvian indigenous pastoralist community perceived and responded to climate-change induced water threats with the goal of understanding the mechanisms that enable such responses. Pastoralists report that alterations in water availability diminish the size and quality of wetlands and pastures, thus decreasing fodder for their livestock. Their primary adaptive responses are the creation of wetlands and the movement of livestock. A set of nested dynamic and flexible institutions enable households and supra-household units to carry out adaptive responses by facilitating access to alternate grazing areas and the labour force necessary to reshape the landscape. Institutions and local knowledge supporting the responses are open to exogenous information which generates opportunities for collaboration and innovation in the face of water hazards which in turn foments the resilience of indigenous pastoral social-ecological systems. This study reveals how indigenous knowledge and institutions contain strategies for adaptation to water stress that may be scaled up and replicated in national and sub-national programs.

Outsized effect of predation: Wolves alter wetland creation and recolonization by killing ecosystem engineers.

Gray wolves are a premier example of how predators can transform ecosystems through trophic cascades. However, whether wolves change ecosystems as drastically as previously suggested has been increasingly questioned. We demonstrate how wolves alter wetland creation and recolonization by killing dispersing beavers. Beavers are ecosystem engineers that generate most wetland creation throughout boreal ecosystems. By studying beaver pond creation and recolonization patterns coupled with wolf predation on beavers, we determined that 84% of newly created and recolonized beaver ponds remained occupied until the fall, whereas 0% of newly created and recolonized ponds remained active after a wolf killed the dispersing beaver that colonized that pond. By affecting where and when beavers engineer ecosystems, wolves alter all of the ecological processes (e.g., water storage, nutrient cycling, and forest succession) that occur due to beaver-created impoundments. Our study demonstrates how predators have an outsized effect on ecosystems when they kill ecosystem engineers.

Kinetics of nitrous oxide mass transfer from porewater into root aerenchyma of wetland plants.

The creation and/or restoration of wetlands is an important strategy for controlling the release of reactive nitrogen (N) via denitrification, but there can be tradeoffs between enhanced denitrification and the production of nitrous oxide (N2 O), a potent greenhouse gas. A knowledge gap in current understanding of belowground wetland N dynamics is the role of gas transfer through the root aerenchyma system of wetland plants as a shortcut emission pathway for N2 O in denitrifying wetland soils. This investigation evaluates the significance of mass transfer into gas-filled root aerenchyma for the N2 O budget in wetland mesocosms planted with Sagittaria latifolia Willd. and Schoenoplectus acutus (Muhl. ex Bigelow) Á. Löve & D. Löve. Dissolved gas tracer push-pull tests with N2 O and the nonreactive gas tracers helium, sulfur hexafluoride, and ethane were used to estimate first-order rate constants for gas transfer into roots and microbial N2 O reduction and thereby disentangle the effects of root-mediated gas transport from microbial metabolism on N2 O balances in saturated soils. Root-mediated gas transport was estimated to account for up to 37% of overall N2 O removal from the wetland soils. Rates of microbial N2 O reduction varied widely based on the organic matter content of the soil media and served as a key control on the fraction of N2 O that transferred into roots. This research identifies transport through root aerenchyma as a potential shortcut pathway for N2 O emission from wetland soils and sediments and indicates that this process should be considered in both measurements and mechanistic modeling of belowground wetland N dynamics.

Shrub Encroachment Following Wetland Creation in Mixedgrass Prairie Alters Grassland Vegetation and Soil.

Wetland decline under post-European settlement and land use change across western Canada has led to mitigation strategies, including wetland creation. Created wetlands can trigger environmental change, including woody species encroachment, in turn altering vegetation and soil. We quantify changes in shrub abundance from prior to wetland creation (1949) until 60 years later (2012) within a Mixedgrass ecosystem of the Verger watershed in Alberta, Canada. In addition, we compare remaining grassland with areas colonized by shrubland on similar ecosites for differences in (1) plant composition, including native and introduced flora, (2) herbage yield and forage accessibility for livestock, and (3) soil properties (surface organic depth, bulk density, mineral nitrogen (N), and carbon (C) concentration). Repeat photos show Shepherdia argentea shrublands increased from 0 to 88 ha (to 1.15% of study area) following wetland creation, with the greatest increase in the last 20 years. Relative to grasslands, shrublands had lower total plant diversity but greater presence of introduced plant species. Shrub patches were 94% lower in herbaceous production, with 77% of shrublands non-utilized by cattle, collectively leading to reduced grazing capacity. Relative to grasslands, shrublands had a thicker soil surface mulch layer, and where cattle were present, had increased mineral soil N and C. Overall, shrub encroachment following wetland creation has markedly altered vegetation and soils in this once grassland landscape, with negative impacts on native plant diversity, herbage production and forage accessibility, and has implications for the management of shrub encroachment.

Miombo woodland, an ecosystem at risk of disappearance in the Lufira Biosphere Reserve (Upper Katanga, DR Congo)? A 39-years analysis based on Landsat images

Lufira Biosphere Reserve (LBR) is a protected area located in Southeastern DR Congo, created for the conservation of Miombo woodland, an ecosystem threatened by anthropogenic activities developed in the region. However, scientific studies regarding land cover dynamics within the LBR are non-existent to date. This study maps and quantifies the land cover dynamics within and around the LBR, based on diachronic analysis of five Landsat images (1979, 1986, 1998, 2008 and 2018) and field verification missions. Landscape metrics were utilized to understand changes in landscape pattern. The results indicate that Miombo woodland area have been reduced by a factor of three in the LBR, as they covered 11.2 km2 in 2018 compared to 85.3 km2 in 1979. The annual deforestation rate between 1979 and 2018 was 1.8%, almost eight-fold higher than the rate registered at the country level. Within the LBR, this deforestation has been offset by an increase in areas occupied by grassy savanna (+16.9 km2), as well as fields and fallows (+53.3 km2). Further, water and wetland area increased by 17.9 km2 in 39 years whereas the wooded savanna, the bare soil and built-up decreased by 24.9 km2 and 4.0 km2 respectively. In general, analysis of landscape spatial pattern dynamics through landscape metrics, showed a process of creation and aggregation of grassy savanna, water and wetlands, as well as fields and fallows, as opposed to dissection and attrition of Miombo woodland, wooded savanna, bare soil and built-up. Overall, the LBR has undergone a major transformation, mainly due to demographic pressure and the development of subsistence activities in a precarious economic context. The study concludes that in the absence of any land use planning policy, LBR risks losing its status following lost of the rare Miombo woodland patches still existing.

The importance of wetland margin microhabitat mosaics; the case of shorebirds and thermoregulation

Abstract Wetlands, and the species that rely upon them, are under significant threat world‐wide, with wetlands often being completely removed or drastically altered. Successful wetland management requires an understanding of the interactions between wetland species and the microhabitats they use. The use of microhabitats for thermoregulation in wetland species is poorly studied, though anthropogenic influence on wetlands can reduce the diversity of microhabitats and thus the thermoregulatory options for animals. At high ambient temperatures birds may use the water‐logged wetland margins to help with thermoregulation, and are often observed roosting in the sitting position within this microhabitat. However, whether sitting on the wet substrate helps in thermoregulation is unknown. In this study, we tested whether birds selectively use microhabitats across temperatures by conducting field observations of nine species of shorebirds. We use comparative analysis to determine whether birds roost more on wet substrate in the sitting posture, that is, ‘wet‐sitting’, at high ambient temperatures. We found substrate type across the wetland margins to be important in shorebird thermoregulation, with the time spent sitting being significantly mediated by the substrate on which the bird roosted. Individuals tended to sit on bare, wet ground much more under high ambient temperatures compared with low ambient temperatures. Vegetation on the other hand was used similarly across temperatures, and likely does not provide the same thermoregulatory benefits. By roosting on wet substrate at high ambient temperatures, birds may increase the potential for heat dissipation across the uninsulated legs, as water‐logged wetland margins are known to remain cooler than the ambient temperature or vegetated microhabitats under hot climatic conditions. Synthesis and applications. Wetland creation and management requires an understanding of the functional significance of such microhabitats, not only for foraging and breeding, but also for roosting. We demonstrate that managing wetland margins is likely important in minimising heat stress in birds, with our findings emphasising the importance of maintaining open spaces in habitat mosaics for birds to use for thermoregulation. The ability of wetland species to manage heat stress is becoming exceedingly important as they are threatened by both decreased wetland availability and increasing ambient temperatures under climate change.

Rising Seas and Agriculture Created Wetlands Along the U.S. East Coast

Most of the tidal marshes along the eastern coast of the United States formed within the past 6,000 years due to a combination of slowly rising seas and European colonization.

How Old Are Marshes on the East Coast, USA? Complex Patterns in Wetland Age Within and Among Regions

AbstractSea‐level dynamics, sediment availability, and marine energy are critical drivers of coastal wetland formation and persistence, but their roles as continental‐scale drivers remain unknown. We evaluated the timing and spatial variability of wetland formation from new and existing cores collected along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Most basal peat ages occurred after sea‐level rise slowed (after ~4,000 years before present), but predominance of sea‐level rise studies may skew age estimates toward older sites. Near‐coastal sites tended to be younger, indicating creation of wetlands through basin infilling and overwash events. Age distributions differed among regions, with younger wetlands in the northeast and southeast corresponding to European colonization and deforestation. Across all cores, wetland age correlated strongly with basal peat depth. Marsh age elucidates the complex interactions between sea‐level rise, sediment supply, and geomorphic setting in determining timing and location of marsh formation and future wetland persistence.

Carbon Fluxes and Stocks by Mexican Tropical Forested Wetland Soils: A Critical Review of Its Role for Climate Change Mitigation.

Wetland soils are important stores of soil carbon (C) in the biosphere, and play an important role in global carbon cycles in the response strategy to climate change. However, there areknowledge gaps in our understanding of the quantity and distribution in tropical regions. Specifically, Mexican wetlands have not been considered in global carbon budgets or carbon balances for a number of reasons, such as: (1) the lack of data, (2) Spanish publications have not been selected, or (3) because such balances are mainly made in the English language. This study analyzes the literature regarding carbon stocks, sequestration and fluxes in Mexican forested wetlands (Forest-W). Soil carbon stocks of 8, 24.5 and 40.1 kg cm−2 were detected for flooded palms, mangroves, and freshwater or swamps (FW) wetland soils, respectively, indicating that FW soils are the Forest-W with more potential for carbon sinks (p = 0.023), compared to mangroves and flooded palm soils. While these assessments of carbon sequestration were ranged from 36 to 920 g-C m−2 year−1, C emitted as methane was also tabulated (0.6–196 g-C m−2 year−1). Subtracting the C emitted of the C sequestered, 318.2 g-C m−2 year−1 were obtained. Such data revealed that Forest-W function is mainly as carbon sink, and not C source. This review can help to inform practitioners in future decisions regarding sustainable projects, restoration, conservation or creation of wetlands. Finally, it is concluded that Forest-W could be key ecosystems in strategies addressing the mitigation of climate change through carbon storage. However, new studies in this research line and public policies that protect these essential carbon sinks are necessary in order to, hopefully, elaborate global models to make more accurate predictions about future climate.

Divergent impact of grazing on plant communities of created wetlands with varying hydrology and antecedent land use

Destruction of natural wetlands has warranted the creation of wetlands to mitigate the reduction of valuable ecosystem functions and services. However, the complex interactions among key drivers of wetland community structure–hydrology, nutrient availability and herbivory-makes creation of functional wetland replacements challenging. We examined interactions among these drivers, and their impacts on plant communities and soil characteristics in two created wetlands with different hydrology and land use histories: a shallow emergent marsh on a previous gravel depository and a seasonally flooded marsh on a former cattle pasture. In paired plots open to or protected from large wetland grazers we observed seasonal variation in grazing impacts on plant communities and an increase in effect size over time. At the permanently flooded marsh with high waterfowl densities and low nutrients, open plots had significantly reduced plant growth and diversity, and an increase in submerged vegetation. In contrast, grazer density was lower and nutrients were higher in the seasonally flooded marsh, where grazer access enhanced plant diversity and reduced invasive plant cover. These results suggest the possibility of long-term grazer-induced shifts in community composition and delivery of key ecosystem services in young, vulnerable created wetlands. To improve created wetland design and function, we suggest that in addition to hydrologic conditions, the impact of prior land use on present nutrient availability be considered. Further, enhanced heterogeneity of spatial and bathymetric structure can provide conditions for diverse plant communities and balanced habitat use by wetland grazers.

Comparing the diversity and composition of waterbird functional traits between natural, restored, and artificial wetlands

Abstract The restoration of degraded areas and the creation of artificial ecosystems have partially compensated for the continuing loss of natural wetlands. However, the success of these wetlands in terms of the capacity of supporting biodiversity and ecosystem functions is unclear. Research is needed to improve our understanding of the value of restored and constructed wetlands for functional diversity of freshwater fauna. We compared natural, restored, and artificially created wetlands present within the Doñana Natural Space, Spain and valued as important for waterbirds. We evaluated if these wetlands are equivalent in terms of waterbird functional trait diversity and composition, during both the wintering and breeding seasons. We modelled functional diversity measures and functional group species richness describing species diet, body mass, and foraging techniques with generalised linear mixed models in 20 wetlands monitored between 2006 and 2011. We used three different statistical approaches to evaluate the robustness of our results. Artificial wetlands constructed for conservation failed to reach the functional diversity of natural and restored wetlands. Unexpectedly, artificial ponds constructed for fish production performed better, and even exceeded natural wetlands for functional richness during winter. Fish ponds stood out as having a unique functional composition, connected with increase in richness of opportunistic gulls and decrease of species sensitive to high salinity. Overall, the functional structure of breeding communities was more affected by wetland type than wintering communities. Our findings suggest that compensating the loss of natural wetlands with restored and artificial wetlands results in systems with altered waterbird‐supported functions, such as seed dispersal or nutrient cycling. Protection of natural Mediterranean wetlands is vital to maintain the original diversity and composition of waterbird functional traits. Furthermore, restoration must be prioritised over the creation of artificial wetlands, which, even when intended for conservation, may not provide an adequate replacement.

Coastal wetland restoration improves habitat for juvenile sportfish in Tampa Bay, Florida, U.S.A.

Increasing human populations and urban development have led to losses of estuarine habitats for fish and wildlife. Where resource managers are restoring coastal wetlands, in addition to meeting goals related to hydrologic connectivity, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, efforts are being made to provide habitat that is suitable for juvenile sportfish. An 18-month study was conducted to compare juvenile sportfish use of natural, restored, and impacted sites along Tampa Bay, Florida, shorelines. Juvenile sportfish densities at restored sites were broadly comparable to natural sites and greater than at impacted sites. However, site-specific differences in sportfish use did occur within site types. For example, one restored site had significantly higher densities of red drum Sciaenops ocellatus than any other site, while black drum Pogonias cromis were found exclusively at another restored site. To evaluate whether the restored sites are providing suitable habitat for juvenile fish, we assessed growth (estimated from counts of daily rings on otoliths) and condition (determined by lipid analyses) of juvenile common snook Centropomus undecimalis, an archetypal coastal wetland-dependent species. Growth (0.43–0.56 mm SL/day) and condition (4.6–6.1% lipid of dry weight) exhibited only site-specific differences and did not vary among natural, restored, and impacted site types. Although mortality rates of juvenile sportfish were not determined, use of a 40-m seine found that densities of potential piscine predators in these coastal wetlands were relatively low compared to published studies of open estuarine shorelines. The restoration and creation of coastal wetlands in Tampa Bay provides improved habitat for juvenile sportfish.

Wave Controls on Deltaic Shoreline‐Channel Morphodynamics: Insights From a Coupled Model

AbstractIt is widely recognized that waves inhibit river mouth progradation and reduce the avulsion timescale of deltaic channels. Nevertheless, those effects may not apply to downdrift‐deflected channels. In this study, we developed a coupled model to explore the effects of wave climate asymmetry and alongshore sediment bypassing on shoreline‐channel morphodynamics. The shoreline position and channel trajectory are simulated using a “shoreline” module which drives the evolution of the river profile in a “channel” module by updating the position of river mouth boundary, whereas the channel module provides the sediment load to river mouth for the “shoreline” module. The numerical results show that regional alongshore sediment transport driven by an asymmetric wave climate can enhance the progradation of deltaic channels if sediment bypassing of the river mouth is limited, which is different from the common assumption that waves inhibit delta progradation. As such, waves can have a trade‐off effect on river mouth progradation that can further influence riverbed aggradation and channel avulsion. This trade‐off effect of waves is dictated by the net alongshore sediment transport, sediment bypassing at the river mouth, and wave diffusivity. Based on the numerical results, we further propose a dimensionless parameter that includes fluvial and alongshore sediment supply relative to wave diffusivity to predict the progradation and aggradation rates and avulsion timescale of deltaic channels. The improved understanding of progradation, aggradation, and avulsion timescale of deltaic channels has important implications for engineering and predicting deltaic wetland creation, particularly under changing water and sediment input to deltaic systems.

The role of organic amendments in wetland restorations

At the present rate of loss (since 1990), half of the remaining wetlands worldwide will be developed within ~140 years, underscoring the importance of improving the creation and restoration of wetlands. Organic amendments are sometimes used during wetland creation. To evaluate the effectiveness of adding organic amendments we used a combined numerical method to assign “scores” on five categories of evaluation metrics: plant growth, soil properties, carbon accrual, denitrification, and anaerobic processes (e.g. redox potential). We found that amendments identified as “topsoil” scored measurably higher and had consistently more positive values with fewer negative results compared to amendments identified as “allochthonous organic matter” (alOM). Organic amendments had about the same effect on soils with low soil organic carbon (<2.5%) compared to soils richer in organic carbon. Organic amendments are not uniformly effective, and in some cases may have negative side effects. For example, alOM often resulted in a loss of plant diversity. These outcomes along with site conditions should be evaluated before using organic amendments.

Created wetlands managed for hydroperiod provide habitat for amphibians in Western Kentucky, USA

Loss of wetlands worldwide has necessitated the creation of wetlands to counteract declines of fauna associated with these habitats. Ephemeral wetlands have been disproportionally lost and hydrology of ephemeral wetlands is challenging to restore. Created wetlands with water control structures may be a viable option. In Western Kentucky, we surveyed three ephemeral wetland types [managed open canopy (MOC), unmanaged open canopy (UMOC), and unmanaged closed canopy (UMCC); managed = created wetlands with water control structures] to estimate amphibian richness and occupancy among wetlands, and estimated abundance of three locally common species: Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus), Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), and Crawfish Frog (L. areolatus). In addition, we quantified physical characteristics and water quality among wetland types. Managed Open Canopy wetlands had a greater percent of submergent vegetation than both UMCC and UMOC wetlands, shallower depth at 1.0 m from the wetted wetland edge than UMOC wetlands, and were larger than UMCC wetlands. Mean predicted amphibian species richness and occupancy was highest at larger wetlands (0.15–0.78 ha). Occupancy of three common species was not influenced by management. Estimated abundance of L. areolatus, a species of conservation concern, was higher at MOC wetlands, and conversely, A. maculatum abundance was highest at UMCC wetlands. Larger wetlands had higher estimated abundances of L. areolatus and L. sphenocephalus. Our results suggest that created, open canopy wetlands managed for hydroperiod have similar species richness to unmanaged ephemeral wetlands. Furthermore, these managed wetlands provide habitat for a species of concern in Kentucky (i.e., L. areolatus).