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Author ORCID Identifier
Abstract
Rising sea levels that increase flooding in salt marshes recovering from hydrologic impairments is reducing nesting habitat for salt marsh sparrows. Abandonment of colonial farming practices (1600s through 1900s) has resulted in large, waterlogged basins characterized by shallow depressions (pannes) dominated by short-form Spartina alterniflora and unvegetated megapools that are subsiding. A relatively new technique designed to provide regular tidal flooding and drainage to the waterlogged basins that have formed on the marsh is runnelling – creation of shallow hydrologic features on the marsh surface. Will runnels result in revegetation of pannes and pools with productive perennial grasses that are favored by nesting sparrows? Twenty-three marsh areas where runnels were employed to revegetate subsided basins from Maine through Rhode Island were examined and compared with reference and no-action alternatives. Runnels were shown to effectively drain pools and the shallow upper layer of peat to stimulate plant growth in deeper pools (open water replaced by Spartina alterniflora) and shallow pannes (short S. alterniflora replaced by high marsh graminoids), preventing the expansion of waterlogged basins and promoting recovery of vegetation preferred by endemic marsh sparrows.
Date Created
10/14/2025
Department
Jackson Estuarine Laboratory; School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering
Publication Date
Summer 7-31-2025
Subject
Salt Marsh Restoration
Grant/Award Number and Agency
Natural Resource Conservation Services, Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, USF&WS
Language
English
Document Type
Report
Recommended Citation
Burdick, DM, G McKown, J Gibson, G Moore, W Ferguson, J Hebert, N Pau, SC Adamowicz, G Wilson. 2025. Assessing Effectiveness of Runnel Restoration in New England Salt Marsh Habitats. Final Report to Atlantic Coast Joint Venture. 71pp.