A Wetlands Mitigation Bank was established at SRS in 1997 as a compensatory alternative for unavoidable wetland losses, with 16 experimentally restored Carolina bay depressional wetlands serving as the initial deposit to the Bank. In the experiment, two planned wetland vegetation types (herbaceous, forested) were examined in combination with two methods for upland buffer-zone management (open-canopy pine savanna, closed-canopy pine-hardwood forest). Prior to restoration activities, the 16 sites were surveyed into the SRS Site Use system to serve as a protective covenant. Prerestoration monitoring ended in Fall 2000, and post-restoration monitoring began as restoration activities were initiated in the Winter/Spring of 2001. A total of 19.6 ha of wetland interior forest was harvested from the interiors of the 16 restoration bays. Margins of 8 bays assigned to the pine savanna margin treatment were thinned. In total, over 126 ha were included in the study areas (interior + margin). In all restored bays, natural revegetation from seedbanks was used as the primary revegetation method.
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