Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

Informing Flood Plain Wetland Restoration Using Amphibian Monitoring, Ashley Vanderham

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wetlands are among the most important and complex ecosystems in the world. They contribute to nutrient cycling, the hydrologic cycle, and provide critical habitat for many plants, fish, and wildlife. Channelization of Missouri River resulted in the loss of many floodplain wetlands. Despite ongoing restoration efforts, there are few ecologically-based performance guidelines, and managers need methods to quantify and assess the success of restored riverine wetland systems.

In 2008 a multi-institutional herpetofauna monitoring project, funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was initiated in four states (Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska). The main goal of the project is to …