Flood Pulsing in Wetlands: Restoring the Natural Hydrological Balance edited by Beth A. Middleton National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette,

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1 Flood Pulsing in Wetlands: Restoring the Natural Hydrological Balance edited by Beth A. Middleton National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette, Louisiana John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

3 Flood Pulsing in Wetlands

5 Flood Pulsing in Wetlands: Restoring the Natural Hydrological Balance edited by Beth A. Middleton National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette, Louisiana John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

6 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright 2002 by John Wiley and Sons, New York. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY , (212) , fax (212) , PERMREQ@WILEY.COM. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Middleton, Beth. Flood pulsing in wetlands: restoring the natural hydrological balance / by Beth A. Middleton. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN Floodplain ecology North America. 2. Wetland restoration North America. QH541.5.V3 M '8153'097 dc Printed in the United States of America

7 Contents Contributors Preface ix xi Chapter 1 The Flood Pulse Concept in Wetland Restoration 1 Beth A. Middleton Chapter 2 Flood Pulses and Restoration of Riparian Vegetation in the American Southwest 11 Julie C. Stromberg and M. K. Chew Flood Patterns and Riparian Vegetation in the Desert Southwest / 12 Flood Pulses and Riparian Restoration / 20 Conclusion / 41 Chapter 3 The Role of the Flood Pulse in Ecosystem-Level Processes in Southwestern Riparian Forests: A Case Study from the Middle Rio Grande 51 Lisa M. Ellis, Clifford S. Crawford, and Manuel C. Molles Jr. An Altered River: The Case of the Middle Rio Grande / 53 Consequences of the Altered River: Some Obvious Problems / 57 v

8 vi CONTENTS Research at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge: Floods, Fire, and the Litter Connection / 66 Fire: Its Relationship to Flooding and Litter Buildup / 79 The Future: Restoration of the Flood Pulse / 88 Chapter 4 The Role of the Flood Pulse in Maintaining Boltonia decurrens, a Fugitive Plant Species of the Illinois River Floodplain: A Case History of a Threatened Species 109 M. Smith and P. Mettler The Flood Pulse and Boltonia decurrens / 112 Adaptations to Cyclical Flooding / 122 Alteration of the Flood Pulse / 125 Restoration of the Flood Pulse to the Illinois River Valley / 132 Protection for B. decurrens Under the Endangered Species Act / 133 Policies and Prospects for the Future / 136 Chapter 5 Conservation and Restoration of Semiarid Riparian Forests: A Case Study from the Upper Missouri River, Montana 145 Michael L. Scott and Gregor T. Auble Introduction / 146 Riparian Forests in Dry Regions / 148 The Upper Missouri River, Montana: A Case Study / 151 Conclusions / 181 Chapter 6 Implications of Reestablishing Prolonged Flood Pulse Characteristics of the Kissimmee River and Floodplain Ecosystem 191 Louis A. Toth, Joseph W. Koebel Jr., Andrew G. Warne, and Joanne Chamberlain Hydrogeomorphology of the Kissimmee River Basin / 193 Flood Pulse Ecology / 203 Restoration of the Flood Pulse / 205 Restoration Expectations / 208 Conclusions / 216

9 CONTENTS vii Chapter 7 Flood Pulsing in the Regeneration and Maintenance of Species in Riverine Forested Wetlands of the Southeastern United States 223 Beth A. Middleton Hydrologic Reengineering of Forested Wetlands / 224 Regeneration Problems for Plant Species on Floodplains with Altered Hydrology / 229 Restoration Approaches / 262 Index 295

11 Contributors Gregor T. Auble, U.S. Geological Survey, Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado Joanne Chamberlain, Kissimmee Division, Watershed Management Department, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, Florida M. K. Chew, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona Lisa M. Ellis, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico Clifford S. Crawford, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico Joseph W. Koebel Jr., Kissimmee Division, Watershed Management Department, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, Florida P. Mettler, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois Beth A. Middleton, National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette, Louisiana Manuel C. Molles Jr., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico Michael L. Scott, U.S. Geological Survey, Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado M. Smith, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois Julie C. Stromberg, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona Louis A. Toth, Kissimmee Division, Watershed Management Department, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, Florida Andrew G. Warne, U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Caribbean District, GSA Center, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico ix

13 Preface Beth A. Middleton, National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette, Louisiana This book is a first-of-its-kind compilation of the research of leaders in the field of restoration ecology whose work involves the use of flood pulsing in the restoration of wetlands. The contributed chapters give regional examples of wetland restoration projects in which flood pulsing was a critical part of restoring the hydrodynamic setting for the plants and animals of floodplains. They thus provide an argument for the widespread incorporation of this approach in restoration projects. Restoration practitioners, academics, and students will find this book invaluable for the information it draws together from cutting-edge ideas in the technology of restoration. Each contributed chapter makes its own case for the importance of flood pulsing in restoration within its own regional setting, as based on research and monitoring of the projects reported here. Chapter 1, The Flood Pulse Concept in Wetland Restoration, provides the basic argument for the use of flood pulsing in restoration projects. Chapter 2, Flood Pulses and Restoration of Riparian Vegetation in the American Southwest, describes the impacts of projects that reduce flood pulsing in the southwestern United States. It also describes research that demonstrates the importance of flood pulsing for the regeneration of trees and other vegetation in Sonoran Desert communities. Chapter 3, The Role of the Flood Pulse in Ecosystem-Level Processes in Southwestern Riparian Forests: A Case Study from the Middle Rio Grande, outlines the decline of cottonwoods and fish species along the Rio Grande. These changes are related to ecosystem processes that have been affected by the absence of the flood pulse xi

14 xii PREFACE and changes in insect communities in riparian settings that have led to the buildup of organic debris. Chapter 4, The Role of the Flood Pulse in Maintaining Boltonia decurrens, a Fugitive Plant Species of the Illinois River Floodplain: A Case History of a Threatened Species, documents the changes in hydrology of the Illinois River and their relationship to the decline of Boltonia decurrens following the construction of navigation dams, and agricultural levees that have disrupted the annual flood pulse. Chapter 5, Conservation and Restoration of Semiarid Riparian Forests: A Case Study from the Upper Missouri River, Montana, documents regeneration events in Populus forests along the Missouri River as related to the timing of flood pulsing events. Chapter 6, Implications of Reestablishing Prolonged Flood Pulse Characteristics of the Kissimmee River and Floodplain Ecosystem, describes the most famous case concerning the use of flood pulsing in the restoration of an entire landscape. The chapter discusses the history of its changes, attempts to restore the original flood pulse, and the projected reestablishment of communities (fish, insects, birds, and vegetation) along the Kissimmee River. Chapter 7, Flood Pulsing in the Regeneration and Maintenance of Species in Riverine Forested Wetlands of the Southeastern United States, describes river regulation projects across the southeastern United States. Based on the early life history dynamics of plants, it makes the case for the incorporation of flood pulsing in riverine forested wetlands and describes the Brushy Lake, Arkansas, project, where a levee was breached to reconnect the channel to the floodplain by flood pulsing. An extensive reference section is included in each chapter as an aid to wetland restorationists and researchers. The authors extend their special thanks to the many librarians who helped to locate the volumes of information that contribute to the success of such an endeavor.

15 1 The Flood Pulse Concept in Wetland Restoration Beth A. Middleton National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette, Louisiana The reestablishment of flood pulsing in riverine and tidal systems is becoming recognized as an essential step in the restoration of wetlands worldwide. Especially in North America, monitoring of projects that have incorporated more natural water regimes is now under way. In most instances, researchers are still collecting the essential life history data that will aid in building a case for the need to recreate flood-pulsed hydrology in wetland restoration projects. In this book, each chapter examines a case history of one these projects, written by a field researcher close to the heart of this rapidly developing field. The flood pulse concept was first developed to describe seasonal changes in water levels on Amazonian floodplains and their relationships to functional dynamics and the maintenance of species diversity (Junk, 1982, 1997; Junk and Howard-Williams, 1984; Junk et al., 1989; National Research Council, 1992; Bayley, 1995) (Figure 1-1). The interconnection of the river channel and floodplain is critical because functions such as production, decomposition, and consumption are driven by the flood pulse (Grubaugh and Anderson, 1988; Sparks et al., 1990) and water fluctuation drives succession (van der Valk, 1981; Finlayson et al., 1989; Niering, Flood Pulsing in Wetlands: Restoring the Natural Hydrological Balance, edited by Beth A. Middleton. ISBN John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1

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