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INDIAN RIVER LAGOON WETLANDS INITIATIVE
Impact/Purpose:
Federal, State, and local agencies involved in the restoration of wetlands will use this as a model and example of how to restore the ecological function of impoundments to a state similar to that of "native" marshes, and to determine how continued hydrologic management will affect the restoration process.
Description:
The Indian River Wetlands Initiative is a broad research effort to compare the effects of various restoration and management strategies on a variety of wetland functions, flora, and fauna. It involves managing a selected group of impoundments under various management strategies to allow comparison of the effects of these strategies on the various components that make up the wetland system. The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) Wetland Habitat Restoration and Management Initiative is part of the larger Wetlands Initiative and will compare marsh surface elevation, marsh plant distributions, nutrient fluxes, marsh and aquatic fauna, and seagrass in the adjacent estuary among reference marshes and impoundments under the hydrologic management regimes.