Wet meadows

Abstract

Wet meadows help to sustain favorable water flows, biological diversity, and other values; consequently, restoration of degraded wet meadows is an important part of a strategy for promoting socioecological resilience. This chapter focuses on high-elevation wet meadows that are associated with streams; thus restoration of such meadows may be considered a subset of stream restoration. However, it is important to recognize that degradation of high-elevation meadows often reflects site-level impacts rather than watershed-scale impacts that degrade lower-elevation streams and rivers. For that reason, and because of the cascade of impacts associated with incision of wet meadows, restoration of wet meadows is often expected to deliver a wide range of benefits. Published evaluations of wet meadow restoration efforts within the synthesis area have demonstrated gains at specific sites in certain functions, including water quality, water quantity, and macroinvertebrate diversity.

Parent Publication

• Science synthesis to support socioecological resilience in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range

Citation

Long, J.W.; Pope, K. 2014. Wet meadows. In: Long, J.W.; Quinn-Davidson, L.; Skinner, C.N., eds. Science synthesis to support socioecological resilience in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-247. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 341-372. Chap. 6.3.