An aerial view of the two experimental wetlands at Ohio State University in 1995. The planted wetland is on the right in the photos. Credit: OSU
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 7 (UPI) -- When it comes to restoring wetlands lost to environmental degradation or development, Mother Nature knows best, a U.S. researcher says.
A 15-year study of two experimental wetland restoration projects in Ohio -- one planted in 1994 with wetland vegetation and another left to colonize plant and animal life on its own -- showed the "natural" one took up more carbon from the atmosphere, a potential aid in reducing greenhouse warming, Ohio State University researcher Bil Mitsch said.
Mitsch, an OSU environment and natural resources professor, compared the behavior of two experimental marshes on campus, one that researchers planted with 13 common wetland plant species and one that was allowed to develop naturally.
"Both wetlands are examples of what we call self-design," Mitsch said in a university release Wednesday. "Human beings can be involved in the beginning, but ultimately the system designs itself according to the laws of Mother Nature and Father Time."
Although natural wetlands recovery has some advantage, he said, any kind of restoration, human or natural, is beneficial, he said.
"At the end of the day I'm not sure one wetland is more important than the other. There are positives for both," Mitsch said. "We just wanted to see for as long as we could what happens over time when you plant one wetland and don't plant the other. I think they're converging, tending to be similar."
Wetlands' contributions to carbon storage, or sequestration, should be a factor in worldwide strategies to offset greenhouse gas emissions, Mitsch said.
