| Title | Spatial Relationships for Vegetation in Restored and Reference Salt Marshes in the Salmon River Estuary, Oregon |
| Publication Type | Thesis |
| Year of Publication | 2017 |
| Authors | Chellew, Megan |
| Academic Department | College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Geography |
| Degree | M.S. |
| Pagination | 96 p. |
| University | Oregon State University |
| City | Corvallis, Or. |
| Type of Work | Masters Thesis |
| Call Number | OSU Libraries: Digital Open Access |
| Keywords | community ecology, human impacts, Lyngbye’s sedge = Carex lyngbyei, marsh restoration, Mitchell Marsh, Reference Marsh, Rowdy Creek, Salmon Creek, Salmon Creek Marsh, sediments, terrestrial vegetation, theses, Y-Marsh, zonal distribution |
| Notes | All the estuaries in Oregon have been modified by humans. One estuary, the Salmon River Estuary, has undergone major projects to remove dikes and to restore tidal marshes. This Master’s thesis examines tidal marsh vegetation to see if restored marshes exhibit the biodiversity of natural marshes. In 1962, three tidal marshes were diked to provide pasture land. These dikes have been sequentially removed: Mitchell Marsh in 1978, Y-Marsh in 1987 and Salmon Creek Marsh in 1996. One undisturbed tidal marsh is used as a reference for natural biodiversity. As it turns out, you can’t wave a wand (or breach a dike) and instantly restore biodiversity. “Vegetation of restored salt marshes is significantly less diverse and more spatially homogeneous than that of reference sites, even four decades post-restoration. Site hydrology, time since restoration, and prior land-use history influence the vegetation community composition at Salmon River Estuary” (from the Abstract). |
| URL | https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/5425kg625 |
