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at a historical moment in time for any given site.
Given the complexity of such tasks, restoration
projects likewise require long-term commitments
in management, monitoring and evaluation.
Restoration projects necessitate the use of a
reference ecosystem that could serve as a model
or point of comparison and evaluation. For
instance, to restore a wholly altered coastal
marsh, information on hydrology, soil condi-
tions, species compositions and vegetation
assemblages prior to degradation and alteration
are important and necessary starting points.
However, these data may not be easily available
from the altered wetland site itself. In those
instances, restoration ecologists refer to a site
or, ideally, multiple sites that exhibit similar
geographic and ecological conditions. Collec-
tively, these sites may provide information on
the expected range of ecosystem conditions
and characteristics. In so doing, they i ll the
information gap and provide a direction to work
toward (IWWR 2003). Finally, reference sites
also are used to measure the long-term success
or failure of restoration undertakings (Kusler
2006). Without such comparative assessments,
the successes of capital and time investments
would be difi cult to gauge.
13.2 Terminology
The terminology associated with wetland repair
often varies by geographic region. Restoration,
enhancement, creation, rehabilitation, reclama-
tion, repair, and mitigation are just some of the
more commonly used terms (Fig. 13-1; van der
Valk 2009). It is important to distinguish between
these terms to ensure consistency of usage
Restoration
Mitigation
Enhancement
Wetland
Repair
Terminology
Reclamation
Creation
Rehabilitation
Figure 13-1. Schematic illustration of terminology commonly used in wetland repair.
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