Restoration techniques to enhance aquatic plant establishment and project scalability in wetlands

Aquatic plant restoration is a priority in inland aquatic systems, where critical habitat is threatened by species introductions, pollution, declining water availability, and climate change. Effective revegetation techniques are essential to restoring degraded aquatic systems and reestablishing desired ecosystem services, yet best practices for revegetating aquatic species are poorly developed. Thus, in a field experiment, we sought to identify successful aquatic planting techniques by assessing the relative performance of three planting methods (burlap wraps, coir pellets, and hand planting) and two designs (clumped and dispersed) across three common, widespread aquatic species (Potamogeton nodosus, Ruppia cirrhosa, and Stuckenia pectinata). Two planting methods were selected for scalability potential (i.e., ability to be planted by being dropped from the surface of the water). For the species P. nodosus and S. pectinata, we found that the performance of the scalable planting methods did not differ significantly from hand planting. However, planting methods demonstrated significantly different performance for R. cirrhosa. Thus, we suggest that planting methods be paired carefully with particular species to promote plant establishment. We found limited impact of planting design on the success of restoration efforts, indicating that logistical considerations, rather than potential ecological differences, can guide arrangement choices. Based on these findings, we suggest that practitioners integrate species identity and scalable planting methods into strategies for augmenting aquatic plant cover under project constraints in shallow aquatic habitat.