Animal and vegetation patterns in natural and man-made bog pools: implications for restoration

1. Peatlands have suffered great losses following drainage for agriculture, forestry, urbanisation, or peat mining, near inhabited areas. We evaluated the faunal and vegetation patterns after restoration of a peatland formerly mined for peat. We assessed whether bog pools created during restoration are similar to natural bog pools in terms of water chemistry, vegetation structure and composition, as well as amphibian and arthropod occurrence patterns. 2. Both avian species richness and peatland vegetation cover at the site increased following restoration. Within bog pools, however, the vegetation composition differed between natural and man‐made pools. The cover of low shrubs, Sphagnum moss, submerged, emergent and floating vegetation in man‐made pools was lower than in natural pools, whereas pH was higher than in typical bog pools. Dominant plant species also differed between man‐made and natural pools. 3. Amphibian tadpoles, juveniles and adults occurred more often in man‐made pools than natural bog pools. Although some arthropods, including Coleoptera bog specialists, readily colonised the pools, their abundance was two to 26 times lower than in natural bog pools. Plant introduction in bog pools, at the stocking densities we applied, had no effect on the occurrence of most groups. 4. We conclude that our restoration efforts were partially successful. Peatland‐wide vegetation patterns following restoration mimicked those of natural peatlands, but 4 years were not sufficient for man‐made pools to fully emulate the characteristics of natural bog pools.     

Electric Fencing as a Measure to Reduce Moose-Vehicle Collisions

Abstract: We tested the effectiveness of electric fences to reduce moose (Alces alces)-vehicle collisions in 2 fenced sectors (5 km and 10 km) using weekly track surveys and Global Positioning System telemetry. Number of moose tracks along highways decreased by approximately 80% following fence installation. Only 30% (16/53) of moose tracks observed on the road side of the fence were left by moose that crossed an operational fence; moose mostly entered the fenced corridor through openings (e.g., secondary roads) or at fence extremities. Electric fences also prevented 78% (7/9) of collared moose from crossing the highway in fenced sectors. Fences were less effective during occasional power failures. We suggest that circuit breakers should be used to prevent power failures and that there should be no opening along the fence line unless anti-ungulate structures are used.     

Persistence and colonisation as measures of success in bog restoration for aquatic invertebrates: a question of detection

1. van Duinen et al. (Freshwater Biol., 2006) raise an interesting point regarding Mazerolle et al.’s (Freshwater Biol., 2006, 51 , p. 333) conclusion on the ability of invertebrates, especially sedentary species, to colonise newly created bogs pools. We wish to clarify that Mazerolle et al. (2006) targeted large arthropods and the absence of smaller sedentary species was purely a result of sampling design. 2. van Duinen et al. (2006) postulate that colonisation rates by bog specialists should be higher in Canada than in the Netherlands, given the extensive amount of intact peatlands in Canada. Here, we emphasise the importance of taking the regional context into account when assessing restoration success as our study site occurs in a landscape where most bog pools have been drained. 3. An evaluation of restoration efforts should focus on both sedentary and vagile invertebrates, to resolve the importance of persistence and colonisation. Such patterns are difficult to interpret, however, when sampling designs and analyses do not account for the probability of detection: an absence may be due to non‐detection or true absence. We strongly urge investigators to directly estimate detection probability in addition to the parameters of interest (e.g. presence, abundance) to provide the best information possible regarding restoration success.     

Ten polymorphic microsatellite loci for the trematode Gymnophallus sp.

Ten polymorphic loci were isolated and characterized from the intertidal New Zealand trematode Gymnophallus sp., a common parasite of the abundant local bivalve Austrovenus stutchburyi. Observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.17 to 0.96, and three to 23 alleles were detected in 24 trematode metacercariae. These loci are currently being used to investigate the molecular ecology of this species within the bivalve host.