Restoration of tidal freshwater vegetation using controlled reduced tide (CRT) along the Schelde Estuary (Belgium)

Abstract

Throughout the world, tidal marshes are being restored to obtain natural protection against recurring storm surges and sea level rise and to preserve the resources these habitats provide. Managed realignment, or breaching of the seaward dikes, is a restoration technique increasingly used; yet unsuitable site elevation has been a major constraint to habitat development. Controlled reduced tide (CRT), a new technique to implement tidal regime on low elevated sites, could offer solutions for several problems associated with reconstruction or mitigation of tidal marshes. We followed vegetation development at 3-month intervals during two years after implementation of the first pilot CRT treatment, which aimed to restore tidal freshwater marsh habitat in an agricultural site where elevation relative to the estuarine marshes has lowered. The development of the plant community and its driving forces (flooding, remnant vegetation) were studied. Arrival and establishment of typical tidal freshwater marsh vegetation was rapid, and a clear elevation gradient developed b