Tens of millions of dollars have been spent on tidal wetland restoration over the past several decades but there is still limited information on the long-term ecological outcomes of these efforts. To address this, a collaborative research project worked with four west coast NERRS and regional partners to assess marsh elevation capital, vegetation communities, and carbon sequestration in 16 decades-old restoration sites and paired reference marshes in California, Oregon, and Washington. By investigating how restoration has affected key wetland attributes at some of the oldest restoration sites along the west coast, this project brings actionable information to restoration practitioners and others planning for, designing, and quantifying benefits of new tidal wetland restoration projects. In this webinar, the project team discusses their results, the implications of their findings for future restoration implementation and monitoring, and next steps.
Speakers:
 | Chris Janousek, Oregon State University Chris Janousek is a research professor at Oregon State University where he works on blue carbon, tidal wetland restoration, and plant and algal ecology along the Pacific coast. He is also co-lead of the Pacific Northwest Blue Carbon Working Group. He was lead investigator for this project working with the team to plan, implement, analyze and share project data. |
 | Jenni Schmitt, South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Jenni Schmitt has been the Watershed Monitoring Coordinator at the South Slough NERR in Oregon for the past 12 years and leads planning and implementation of wetlands-related research and monitoring projects. Jenni served as the co-collaborative lead on this project, coordinating many aspects of end user engagement. She was also on the technical advisory team, contributing to data collection and product development. |
 | Katrina Poppe, Western Washington University Katrina Poppe is a Research Associate at Western Washington University and a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia. She studies sediment, vegetation, and carbon dynamics in tidal wetlands in relation to climate change and land management. For this project Katrina has focused on the accretion and blue carbon research components. |