New South Wales Wetlands Restoration

"As part of a large-scale remediation strategy for the Olympics 2000 site, the New South Wales Olympic Coordination Authority commissioned the restoration of two saline wetlands in Homebush Bay near Sydney, Australia — North Newington and Haslams Creek. Before beginning the full restoration of both sites, however, project planners first conducted experimental transplantation at a pilot site in the Haslams Creek wetlands. Modifications were made to the site’s hydrology and sedimentation dynamics, and then cuttings of six species from nearby donor sites were transplanted along a gradient. During the subsequent 2-year monitoring period, growth and survival rates were documented in an effort to better understand the effects of salinity, sedimentation, and tidal influence on the species’ survival, and to predict patterns of colonisation and zonation in the recreated saltmarsh systems."