http://www.somerset.gov.uk/levels/LIFE/RGTitles.htm -- Lawrence F. London, Jr. -|- Venaura Farm InterGarden -|- http://metalab.unc.edu/london lflondon@mindspring.com -|- london@metalab.unc.eduTitle: RGIndex
Levels & Moors Home Page
: ![]() REEDBED CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT APPLICATIONS Experience from the Somerset Levels and Moors, UK Reedbeds - what they are and how they work Multiple purpose reedbed objectives Site development for different objectives Topography and soil requirements Basic site investigations Engineering design Intensive reedbed lagoons and reedbed basins Extensive reedbed embankments Control structures Determination of the size of reedbed Ditch design within reedbeds Reedbed Planting and establishment Land preparation and weed control Different techniques of reedbed establishment Results and assessment of different techniques Aftercare and water management Practical hydrological management Basic considerations - water quality and quantity Water supply and demand by reedbeds Pumping and storage solutions Comparison of extensive and intensive reedbed requirements Case Study: St Jean de Daye water management Case Study: Ham Wall area water management Management for wildlife Requirements for reedbed birds Fish management Other wildlife Costs of reedbed creation Construction and management costs Costs of Reed growing and planting Transfer of experience to other sites Performance of Ham Wall and St Jean de Daye reedbeds Applications for reedbed technology Realising multiple use objectives Long term issues for reedbed management Bibliography Acknowledgements Further information The Somerset Levels and Moors is a nationally and internationally important coastal wetland system, comprising large areas of unimproved grazing marsh, draining into Bridgwater Bay, a Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. The Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin is the most important peat grazing marsh in France, comprising the valleys of the Vire, Douve, Aure and Taute which discharge into the Baie de Veys, another Ramsar site and SPA. Within these two wetlands, a joint reedbed-creation project has been developed between a range of statutory and non-statutory organisations, under the aegis of the EC LIFE programme. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the role of reedbeds in the interception of nutrient-rich water to the benefit of downstream areas of high conservation value. Other objectives, particularly in the UK site, include the demonstration of the fish nursery potential of reedbed/open water interfaces, and the combining of reedbed design for successful water treatment with the creation of suitable habitat for rare or endangered wetland bird and mammal species. The project commenced in 1992, and was formally completed at the end of 1997, following which long-term monitoring has been continued to broaden our knowledge of the efficacy of such systems for the stated purposes. These Guidelines have been produced to disseminate the experience gained through the project of the construction of reedbeds for environmental improvement of this type.
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