Restoring the ecosystem and coastal resiliency of Braddock Bay

Session: Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands: Innovative Research to Improve Restoration (2)

Joshua Unghire, US Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District, [email protected]

Abstract

In 2018, a large scale ecosystem restoration project was completed at Braddock Bay, a 340 acre coastal wetland on Lake Ontario. This project attempted to restore degraded ecological function and reduce coastal wetland loss due to erosion. This presentation will discuss the implementation of promising coastal wetland restoration practices and an innovative nature-based feature that created habitat and improved coastal resiliency.

The key project components consisted of excavating channels and potholes in the existing cattail-dominated emergent wetland to increase its habitat suitability for fish and wildlife; and the creation of a barrier beach to protect emergent wetlands, provide habitat for shorebirds, and improve littoral sediment processes in the vicinity of the bay.

Monitoring of completed project features since 2016 have indicated that the native wetland plant diversity of restored areas is greater than the nearby, non-restored areas; northern pike are spawning in restored channels and potholes; and a large diversity of shorebirds, including the federally endangered piping plover, are using the created barrier beach habitat. This project was made possible through the collaboration of local, state, and federal partners and by funding provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.