Circleville, Ohio
- Appalachia Ohio Alliance
- Key Services Provided:
- Hydrology Study
- Wetland Restoration
- Invasive Species Treatment
- Prairie Planting
- Tree Planting
- Project Duration: 2017-2018
- Project Cost: $340,000.000
Pothole wetlands before restoration on the Bartley Preserve.
EnviroScience, Inc. teamed with Ohio Prairie Nursery (OPN) on an exciting opportunity to design and implement the Bartley Preserve Pothole Wetland and Prairie Restoration project on approximately 116 acres of property owned by the Appalachia Ohio Alliance (AOA) in Circleville, Ohio. EnviroScience designed this project to recreate and restore the site to its original Pickaway Plains ecology, one of Ohio’s rarest habitats. The Pickaway Plains’ ecology was typified by upland prairie and oak savannahs interspersed with pothole wetlands.
Pothole wetlands are a relic of the glacial age in Ohio, and today, most have been eliminated or heavily degraded by agricultural, industrial, or residential development activities. The Bartley Preserve provides an unparalleled opportunity to revive this habitat type on a significant scale, as it contains two pothole wetland areas estimated between 10 to 15 acres in size. EnviroScience completed a hydrology study that will be the basis for the wetland restoration to improve wetland hydrology. Plant records indicate that these wetland systems can sustain a habitat of rare and endangered herbaceous plants when hydrated.
A three-pronged prairie restoration was also implemented. OPN developed seed mixtures specific to the existing site conditions and desired ecosystem outcomes and long-term viability. EnviroScience also performed extensive invasive species treatments throughout the site, including within the sensitive pothole wetlands, and removed woody vegetation found in the pothole wetlands.
After restoration, the Bartley Preserve serves as a living laboratory, where botanists can study the native seed bank and plant regeneration within the rehydrated pothole wetlands and where biologists can study the birds and insects that use the restored prairie. The site attracts a plethora of grassland bird and butterfly species. In addition, the restored Bartley Preserve acts as a biological museum where rare plants native to pothole wetlands, such as Engelmann’s spikerush, Hall’s bulrush, and Rocky Mountain bulrush, have the opportunity to grow and flourish.
