Restoring the Marsh

Restoring the Marsh. . , The Mentor Marsh's recovery story began when the Cleveland Museum of Natural History sought assistance to fight the vast monoculture of invasive common reed grass, Phragmites australis., Since then, partnerships have been formed between the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the City of Mentor, Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, and a network of additional grant funders and individuals., With funding and partners in line, the museum, as the marsh's management custodian, started large-scale restoration in 2012. Restoration efforts began with helicopter spraying of large stands of phragmites, followed by small-scale treatments targeting remaining phragmites and other invasive plants such as, purple loosestrife, narrow-leaf and hybrid cattail, yellow iris, and reed canary grass. Amphibious vehicles mashed down standing stalks, allowing sunlight to reach the soil and providing native plants with space to rise from the seedbank., Aiming to further boost native plant growth, seeds were dispersed, plant plugs were installed, and tree and shrub live stakes were planted. Gradually, native plants like greater bur-reed, blue vervain, swamp loosestrife, swamp rose mallow hibiscus, and wild rice took hold, providing habitat for a variety of animal life., Ensuring the long-lasting success of native plants, salt mine tailings were removed from the salt-fill site in 2022. With greatly reduced salt leaching and ongoing invasive plant treatments, Mentor Marsh will continue to recover as the species-rich wetland it once was before disaster struck.