Hardwood Swamp Restoration Phase 2

A beautiful open mix of wetland and meadow at the corner of Lake Drive and Brown Deer Road will soon greet all Center visitors. Conservation staff and volunteers have removed dead and dying ash trees, buckthorn, and other invasive plants to prepare this habitat for the continuation of Phase 2 of the Hardwood Swamp Restoration Project. This phase will further enhance the ecological significance of this habitat as it evolves into a vibrant and diverse hardwood swamp. Hardwood swamps account for less than 1% of habitat types in Wisconsin, even before European settlement.

Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Phase 2 expands upon restoration work undertaken in the adjacent project area. A rare habitat type, our extended hardwood swamp will fill an important ecological niche for a variety of plant, bird, and animal species that rely upon such specialized habitat for survival.

The Hardwood Swamp Project

The entire hardwood swamp restoration effort is a key part of Schlitz Audubon’s Management Plan, a major tenet of which is to conserve and restore wildlife populations of greatest conservation need. Through restoration, the hardwood swamp will become a powerhouse habitat that will provide tremendous benefits to many native plants and animals, including several bioindicator bird species of high ecological interest that rely upon the relatively rare plant assemblages that can be found there.

Expanding the Hardwood Swamp Project Area increases habitats at the Center that support many pollinator species, including federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee, and monarch butterfly, which will thrive upon species-specific host plantings such as shrubby St. John’s wort and milkweed. Pine Warbler, Wood Thrush, American Woodcock, and Northern Flicker will also benefit through the expansion of key food sources, cover, and a breeding habitat.

Scope of Phase 2 of the Hardwood Swamp Restoration Project

Phase 2 of the project includes restoring a 2.5-acre extension of the 4.1-acere initial hardwood swamp restoration project undertaken from 2020-2022. During Phase 1, Center staff and volunteers dedicated over 1,600 hours to invasive species control followed by a massive planting of 725 trees, 250 shrubs, and 24,000 herbaceous plugs.

In the extended project area, another significant planting effort took place in fall of 2023 to introduce additional high quality native species characteristic of a hardwood swamp. Staff and volunteers planted 350 trees, ranging from stately species such as American sycamore to water-loving river birch, and 125 shrubs, including showy species like swamp rose and serviceberry.

Conservation staff and volunteers will perform large-scale plug planting and seed sowing in May 2024. This will be the primary mode of restoring a diverse native understory that will provide continuously flowering plants. The team will spread two pounds of sedge meadow seed mix throughout the project area, a cost-effective way to supplement the herbaceous plugs, and add to the overall diversity.

Other Species That Will Benefit from the Project

An additional focus of Phase 2 is creation of habitat for northern long-eared bat, a species previously identified at Schlitz Audubon via acoustic monitoring and a federally threatened species. Long-term, both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Hardwood Swamp Restoration will provide mature tree species that create ideal sites for summer roosting. Open sedge meadow will supply prime foraging habitat for bats, as native insects breed in the seasonally wet ground. To provide short-term roosting habitat as newly planted trees continue to grow, 20% of the dying ash will be left standing as snags. Bark splits and cavities in the dead and dying trees will ensure the area remains suitable for bats throughout the succession period.

Monitoring by staff and volunteer citizen scientists will involve many assessments of the health of habitats and wildlife. A tree and shrub health assessment will be completed by August 2024. By June 2025, the conservation team will perform a ground layer vegetation and bare soil assessment. Additionally, by August 2025, the team will assess the population of rusty patched bumble bee, monarch butterfly, and northern long-eared bat.

From the West Meadows, the area can be viewed near Wood Duck Pond. Because of this, the project will act as an easily accessible environmental education opportunity for youth and visitors of all ages. By conserving our land’s habitats and strengthening our environmental education capacity, we strive to encourage awareness and support of conservation efforts.