Ecological effects of pipeline construction through deciduous forested wetlands, Midland County, Michigan

Technical Report · Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5248209· OSTI ID:5248209

Zellmer, S D ^[1]; Rastorfer, J R ^[2]; Van Dyke, G D ^[3]

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
2. Chicago State Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Biological Sciences ANL/CSU Cooperative Herbarium, Chicago, IL (United States)
3. Trinity Christian Coll., Palos Heights, IL (United States). Dept. of Biology

Implementation of recent federal and state regulations promulgated to protect wetlands makes information on effects of gas pipeline rights-of-way (ROWs) in wetlands essential to the gas pipeline industry. This study is designed to record vegetational changes induced by the construction of a large-diameter gas pipeline through deciduous forested wetlands. Two second-growth forested wetland sites mapped as Lenawee soils, one mature and one subjected to recent selective logging, were selected in Midland County, Michigan. Changes in the adjacent forest and successional development on the ROW are being documented. Cover-class estimates are being made for understory and ROW plant species using 1 {times}1-m quadrats. Counts are also being made for all woody species with stems < 2 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh) in the same plots used for cover-class estimates. Individual stem diameters and species counts are being recorded for all woody understory and overstory plants with stems {ge}2 cm dbh in 10 {times} 10-m plots. Although analyses of the data have not been completed, preliminary analyses indicate that some destruction of vegetation at the ROW forest edge may have been avoidable during pipeline construction. Rapid regrowth of many native wetland plant species on the ROW occurred because remnants of native vegetation and soil-bearing propagules of existing species survived on the ROW after pipeline construction and seeding operations. 91 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Gas Research Inst., Chicago, IL (United States). Environment and Safety Research Dept.; Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: GRI; Gas Research Inst., Chicago, IL (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5248209
• Report Number(s): GRI-91/0045; ON: DE92000481
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
PIPELINES
CONSTRUCTION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
REGULATIONS
RIGHTS-OF-WAY
PLANTS
TAXONOMY
WETLANDS
BIOLOGICAL RECOVERY
DECIDUOUS TREES
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
FORESTS
HABITAT
IMPLEMENTATION
MICHIGAN
PRESERVATION
PROGRESS REPORT
RECOMMENDATIONS
SAMPLING
SOILS
SPECIES DIVERSITY
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIOLOGY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DOCUMENT TYPES
ECOSYSTEMS
FEDERAL REGION V
NORTH AMERICA
RECOVERY
TREES
USA
030800* - Natural Gas- Environmental Aspects
540250 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource &amp; Use Studies- (1990-)
290300 - Energy Planning &amp; Policy- Environment
Health
&amp; Safety