Issues affecting water quality are seen as one of the most important and pressing global problems of our era. In New Zealand, water bodies with the poorest water quality and ecological condition tend to be surrounded by pastoral land use. Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora in Canterbury, New Zealand, is a typical example of the issues that nutrient and sediment run-off from pastoral land can create. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between sediment concentrations, phosphate concentrations, ecological state and the degree of riparian restoration on drains that flowed into Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora, and to calculate the load of phosphorus and sediment delivered by each of the drains to Te Waihora over the year, comparing this to the loads carried by larger, natural streams and rivers. Little research has been done on these small artificial tributaries of the Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora catchment. Data collection was carried out on 10 drains with variable degrees of riparian planting, monthly in summer and autumn, and fortnightly in winter and spring, due to higher variability in drain flows during this time. Sites 1, 2 had low dissolved oxygen (DO) and high total phosphorus (TP), lack of flow and extremely high conductivity, and (with) Site 5, higher suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations. All these factors are consistent with the lack of ecology occurring in these drains. All drains failed to meet the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) guidelines for TP concentrations. All water chemistry parameters showed significant differences between seasons except conductivity. Mean water temperatures and pH were higher in summer and lower in winter, while mean DO levels were higher in winter (and spring) and lower in summer (and autumn). Macroinvertebrate analyses indicated moderate to severe pollution in all the drains, despite the amount of riparian planting present and the presence of macroinvertebrate community structure was related mainly to substrate size. The degree and type of riparian planting present on the drains studied did not appear to affect TP, SPM, macroinvertebrates or general water quality. This is likely to be due to the fact that little of the riparian planting had been specifically planted for restoration purposes. The highest loads of TP and SPM occurred in winter and spring, and in the larger (wider and deeper) drains. As flow increased in the drain, so did the load of phosphorus and sediment carried. Comparison with Environment Canterbury monitoring data for the river tributaries of the lake indicated that more TP and SPM is carried to the lake by natural rivers and streams, than by the drains, but the latter do make a significant contribution. The percentage of TP that is in dissolved form was higher than had previously been assumed, in both the drains and the larger, natural rivers and streams. It is recommended that future restoration work aim to reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment entering the larger drains in winter and spring. More adequate riparian planting needs to occur on these drains, and it needs to be managed in a way that a reduction in dissolved phosphorus levels is also achieved.

Survival and growth of planted trees are common indices used to evaluate success of wetland restoration efforts used to compensate for wetland losses. Restoration efforts on marginal agricultural lands typically result in less than satisfactory survival and growth of desired tree species. This study evaluated seed source ecotype, greenhouse preconditioning and combinations of five mechanical site preparation techniques (mound, bed, rip, disk, pit), four levels of planting stock (gallon, tubeling, bare root, and direct seed), and three planting aids (mat, tube, none) on the survival and growth of American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.) and willow oak (Quercus phellos L.) planted on an old field riparian area in the Virginia Piedmont. American sycamore seedlings subjected to greenhouse flood preconditioning had 25% greater height and willow oak seedlings grown under normal greenhouse conditions had 18% greater diameter, but these greenhouse adaptations did not confer greater survivability or growth after field planting. American sycamore seeds sourced from dry ecotypes were 14% taller than wet ecotype seeds, and willow oak acorns sourced from wet ecotypes were 11% taller than dry ecotype acorns, indicating that parental ecotype may influence survivability and growth. The combination of mounding site preparation and gallon planting stock increased mean survival to 100% and aboveground dry biomass (5.44 Mg/ha/yr) in American sycamore. Willow oak had 45% greater woody stem volume with mounding site preparation 80% greater woody stem volume with gallon and bare root planting stock. Tubeling planting stock provided significant benefit relative to the low planting stock cost for American sycamore, while bare root seedlings were shown to be an effective planting stock for willow oak. The use of appropriate ecotype seed sources, use of mounding mechanical site preparation techniques and planting of species appropriate planting stock increased survival and growth of common early and mid-successional Piedmont tree species on marginal agricultural lands. Treatments that appear to be economically viable for restoration and mitigation efforts could potentially offer other economic incentives such as short rotation woody crops and timber value, which might induce additional private landowners to attempt restoration efforts in marginal old field riparian areas. / Doctor of Philosophy / In order to offset the loss of wetlands due to development, strategies are needed to create wetlands in areas along streams that are unfarmed. Survival and growth of planted trees are commonly used to evaluate the success of these new wetland areas. The goal of this research is to provide alternative methods to increase survival and growth of two common trees planted in the Piedmont of Virginia. The results show that creating mounds of soil before planting trees and planting larger trees will increase tree survival and growth in these wetland areas. Landowners and land managers can use these methods to increase the value of unfarmed land along streams while also increasing water quality and providing habitat animals that use the streams and wetlands.