In 2021, 43 wetland pools were created at Oakwood Nature Preserve with funding from the H2Ohio program. One year post construction, we conducted biodiversity assessments sampling each pool for benthic bacteria, periphyton, macroalgae, macroinvertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and fish. To date we have identified over 23,000 unique bacterial taxa, 81 algal genera, 55 macroinvertebrate families, Hylid and Ranid frogs, as well as Centrarchid and Cyprinid fishes. This survey indicates an impressive rate of colonization by these various organisms one-year post-pool construction. We found pool location to significantly influence community structure of benthic bacteria, periphyton, and macroinvertebrate communities. This effect of pool location is likely associated with water quality and pool hydrology. Long-term biodiversity monitoring of the wetlands will provide needed information to inform best practices for wetland construction and maintenance.
