In 2024, the Buzzards Bay Coalition designed sandplain grasslands into a cranberry bog restoration project at the Mattapoisett Bogs. Areas of the former bogs along Acushnet Road that were too high above the water table to economically excavate down to near the groundwater to restore wetlands were planted to a mixture of sandplain grasses and forbs near the end of construction in the spring of 2024. The grassland area transitions into wetlands within the former bogs and creates a gradient of elevation and plant species that will help conserve plant biodiversity with climate change.
Designing sandplain grasslands into cranberry bog projects was suggested by the Sandplain Grassland Network and the Network produced a short white paper on the subject for the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration in 2022. It’s great to see the SGN’s ideas put into practice in restoration projects.
Chris Neill and Pat Farrar of the Woodwell Climate Research Center now collaborate with BBC’s Senior Restoration Ecologist Sara Quintal to track the vegetation in 20 randomly located 3 x 3 meter plots throughout the grassland area. They sampled species composition and cover in August 2024 and again in August 2025. The preliminary results suggest that characteristic sandplain grass and forb species are establishing, including little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), rough bentgrass (Agrostis scabra), and Carolina grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia caroliniana). The plots also contained a small cover of wetland species characteristic in bog restoration projects that are unlikely to survive over the long term, including woolgrass (Scirpus cyperinus) and soft rush (Juncus effusus). Cover of non-native species is very low.
—Chris Neill
Sara Quintal of the Buzzards Bay Coalition surveys a grassland area she designed into the Mattapoisett Bog restoration project. The area transitions into wetlands within the former bogs and creates a gradient of elevation and plant species that will help conserve plant biodiversity with climate change.