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Of the 244 native plant species identified in the wetlands sampled by Gleason and Euliss (Table 2), 34 species were found only in the native prairie wetlands (i.e., C = 10). An additional 23 species were found in both native prairie and planted grass wetlands, or only in planted grass wetlands but not in any of the restored wetlands sampled (i.e., C = 7, 8, or 9). The remainder of the plant species occurred in a variety of combinations that included occurrence in both restored and/or drained wetlands. The largest number of species (62) occurred in restored and drained wetlands but had their greatest frequency in native prairie wetlands (i.e., C = 5). The data-generated C values are presented in Table 2 with the panel-assigned C values for comparison.

Clearly, the C values generated from Gleason and Euliss's unpublished data and the resulting and FQI values have a different distribution and a higher mean value ( data-generated = 4.8) than the coefficients assigned by the Northern Great Plains Floristic Quality Assessment Panel ( panel-assigned = 4.2). However, the relative and FQI values for our four wetland complexes were almost identical using the two independent assessment techniques (Tables 4 and 5). We found that restored wetlands in the younger complexes (Sweet Grass and Pilgrim's Rest) had lower and FQI statistics than restored wetlands in Hawk's Nest and wetlands in the natural complex (Cottonwood Lake) had the highest and FQI values using either set of C values (Tables 4 and 5). The only overlap of 95% confidence limits for values occurred between the two youngest restored complexes (Table 4). There was no overlap of 95% confidence limits for FQI between Cottonwood Lake and any of the restored wetland complexes, and the pattern of overlap that occurred between Hawk's Nest and Sweet Grass and between Sweet Grass and Pilgrim's Rest was identical using either set of C values (Table 5).

Table 4.  Average coefficient of conservatism () with 95% upper and lower confidence limits for wetlands in the Cottonwood Lake, Hawk's Nest, Sweetgrass, and Pilgrim's Rest wetland complexes, 1995.  Cottonwood Lake is a natural wetland complex whereas Hawk's Nest, Sweetgrass, and Pilgrim's Rest were restored in 1987, 1990, and 1993, respectively. s were calculated using coefficients provided by the Northern Great Plains Floristic Quality Assessment Panel (Panel-Assigned) and coefficients generated from data collected from 204 prairie wetlands (Data-Generated). Means followed by the same letter have overlapping 95% confidence limits.
Coefficients Complex	n	Lower 95% Conf. Limit	Mean	Upper 95% Conf. Limit
Panel-Assigned
Cottonwood Lake	16	4.0	4.2 a	4.4
Hawk's Nest	14	3.1	3.3 b	3.4
Sweetgrass	11	2.9	3.0 bc	3.2
Pilgrim's Rest	12	2.5	2.7 c	3.0
Data-Generated
Cottonwood Lake	16	4.7	4.9 a	5.0
Hawk's Nest	14	3.7	3.8 b	3.9
Sweetgrass	11	3.2	3.4 c	3.5
Pilgrim's Rest	12	2.8	3.0 c	3.3

For individual wetlands, and FQI calculated using data-generated C values were also consistently greater than those calculated using panel assigned C values. Using the data-generated C values, for individual wetlands ranged from 2.4 at Pilgrim's Rest to 5.3 at Cottonwood Lake. values of the restored wetlands rarely exceeded 3.9 (n = 4), and no wetlands in any of the three restored complexes had a greater than 4.2. All of the Cottonwood Lake wetlands had values greater than 4.2. Using panel-assigned C values, for individual wetlands ranged from 2.1 at Pilgrim's Rest to 4.7 at Cottonwood Lake. values of the restored wetlands rarely exceeded 3.4 (n = 4), and no wetlands in any of the three restored complexes had a greater than 3.9. All but two of the Cottonwood Lake wetlands had values greater than 3.9. Floristic quality indices for individual wetlands were also greater when calculated using data-generated C values than when calculated using panel-assigned C values. Using data-generated values, FQIs for individual wetlands ranged from 8.4 at Pilgrim's Rest to 35.6 at Cottonwood Lake. Floristic quality indices for restored wetlands rarely exceeded 26 (n = 2), and only two wetlands at Cottonwood Lake had an FQI less than 26. Using panel-assigned C values, FQIs of individual wetlands ranged from 8.3 at Pilgrim's Rest to 33.8 at Cottonwood Lake. Floristic quality indices for restored wetlands rarely exceeded 22 (n = 2), and only two wetlands at Cottonwood Lake had FQIs less than 22.

Mean species richness values also increased with increased age of the complexes and were greatest in wetlands of the natural wetland complex (Table 6). However, 95% confidence intervals of species richness overlapped in all cases except between Cottonwood Lake (the natural complex) and Pilgrim's Rest (the youngest restored complex). When non-natives are excluded from the species richness estimates, confidence intervals for Cottonwood Lake no longer overlap with the restored complexes. However, 95% confidence intervals for all three restored complexes still overlap greatly. The percentage of native species showed similar overlap of 95% confidence intervals.