Using stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes to study water movement in soil-plant-atmosphere continuum at Poyang Lake wetland,China

Water movement in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) has a significant effect on the biogeochemical process in wetlands. This study investigated the water movement in the SPAC in Poyang Lake wetland, which is a protected area with an important ecological function within the Yangtze River basin, under different water-level conditions by analyzing the responses of river, groundwater, soil and plants to precipitation using stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. The results show that the stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions (δ¹⁸O and δD) of soil water decrease with increasing depth due to the near surface evaporation. During the dry season the water-level in Poyang Lake is low, when it rains the influencing depth of precipitation and evaporation on soil water isotopic signatures was 20 cm below the ground surface. The rain water infiltrates into the soil, recharges groundwater and flows to the river. When the water-level in Poyang Lake is low, the Xiu River is recharged by the groundwater, which recharges the soil water by capillary rise. During the flood season, the water-level is high and the water in Poyang Lake reaches or covers the meadows, recharges the groundwater and soil water. In the meantime, the water in Poyang Lake can be recharged by rain water when it rains. During the dry season when it doesn’t rain, plants mainly use groundwater, but soil water is preferred and plants don’t use rainwater directly when it rains. When the lake water-level is extremely low, the plants in Poyang Lake wetland may suffer from water stress, which is harmful for plant growth.     

Characteristic community structure of Florida’s subtropical wetlands: the Florida wetland condition index for depressional marshes, depressional forested, and flowing water forested wetlands

Land use and land cover change has a marked affect on wetland condition, and different wetland types are affected differentially depending on many abiotic and biotic variables. To assess wetland condition, we have developed a Florida wetland condition index (FWCI) composed of indicators of community structure in the diatom, macrophyte, and macroinvertebrate assemblages for 216 wetlands (n = 74 depressional marsh, n = 118 depressional forested, n = 24 flowing water forested wetlands). Depressional wetlands located along a human disturbance gradient throughout Florida were sampled for each assemblage. Forested flowing water wetlands were sampled for macrophytes only. The landscape development intensity index (LDI) was used to quantify the human disturbance gradient. In general, human disturbance in adjacent areas had the greatest impact on depressional herbaceous wetlands, followed by depressional forested wetlands. Forested flowing water wetlands (i.e., forested strands and floodplain wetlands) were less affected by local conditions, with most of their changes in wetland condition correlated with alterations at the larger watershed scale. Strong correlations between the FWCIs and LDI index scores suggest that changes in community structure can be detected along a gradient of human land use activities adjacent to wetland ecosystems.     

Connecting carbon and nitrogen storage in rural wetland soil to groundwater abstraction for urban water supply

We investigated whether groundwater abstraction for urban water supply diminishes the storage of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and organic matter in the soil of rural wetlands. Wetland soil organic matter (SOM) benefits air and water quality by sequestering large masses of C and N. Yet, the accumulation of wetland SOM depends on soil inundation, so we hypothesized that groundwater abstraction would diminish stocks of SOM, C, and N in wetland soils. Predictions of this hypothesis were tested in two types of subtropical, depressional‐basin wetland: forested swamps and herbaceous‐vegetation marshes. In west‐central Florida, >650 ML groundwater day^?1 are abstracted for use primarily in the Tampa Bay metropolis. At higher abstraction volumes, water tables were lower and wetlands had shorter hydroperiods (less time inundated). In turn, wetlands with shorter hydroperiods had 50–60% less SOM, C, and N per kg soil. In swamps, SOM loss caused soil bulk density to double, so areal soil C and N storage per m² through 30.5 cm depth was diminished by 25–30% in short‐hydroperiod swamps. In herbaceous‐vegetation marshes, short hydroperiods caused a sharper decline in N than in C. Soil organic matter, C, and N pools were not correlated with soil texture or with wetland draining‐reflooding frequency. Many years of shortened hydroperiod were probably required to diminish soil organic matter, C, and N pools by the magnitudes we observed. This diminution might have occurred decades ago, but could be maintained contemporarily by the failure each year of chronically drained soils to retain new organic matter inputs. In sum, our study attributes the contraction of hydroperiod and loss of soil organic matter, C, and N from rural wetlands to groundwater abstraction performed largely for urban water supply, revealing teleconnections between rural ecosystem change and urban resource demand.     

Response of wetland soil carbon to groundwater conservation: Probabilistic outcomes from error propagation

Water loss compromises functions performed by wetland ecosystems. Efforts to rehabilitate wetland function typically begin with attempts to reestablish hydrology. These activities are often not monitored, so tools to extract information from them could partly offset the lost opportunity to learn from whole-ecosystem hydrological manipulation. In 2002, groundwater abstraction was lessened by 35% throughout 1700 km² of west-central Florida (USA). I assembled a pathway of correlations to project how this hydrological manipulation affected water levels and soil carbon (C) storage in overlying wetlands. Parameter values and residual error in these statistical models were resampled from known variances, thereby propagating uncertainty through the pathway of relationships, and expressing the response of soil C probabilistically. Projected soil C probability distributions were most distinguishable between full and moderate (30% less) abstraction. With more severe abstraction cutbacks, gains in projected soil C became more marginal and uncertain, suggesting that wetland soil C pools are not notably impacted by low-volume groundwater abstraction. Reducing uncertainty in projected soil C will require better understanding the dynamic response of soil C to increases in the amount of time that wetland soil is inundated. The step-by-step error propagation routine presented here is a platform for assimilating information from diverse sources in order to project probabilistic responses of ecosystem function to wetland restoration attempts, and it helps identify where further certainty is most wanted in a pathway of cause–effect relationships.     

Phosphorus retention of forested and emergent marsh depressional wetlands in differing land uses in Florida,USA

The translocation of phosphorus (P) from terrestrial landscapes to aquatic bodies is of concern due to the impact of elevated P on aquatic system functioning and integrity. Due to their common location in depressions within landscapes, wetlands, including so-called geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), receive and process entrained P. The ability of depressional wetlands, or GIWs, to sequester P may vary by wetland type or by land use modality. In this study we quantified three measures of P sorption capacities for two common GIW types (i.e., emergent marsh and forested wetlands) in two different land use modalities (i.e., agricultural and least impacted land uses) across 55 sites in Florida, USA. The equilibrium P concentration (EPC₀) averaged 6.42 ± 5.18 mg P L^?1 (standard deviation reported throughout); and ranged from 0.01–27.18 mg P L^?1; there were no differences between GIW type or land use modality, nor interaction effects. Significant differences in phosphorus buffering capacity (PBC) were found between GIW types and land use, but no interaction effects. Forested GIWs [average 306.64 ± 229.63 (mg P kg^?1) (µg P L^?1)^?1], and GIWs in agricultural settings [average 269.95 ± 236.87 (mg P kg^?1) (µg P L^?1)^?1] had the highest PBC values. The maximum sorption capacity (S_max) was found to only differ by type, with forested wetlands (1274.5 ± 1315.7 mg P kg^?1) having over three times the capacity of emergent GIWs (417.5 ± 534.6 mg P kg^?1). Classification trees suggested GIW soil parameters of bulk density, organic content, and concentrations of total P, H₂O-extractable P, and HCl-extractable P were important to classifying GIW P-sorption metrics. We conclude that GIWs have high potential to retain P, but that the entrained P may be remobilized to the wetland water column depending on storm and groundwater input P concentrations. The relative hydrologic dis-connectivity of GIWs from other aquatic systems may provide sufficient retention time to retain elevated P within these systems, thereby providing an ecosystem service to downstream waters.     

Empirical evidence linking increased hydrologic stability with decreased biotic diversity within wetlands

Competing demands for water have resulted in many wetlands becoming either more permanently flooded or more permanently dry. It has been stated that such changes may lead to a loss of diversity in wetland communities; yet to date, this has not been tested experimentally. In this study, we experimentally test the hypothesis that increasing the hydrologic stability of wetlands results in reduced abundance, richness and diversity of aquatic biota emerging from wetland sediments. Sediment was collected from 19 wetlands that were divided into five groups (permanently flooded and wetlands that had been dry for 2, 7, 11 and 30 years). Aquatic plant communities germinating from the sediment of wetlands that had been permanently inundated and those that had been dry for 30 years had lower species richness and number of individuals than wetlands with intermediate flooding histories. For microfaunal communities, significantly less individuals but more taxa hatched from wetlands that had been permanently flooded or dry for 2 years than the other wetland groups. These results provide evidence of reduced biotic diversity as hydrological stability is increased under the common management scenarios of making wetlands more permanently wet or dry.     

River-wetland interaction and carbon cycling in a semi-arid riverine system: the Okavango Delta, Botswana

The Okavango River, in semi-arid northwestern Botswana, flows for over 400 km in a pristine wetland developed on a large (>22,000 km²) alluvial fan (Okavango Delta). An annual flood pulse inundates the floodplains of the wetlands and travels across the Delta in 4–6 months. In this study, we assess the effects of long hydraulic residence time, variable hydrologic interaction between river–floodplain–wetland and evapotranspiration on carbon cycling. We measured dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations and stable carbon isotopes of DIC (δ¹³C_DIC) from river water when the Delta was not flooded (low water) and during flooding (high water). During low water, the average DIC concentration was 31 % higher and the δ¹³C_DIC 2.1 ‰ more enriched compared to high water. In the lower Delta with seasonally flooded wetlands, the average DIC concentration increased by 70 % during low water and by 331 % during high water compared to the Panhandle with permanently flooded wetlands. The increasing DIC concentration downriver is mostly due to evapoconcentration from transpiration and evaporation with increased transit time. The average δ¹³C_DIC between low and high water decreased by 3.7 ‰ in the permanently flooded reaches compared to an increase of 1.6 ‰ in the seasonally flooded reaches. The lower δ¹³C_DIC during high water in the permanently flooded reaches suggest that DIC influx from the floodplain-wetland affects river’s DIC cycling. In contrast, higher river channel elevations relative to the wetlands along seasonal flooded reaches limit hydrologic interaction and DIC cycling occurs mostly by water column processes and river-atmospheric exchange. We conclude that river-wetlands interaction and evapoconcentration are important factors controlling carbon cycling in the Okavango Delta.     

Hydrologic similarity to reference wetlands does not lead to similar plant communities in restored wetlands

Few wetland restoration projects include long‐term hydrologic and floristic data collection, limiting our understanding of community assembly over restored hydrologic gradients. Although reference sites are commonly used to evaluate outcomes, it remains unclear whether restoring similar water levels to reference sites also leads to similar plant communities. We evaluated long‐term datasets from reference and restored wetlands 15 years after restoration to test whether similar water levels in reference and restored sites led to vegetation similarity. We compared the hydrologic regimes for three different wetland types, tested whether restored wetland water levels were different from reference water levels, and whether hydrologic similarity between reference and restored wetlands led to similarity in plant species composition. We found restored wetlands had similar water levels to references 15 years after restoration, and that species richness was higher in reference than restored wetlands. Vegetation composition was similar across all wetland types and was weakly correlated to wetland water levels overall. Contrary to our hypothesis, water table depth similarity between restored and reference wetlands did not lead to similar plant species composition. Our results highlight the importance of the initial planting following restoration and the importance of hydrologic monitoring. When the restoration goal is to create a specific wetland type, plant community composition may not be a suitable indicator of restoration progress in all wetland types.     

Utilizing a historical database to refine ground cover vegetation as indicators of wetland hydrology

Indicator species provide an easy and quick method of evaluating ecosystems. The species comprising the most useful indicators of wetlands should be distributed across a range of water depths and inundation durations, while each species is representative of a specific condition. Hydrophytic vegetation is commonly used to determine the existence and type of wetland; however, such indicator systems often depend on assigning species qualitatively to discrete categories based on assumptions about their distribution along a gradient of conditions. The current study proposes a wetland indicator system based on the quantitative responses of individual vegetation species to a gradient of water depths and periods of inundation. A long-term database was utilized to determine species responses to hydrological alterations in a series of wetlands. The hydrophytic plant species investigated (n = 29) displayed relatively narrow ranges of mean hydrologic values and were distributed linearly along multiple hydrologic gradients (hydroperiod, average water depth, and maximum water depth) ranging from Amphicarpum muhlenbergianum which was observed at the shallowest water depths and shortest hydroperiod to Pontederia cordata and Ludwigia repens which were characteristic of wetlands with the deepest water and longest hydroperiod. The species distribution and means along the hydrologic gradients tested indicates they are prime candidates for inclusion in a quantitative or continuum indicator system. The historical database utilized for this study provided valuable information for numerous species common to the Tampa Bay region for which little or no ecological information was previously available. The methodology utilized in this paper provides a cost and time effective method for obtaining the vast amounts of information required to refine plant indicator systems using a large number of species.     

Detecting soil and plant community changes in restored wetlands using a chronosequence approach

Wetland restoration aims to recreate or enhance valuable ecosystem services lost during wetland destruction. Regaining wetland ecosystem services depends on restarting basic wetland functions, like carbon (C) storage, which are unmeasured in many Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) restoration sites. We collected soil and plant data from 17 WRP sites in western New York that were used for tillage or non-tillage agriculture and then actively restored as isolated depressional wetlands by excavating basins and disabling drainage systems. Sites had been restored for 0–15 years when sampled in August-October 2010. We analyzed data as chronosequences and tested whether soil and vegetation parameters in restored wetlands, over time, (1) departed from pre-restoration baselines, estimated using active agricultural fields paired to each WRP site, and (2) converged towards “natural” benchmarks, estimated from four naturally-occurring wetlands. Restored WRP soils remained similar to agricultural soils in organic matter, density, moisture, and belowground plant biomass across chronosequences, indicating negligible C storage and belowground development for 15 years following restoration. Soil changes were limited in sites restored after both tillage and non-tillage agriculture and throughout the upland meadow, emergent shoreline, and open-water habitat zones that characterize these sites. Many plant metrics like aboveground biomass matched natural wetlands within 15 years, but recovered inconsistently among tilled and untilled sites and across all habitat zones, suggesting land-use history impacts and/or zonation effects. Disparities in recovery times exists between vegetation, which can respond quickly to wetland restoration, and underlying soils, which show limited signs of recovery 15 years after being restored.     

Carbon storage dynamics of temperate freshwater wetlands in Pennsylvania

Healthy wetlands play a significant role in climate change mitigation by storing carbon that would otherwise contribute to global warming, leading to the reduction of water and food resources as well as more extreme weather phenomena. Investigating the magnitude of carbon storage potential of different freshwater wetland systems using multiple ecological indicators at varying spatial scales provides insight and justification for selective wetland restoration and conservation initiatives. We provide a holistic accounting of total carbon values for 193 wetland sites, integrating existing carbon algorithms to rapidly assess each of the following carbon pools: above-ground, below-ground, soil, woody debris, shrub cover, and herbaceous cover. Aspects of soil, vegetation, and ecosystem characteristics and stressors were measured to obtain an overall understanding of the ecosystems ability to store carbon (long-term) along a gradient of human disturbance. Based on a review of the literature, methods were prioritized based on the initial data available from field measurements as well as their practicality and ease in replicating the process in the future. Lacustrine human impounded (88.7?±?18.0 tC/ha), riverine beaver impounded (116.2?±?29.4 tC/ha), riverine upper perennial (163.3?±?11.8 tC/ha), riverine lower perennial (199.2?±?24.7 tC/ha), riverine headwater complex (159.5?±?22.2 tC/ha), perennial/seasonal depression (269.6?±?42.4 tC/ha), and slope (162.2?±?14.6 tC/ha) wetland types were compared. Overall results showed moderate variability (9.33–835.95 tC/ha) for total carbon storage values across the wetland types, with an average total carbon storage of 174.6?±?8.8 tC/ha for all wetlands. Results show that carbon storage was significantly higher (p?=?0.002) in least disturbed wetland sites. Apart from perennial/seasonal depression wetlands, all reference standard wetlands had greater carbon storage, less disturbance impact, and a greater extent of forest cover than non-reference wetlands. Carbon storage values calculated were comparable to published literature.     

Plants as indicators of wetland water source

At the local scale, plant species distribution is determined primarily by the environmental characteristics of a site. In a wetland, water chemistry and hydroperiod are two of the most important of these environmental characteristics. Both are functions of water source. In central Pennsylvania, groundwater input tends to be continuous, while surface water may be permanent or seasonal. The chemistry of groundwater and surface water differs since groundwater is influenced by the substrate through which it flows. Because of these differences, and because of their effects on plant species distribution, it is possible to use vegetation as an indicator of the dominant water source of a site. Plots within 28 wetlands in central Pennsylvania were sampled, and the plots were classified by water source. The three hydrologic categories were groundwater, seasonal surface water, and permanent surface water. The core of the study was the analysis of half of the plots to identify species that were associated with a particular water source. Several groups of indicator species were identified. Some species, including Nyssa sylvatica, were strongly associated with the presence of groundwater. Others, such as Symplocarpus foetidus, were strongly associated with the presence of seasonal surface water. Several aquatic species were associated with permanent surface water. The remainder of the plots were used to test the predictive ability of the indicator species identified. The vegetation of a wetland plot predicted its hydrologic category with 72% accuracy. The identification of more indicator species could lead to the development of a useful tool for wetland research and management, since monitoring hydrology is often both expensive and time-consuming.     

Hydrologic and biogeochemical controls on trace element export from northern Wisconsin wetlands

Wetlands play an important role in determining the water quality of streams and are generally considered to act as a sink for many reactive species. However, retention of chemical constituents varies seasonally and is affected by hydrologic and biogeochemical processes including water source, mineral weathering, DOC and SPM cycling, redox status, precipitation/dissolution/adsorption, and seasonal events. Relatively little is known about the influence of these factors on trace element cycling in wetland-influenced streams. To explore the role of wetlands with respect to the retention/release of trace elements to streams, we examined temporal and spatial patterns of concentrations of a large suite of trace elements (via ICP-MS) and geochemical drivers in five streams and wetland rivulets draining natural wetlands in a northern Wisconsin watershed as well as in their groundwater sources (terrestrial recharge, lake recharge, and older lake recharge). We performed principal components analyses of the concentrations of elements and their geochemical drivers in both the streams and rivulets to assist in the identification of factors regulating trace element concentrations. Variation in trace and major element concentrations among the streams was strongly related to the proportion of terrestrial recharge contributing to the stream. A dominant influence of water source on rivulet chemistry was supported by association of groundwater-sourced elements (Ba, Ca, Cs, Mg, Na, Si, Sr) with the primary statistical factor. DOC appeared in the first principal component factor for the streams and in the second factor for the rivulets. Strong correlations of Al, Cd, Ce, Cu, La, Pb, Ti, and Zn with DOC supported the important influence of DOC on trace metal cycling. A number of elements in the rivulets (Al, La, Pb, Ti) and streams (Al, Ce, Cr, Cu, La, Pb, Ti, Zn) had a significant particulate cycle. Redox cycling and precipitation/dissolution reactions involving Fe and Mn likely impacted Cu and Mo as evidenced by the low levels in the rivulets. Variance in Fe, Mn and the metal oxy-anions was associated with factors related to redox cycling and adsorption reactions in the wetland sediments. In streams, DOC and metals with a high affinity for DOC were associated with a factor which also included negative loadings for groundwater-sourced elements, reflecting the importance of seasonal hydrologic events which flush DOC and metals from wetland sediments and dilute groundwater sourced metals. Redox processes were of secondary importance in the streams but of primary significance in the rivulets, documenting the importance of anoxic conditions in wetland sediments on groundwater en route to the stream.     

Influence of water-level fluctuation duration and magnitude on sediment–water nutrient exchange in coastal wetlands

This study examined the influence of water-level fluctuation (WLF) on sediment–water nutrient exchange in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Water levels in the Laurentian Great Lakes have been below the long-term mean for the past 15 years, causing the exposure of sediments that previously have been either continuously inundated or periodically exposed. The magnitude, duration, and frequency of WLF, as well as land-use history, each can influence the amount and type of sediment–water nutrient exchange. We collected sediment cores from relatively pristine coastal wetlands located on Beaver and Garden Islands in northern Lake Michigan. Sediment cores were taken from different water depths to simulate WLF magnitude; desiccation time was experimentally manipulated to simulate WLF duration. At these relatively pristine wetlands, desiccation time and water depth significantly influenced flux. However, nutrient exchange did not behave in a consistent fashion; phosphorus, nitrate, ammonium, and sulfate flux varied based on sediment exposure history and desiccation time. Sediment–water nutrient exchange rates also were compared to prior measurements taken from more impacted coastal wetlands in southern Lake Michigan and Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron. This comparison revealed a stronger influence of anthropogenic stress than desiccation time, with impacted wetland sediments releasing more soluble reactive phosphorus, sulfate, and ammonium, and retaining more nitrate, than pristine wetlands. Our results indicate that WLFs have the potential to influence sediment–water nutrient exchange, which may influence system productivity, but environmental context can override this influence.     

Is consolidation drainage an indirect mechanism for increased abundance of cattail in northern prairie wetlands?

In the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, disturbances to wetlands that disrupt water-level fluctuations in response to wet–dry climatic conditions have the potential to alter natural vegetative communities in favor of species that proliferate in stable environments, such as cattail (Typha spp.). We evaluated the effect of water-level dynamics during a recent fluctuation in wet–dry conditions on cattail coverage within semipermanently and permanently ponded wetlands situated in watersheds with different land use and amounts of wetland drainage. We found that ponded water depth increase was significantly greater in wetlands where water levels were not near the spill point of the topographic basin, where banks were steeper, and in larger wetlands where past dry conditions had less influence on change in pond area. Proportion of the wetland covered by cattail was negatively correlated with increased water depth, bank slope and pond area. Our observations provide evidence that cattail coverage in prairie wetlands is regulated by water-level fluctuations and that land use surrounding the wetland might have an indirect effect on cattail coverage by altering water-level response to wet–dry climate conditions. For example, drainage of smaller wetlands into larger wetlands that are characterized by more permanent hydroperiods, leads to stabilized water levels near their spill point and is therefore a potential mechanism for increased cattail abundance in the northern prairie region.     

基于MODIS的洞庭湖湿地面积对水文的响应

利用MODIS影像数据集提取了2000-2010年间的洞庭湖水面面积。结合城陵矶水位数据分析了10月-翌年5月洞庭湖水体湿地和洲滩湿地的面积变化。研究结果表明,洞庭湖水体湿地呈现明显减小的趋势。2010年2月、10月、12月较2000年2月、10月、12月相比,分别有29.98%、26.76%和9.02%水体湿地转化为洲滩湿地。城陵矶在24-26 m水位涨落的时序变化较大,使东洞庭湖草滩湿地提前出露。推迟淹没,洲滩湿地裸露时间延长,亦将导致低海拔的草滩湿地向芦苇滩湿地的演变。洞庭湖湿地面积的变化是三口、四水来水减少、降雨减少等多方因素共同作用的结果,而三峡在9-10月间蓄水,将进一步加重湿地洲滩化的趋势     

The influence of data characteristics on detecting wetland/stream surface-water connections in the Delmarva Peninsula,Maryland and Delaware

The dependence of downstream waters on upstream ecosystems necessitates an improved understanding of watershed-scale hydrological interactions including connections between wetlands and streams. An evaluation of such connections is challenging when, (1) accurate and complete datasets of wetland and stream locations are often not available and (2) natural variability in surface-water extent influences the frequency and duration of wetland/stream connectivity. The Upper Choptank River watershed on the Delmarva Peninsula in eastern Maryland and Delaware is dominated by a high density of small, forested wetlands. In this analysis, wetland/stream surface water connections were quantified using multiple wetland and stream datasets, including headwater streams and depressions mapped from a lidar-derived digital elevation model. Surface-water extent was mapped across the watershed for spring 2015 using Landsat-8, Radarsat-2 and Worldview-3 imagery. The frequency of wetland/stream connections increased as a more complete and accurate stream dataset was used and surface-water extent was included, in particular when the spatial resolution of the imagery was finer (i.e., <10 m). Depending on the datasets used, 12–60% of wetlands by count (21–93% of wetlands by area) experienced surface-water interactions with streams during spring 2015. This translated into a range of 50–94% of the watershed contributing direct surface water runoff to streamflow. This finding suggests that our interpretation of the frequency and duration of wetland/stream connections will be influenced not only by the spatial and temporal characteristics of wetlands, streams and potential flowpaths, but also by the completeness, accuracy and resolution of input datasets.     

Designing constructed wetlands for reclamation of pretreated wastewater and stormwater

Wastewater reclamation is getting greater attention as an alternative to conventional approaches to wastewater treatment and water supply due to increasing water stress coupled with more stringent water quality limitation for discharge of treated wastewater. Among the few technologies adopted in the field for wastewater reclamation, constructed wetlands have been used to reclaim both primary and secondary treated wastewater in regions with arid and humid climates. This paper summarizes the widely adopted guidelines that need to be considered when designing constructed wetlands for wastewater reclamation, discusses the capacity of wetland treatment systems for water reuse while assessing the status of full-scale constructed wetlands designed for wastewater reclamation, and develops contaminant loading charts as a design tool based on the performance of existing full-scale constructed wetlands deployed for wastewater reclamation. It is evident that constructed wetland systems provide a viable means to treat wastewater to the levels required for low-quality reuses such as restricted irrigation and impoundment. It is challenging for constructed wetlands to consistently meet microbiological guidelines for high-quality reuses such as unrestricted agricultural and urban reuses. Wastewater reclaimed through constructed wetlands is used mainly for agricultural and landscape irrigation, groundwater recharge, indirect potable reuse, and environmental reuse. Surface area and hydraulic loading rate of constructed wetlands to be deployed for wastewater reclamation can be estimated with contaminant loading charts derived from monitoring data of existing full-scale operations.     

Patterns and drivers for wetland connections in the Prairie Pothole Region,United States

Ecosystem function in rivers, lakes and coastal waters depends on the functioning of upstream aquatic ecosystems, necessitating an improved understanding of watershed-scale interactions including variable surface-water flows between wetlands and streams. As surface water in the Prairie Pothole Region expands in wet years, surface-water connections occur between many depressional wetlands and streams. Minimal research has explored the spatial patterns and drivers for the abundance of these connections, despite their potential to inform resource management and regulatory programs including the U.S. Clean Water Act. In this study, wetlands were identified that did not intersect the stream network, but were shown with Landsat images (1990–2011) to become merged with the stream network as surface water expanded. Wetlands were found to spill into or consolidate with other wetlands within both small (2–10 wetlands) and large (>100 wetlands) wetland clusters, eventually intersecting a stream channel, most often via a riparian wetland. These surface-water connections occurred over a wide range of wetland distances from streams (averaging 90–1400 m in different ecoregions). Differences in the spatial abundance of wetlands that show a variable surface-water connection to a stream were best explained by smaller wetland-to-wetland distances, greater wetland abundance, and maximum surface-water extent. This analysis demonstrated that wetland arrangement and surface water expansion are important mechanisms for depressional wetlands to connect to streams and provides a first step to understanding the frequency and abundance of these surface-water connections across the Prairie Pothole Region.     

Predicted risks of groundwater decline in seasonal wetland plant communities depend on basin morphology

In regions of the world where the climate is expected to become drier, meeting environmental water needs for wetlands and other dependent ecosystems will become increasingly challenging. Ecological models can play an important role, by quantifying system responses to reduced water availability and predicting likely ecological impacts. Anticipating these changes can inform both conservation and monitoring effort. We used water-plant functional group models to predict the effects of a declining water table for two wetland types reliant on the surface expression of groundwater but of contrasting basin morphology. Our interest was in quantifying the relative sensitivity of these wetland types to different amounts of groundwater decline. For the shallower, grass-sedge wetland, terrestrial plant probabilities increased markedly for declines between 0.25 and 0.5 m, but amphibious and submerged functional groups changed predictably, or not at all. However, mean inundated area reduced by over 70% for a 0.5 m groundwater decline, suggesting loss of area posed the greatest risk in this wetland type. In the deeper, steep-sided interdunal wetland, inundated area changed little, but models suggest clear transitions in plant functional group composition. Sedge-group probabilities increased sharply for declines between 0.25 and 0.5 m, while declines between 0.5 and 1.0 m predicted the loss of submerged species. As might be anticipated, the risks associated with groundwater level decline depend on basin morphology. However, by quantifying probable ways in which this will manifest in different wetland types, model predictions improve our ability to recognise and manage change.