Identification of priority areas for wetland restoration and conservation: a hydrogeochemical study
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Date
2020-08-20
Authors
Haque, Md Aminul
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Abstract
Very few studies have attempted to identify priority criteria for wetland conservation and restoration in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), based on specific hydrology- and biogeochemistry-related watershed benefits. To guide the development of such criteria, the objectives of this Ph.D. thesis were to: 1) infer wetland-stream interaction dynamics; 2) study the influence of spatial characteristics on wetland hydrologic function; 3) investigate wetland hydrologic response to individual rainfall-runoff events; and 4) relate wetland soil and hydrological characteristics to wetland biogeochemical function. For the purpose of this thesis, sites (i.e., ten intact, three consolidated and ten fully drained wetlands and a nearby creek) within the Broughton’s Creek Watershed (Manitoba, Canada) were monitored over two years for water levels and water-soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations. Soil cores were collected to measure soil physiochemical properties such as equilibrium phosphorus concentration. Hydrological behavioural metrics were computed to reflect year‐specific, season‐specific and event-specific wetland dynamics and were then correlated to wetland physical characteristics to identify landscape controls on wetland hydrologic function. Water column SRP concentrations and soil physiographic properties were also used to infer the time-variable source versus sink behaviour of each of wetland and the factors controlling this behavior. Results indicate a non-stationary behaviour of wetland hydrologic response across different antecedent moisture conditions. No hydrologic response metric showed positive or negative correlations with any of the spatial characteristics for more than 30% of the monitored events. Intact wetlands appeared more likely to provide specific watershed benefits (e.g., water and nutrient retention), compared to consolidated wetlands. Wetland equilibrium phosphorus concentrations ranged between 0 and 2 mg P L-1, but wetland phosphorus retention potential could not be related to any landscape characteristics. Conversely, the area of individual wetlands – together with other landscape characteristics (e.g., storage volume and perimeter) – arose as key surrogate variables to predict some aspects of wetland hydrologic function and were therefore good candidates for developing simple criteria for wetland conservation and restoration. The wetland conservation and restoration scenarios presented at the end of this Ph.D. thesis provide good examples of such criteria and should be confirmed or infirmed in future studies.
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Keywords
Prairie Pothole Region, landscape controls, Storage dynamics, Wetland drainage, Wetland hydrology, Wetland–stream connectivity, Rainfall-runoff events, Wetland hydrologic response, Spatial wetland characteristics, Phosphorus dynamics, Climatic influences
Citation
Haque, A., Ali, G., and Badiou, P. (2018). ‘Hydrological dynamics of prairie pothole wetlands: dominant processes and landscape controls under contrasted conditions’. Hydrological Processes, 32: 2405–2422, doi: 10.1002/hyp.13173
Haque, A., Ali, G., Macrae, M., Badiou, P., and Lobb, D. (2018). ‘Hydroclimatic influences and physiographic controls on phosphorus dynamics in prairie pothole wetlands’. Science of the Total Environment, 645: 1410-1424, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.170
Haque, A., Ali, G., Macrae, M., Badiou, P., and Lobb, D. (2018). ‘Hydroclimatic influences and physiographic controls on phosphorus dynamics in prairie pothole wetlands’. Science of the Total Environment, 645: 1410-1424, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.170