You are here:
FY10 RARE Final Report to Region 10: The functional Assessment of Alaska Peatlands in Cook Inlet Basin - report
Citation:
Moffett, M. FY10 RARE Final Report to Region 10: The functional Assessment of Alaska Peatlands in Cook Inlet Basin - report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/X-15/102.
Impact/Purpose:
For south central Alaska, management of wetlands shall be helped knowing there is a meaningful classification of the peatlands for this area and a variety of ecological functions that can be examined and measured to support decision making about stressor effects on the peatlands, their ecoservices and how to continue to ensure the peatlands are sustainable.
Description:
Peatlands in south central Alaska form the predominant wetland class in the lowlands that encompass Cook Inlet. These peatlands are also in areas of increasing human development in Alaska. Currently Alaska peatlands are extensive and largely pristine. This study focused onobtaining measures of functional aspects of these peatlands to help environmental managers and wetland scientists better understand processes and ecoservices that peatlands in this landscape provide. Measures of peatland processes will help determine expectations for wetlands of this area. Six tasks and their results included Task 1 which found the regional Cook Inlet Wetland Classification (CIC) to accurately classify peatlands into several subtypes by primarily ecohydrologic functional characteristics and the CIC did so relatively better than two other classification systems. Task 2 used piezometer wells to collect porewater for chemical characterization to help determine discharge/recharge function and interestingly revealed that peatlands on the Kenai Peninsula function hydrologically as bogs but are structurallycharacterized by plants and water chemistry as fens. Task 3 measured potential enzyme activities to describe constraints on nutrient acquisition and organic C decomposition for the first time in Alaska peatlands and revealed that enzymatic stoichiometry was useful for determiningmicrobial P and N limitation and phenol oxidase was especially helpful in prediction of P and N acquisition in relationship to organic C decomposition. Task 4 used an end-member mixing model and water budget on a small watershed with anadromous fish support and found thecontribution of peatland waters to summer baseflow was significant. Task 5 was an examination of historical and current aerial photographs over 45 years and found bogs in the area were neither expanding nor contracting. Task 6 measured dissolved arsenic levels in 260 porewater samples and found 30% or 8 of 27 different peatlands exceed the current drinking water standard of 10ìgAs/L. These tasks bring a better conceptual understanding using quantitative and objective measures of ecosystem processes within peatlands and among peatlands in the watersheds where they occur. For the area of south central Alaska, management of wetlands shall be helped knowing there is a meaningful classification of the peatlands for this area and a variety of ecological functions that can be examined and measured to support decision making about stressor effects on the peatlands, their ecoservices and how to continue to ensure the peatlands are sustainable.