Landscape Conservation of Aquatic Habitats Promotes Watershed-scale Biological, Biogeochemical, and Hydrological Functions
Citation:
Lane, C. Landscape Conservation of Aquatic Habitats Promotes Watershed-scale Biological, Biogeochemical, and Hydrological Functions. International Symposium on Wetland Protected Area Systems, Haikou, CHINA, December 04 - 07, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
Invited presentation at UN-sponsored Wetland Protected Areas of China international conference
Description:
Wetlands are exceptionally productive landscape features that provide critical habitat for endemic species, threatened/endangered and migratory animals, store floodwaters and maintain baseflows in stream systems, recharge groundwaters, and biogeochemically and physically affect nutrient concentrations benefitting downstream waters. Though the rates have slowed, the 48 contiguous states of the US (the “Lower 48”) have lost approximately 50% of their wetlands since European settlement, concurrently losing the ecosystem services and ecological benefits of these aquatic features. The scale of those loses lead to research questions on the current condition and function of the existing – or remaining – wetlands. US Environmental Protection Agency research focuses on monitoring wetland condition and vegetative composition, as well as quantifying the ecological, biogeochemical, and hydrological functions of the wetlands of the United States. Quantifying wetland functions, including the maintenance of biodiversity, is challenging as wetland vegetative structure and geomorphological position can affect wetland functioning. Furthermore, the value of wetland functions such as biological diversity is frequently dependent on the perceptions of the stakeholders. In the United States, conserving, protecting, and improving wetlands and thus maintaining their functions on the landscape is complicated by uncertainty associated with state and federal questions of jurisdiction over the nation’s wetlands. This presentation will address current research findings on the landscape-scale conservation of wetlands: the functional importance of wetlands at the watershed scale in maintaining biodiversity, effective hydrology, and biogeochemical functioning; current efforts in the US to monitor and assess wetlands across the country; and challenges in protecting wetlands at the watershed scale.