Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Controls of Suspended Sediment Concentration, Nutrient Content, and Transport in a Subtropical Wetland

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Wetlands Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Redistribution of largely organic sediment from low elevation sloughs to higher elevation ridges is a leading hypothesis for the formation and maintenance of the native ridge and slough landscape pattern found in peat wetlands of the Florida Everglades. We tested this redistribution hypothesis by measuring the concentration and characteristics of suspended sediment and its associated nutrients in the flowpaths of adjacent ridge and slough plant communities. Over two wet seasons we found no sustained differences in suspended sediment mass concentrations, particle-associated P and N concentrations, or sizes of suspended particles between ridge and slough sites. Discharge of suspended sediment, particulate nutrients, and solutes were nearly double in the slough flowpath compared to the ridge flowpath due solely to deeper and faster water flow in sloughs. Spatial and temporal variations in suspended sediment were not related to water velocity, consistent with a hypothesis that the critical sheer stress causing entrainment is not commonly exceeded in the present-day managed Everglades. The uniformity in the concentrations and characteristics of suspended sediment at our research site suggests that sediment and particulate nutrient redistribution between ridges and sloughs does not occur, or rarely occurs, in the modern Everglades.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson CJ, Mitsch WJ (2006) Sediment, carbon, and nutrient accumulation at two 10-year-old created riverine marshes. Wetlands 26:779–792

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angeler DG, Sanchez-Carillo S, Garcìa G, Alvarez-Cobelas M (2001) The influence of Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Cambaridae) on water quality and sediment characteristics in Spanish floodplain wetland. Hydrobiologia 464:89–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bazante J, Jacobi F, Solo-Gabrielle HM, Reed D, Mitchell-Bruker S, Childers DL, Leonard L, Ross M (2006) Hydrologic measurements and implications for tree island formation within Everglades National Park. Journal of Hydrology 329:606–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boto KG, Patrick WH Jr (1979) Role of wetlands in the removal of suspended sediment. In: Greeson PE, Clark JR, Clark JE (eds) Wetland functions and values: The state of our understanding. American Water Resources Association, Middleburg, pp 479–489

    Google Scholar 

  • Braskerud BC (2001) The influence of vegetation on sedimentation and resuspension of soil particles in small constructed wetlands. Journal of Environmental Quality 30:1447–1457

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cahoon DR (2006) A review of major storm impacts on coastal wetland elevation. Estuaries and Coasts 29:889–898

    Google Scholar 

  • Childers DL, Doren RF, Jones R, Noe GB, Rugge M, Scinto LJ (2003) Decadal change in vegetation and soil phosphorus patterns across the Everglades landscape. Journal of Environmental Quality 32:344–362

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chow-Fraser P (1999) Seasonal, interannual and spatial variability in the concentrations of total suspended solids in a degraded coastal wetland of Lake Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research 25:799–813

    Google Scholar 

  • Coveney MF, Stites DL, Lowe EF, Battow LE, Conrow R (2002) Nutrient removal from eutrophic lake water by wetland filtration. Ecological Engineering 19:141–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis SM (1981) Mineral flux in the Boney Marsh, Kissimmee River. Mineral retention in relation to overland flow during the three-year period following reflooding. South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis SM, Gunderson LH, Park WA, Richardson JR, Mattson JE (1994) Landscape dimension, composition, and function in a changing Everglades ecosystem. In: Davis SM, Ogden JC (eds) Everglades: The ecosystem and its restoration. St. Lucie, Delray Beach, pp 419–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis SE III, Childers DL, Noe GB (2006) The contribution of leaching to the rapid release of nutrients and carbon in the early decay of oligotrophic wetland vegetation. Hydrobiologia 569:87–97

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeLaune RD, Jugsujinda A, Peterson GW, Patrick WH Jr (2003) Impact of Mississippi River freshwater reintroduction on enhancing marsh accretionary processes in a Louisiana estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 58:653–662

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dierberg FE, Juston JJ, DeBusk TA, Pietro K, Gu B (2005) Relationship between hydraulic efficiency and phosphorus removal in a submerged aquatic vegetation-dominated treatment wetland. Ecological Engineering 25:9–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farve M, Harris W, Dierberg F, Portier K (2004) Association between phosphorus and suspended solids in an Everglades treatment wetland dominated by submersed aquatic vegetation. Wetlands Ecology and Management 12:365–375

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fennessy MS, Brueske CC, Mitsch WJ (1994) Sediment deposition patterns in restored freshwater wetlands using sediment traps. Ecological Engineering 3:409–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox LE (1993) The chemistry of aquatic phosphate: inorganic processes in rivers. Hydrobiologia 253:1–16

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Froelich PN (1988) Kinetic control of dissolved phosphate in natural rivers and estuaries: a primer on the phosphate buffer mechanism. Limnology and Oceanography 33:649–668

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey JW, Schaffranek RW, Noe GB, Larsen LG, Nowacki DJ, O’Connor BL (2009a) Hydro-ecological factors governing surface-water flow on a low-gradient floodplain. Water Resources Research. doi:10.1029/2008WR007129

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang YH, Saiers JE, Harvey JW, Noe GB, Mylon S (2008) Advection, dispersion, and filtration of fine particles within emergent vegetation of the Florida Everglades. Water Resources Research. doi:10.1029/2007WR006290

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadlec RH (1999) The limits of phosphorus removal in wetlands. Wetlands Ecology and Management 7:165–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kadlec RH, Knight RL (1996) Treatment wetlands. Lewis, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen LG, Harvey JW, Crimaldi JP (2007) A delicate balance: ecohydrological feedbacks governing landscape morphology in a lotic peatland. Ecological Monographs 77:591–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen LG, Harvey JW, Noe GB, Crimaldi JP (2009a) Predicting organic floc transport dynamics in shallow aquatic ecosystems: insights from the field, laboratory, and numerical modeling. Water Resources Research. doi:10.1029/2008WR007221

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen LG, Harvey JW, Crimaldi JP (2009b) Predicting morphologic and transport properties of natural organic floc. Water Resources Research. doi:10.1029/2008WR006990

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard LA, Luther ME (1995) Flow hydrodynamics in tidal marsh canopies. Limnology and Oceanography 40:1474–1484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard LA, Reed DJ (2002) Hydrodynamics and sediment transport through tidal marsh canopies. Journal of Coastal Research 36:459–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard LA, Wren PA, Beavers RL (2002) Flow dynamics and sedimentation in Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis marshes of the Chesapeake Bay. Wetlands 22:415–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard L, Croft A, Childers D, Mitchell-Bruker S, Solo-Gabrielle H, Ross M (2006) Characteristics of surface-water flows in the ridge and slough landscape of Everglades National Park: implications for particulate transport. Hydrobiologia 569:5–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Light SS, Dineen JW (1994) Water control in the Everglades: a historical perspective. In: Davis SM, Ogden JC (eds) Everglades: The ecosystem and its restoration. St. Lucie, Delray Beach, pp 47–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Neto R, Mead RN, Louda WJ, Jaffe R (2006) Organic biogeochemistry of detrital flocculent material (floc) in a subtropical, coastal wetland. Biogeochemistry 77:283–304

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noe GB, Childers DL (2007) Phosphorus budgets in Everglades wetland ecosystems: the effects of hydrology and nutrient enrichment. Wetlands Ecology and Management 15:189–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noe GB, Childers DL, Jones RD (2001) Phosphorus biogeochemistry and the impact of phosphorus enrichment: why is the Everglades so unique? Ecosystems 4:603–624

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noe GB, Scinto LJ, Taylor J, Childers DL, Jones RD (2003) Phosphorus cycling and partitioning in oligotrophic Everglades wetland ecosystems: a radioisotope tracing study. Freshwater Biology 48:1993–2008

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noe GB, Harvey J, Saiers J (2007) Characterization of suspended particles in Everglades wetlands. Limnology and Oceanography 52:1166–1178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ogden JC (2005) Everglades ridge and slough conceptual ecological model. Wetlands 25:810–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MR, Nepf HM, Pettersson TJR (2004) Observation of particle capture on a cylindrical collector: implications for particle accumulation and removal in aquatic systems. Limnology and Oceanography 49:76–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips JD (1989) Fluvial sediment storage in wetlands. Water Resources Bulletin 25:867–873

    Google Scholar 

  • Qualls RG, Richardson CJ (2003) Factors controlling concentration, export, and decomposition of dissolved organic nutrients in the Everglades of Florida. Biogeochemistry 62:197–229

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy KR, Wang Y, DeBusk WF, Fisher MM, Newman S (1998) Forms of soil phosphorus in selected hydrologic units of the Florida Everglades. Soil Science Society of America Journal 62:1134–1147

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ross MS, Mitchell-Brucker S, Sah JP, Stothoff S, Ruiz PL, Reed DL, Jayachandran K, Coultas CL (2006) Interaction of hydrology and nutrient limitation in the ridge and slough landscape of the southern Everglades. Hydrobiologia 569:37–59

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saiers JE, Harvey JW, Mylon SE (2003) Surface-water transport of suspended matter through wetland vegetation of the Florida Everglades. Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2003GL018132

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaffranek RW, Jenter HL (2001) Observations of daily temperature patterns in the southern Florida Everglades. In: Hayes DF (ed) Proceedings of the 2001 wetlands engineering & river restoration conference. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston. doi: 10.1061/40581(2001)59.

  • Science Coordination Team (2003) The role of flow in the Everglades ridge and slough landscape. South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Working Group. http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/papers/sct_flows/index.html. Accessed 1 Dec 2005.

  • Sklar F, McVoy C, VanZee R, Gawlik DE, Tarboton K, Rudnick D, Miao S, Armentano T (2002) The effects of altered hydrology on the ecology of the Everglades. In: Porter JW, Porter KG (eds) The Everglades, Florida Bay, and coral reefs of the Florida Keys: An ecosystem sourcebook. CRC, Boca Raton, pp 39–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Sklar FH, Chimney MJ, Newman S, McCormick P, Gawlik D, Miao S, McVoy C, Said W, Newman J, Coronado C, Crozier G, Korvela M, Rutchey K (2005) The ecological–societal underpinnings of Everglades restoration. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3:161–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE, Baustian JJ, Swenson EM, Spicer JS (2006) Wetland sedimentation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Science 314:449–452

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ulén B (2004) Size and settling velocities of phosphorus-containing particles in water from agricultural drains. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 157:331–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whelan KRT, Smith TJ III, Anderson GH, Ouellette ML (2009) Hurricane Wilma’s impact on overall soil elevation and zones within the soil profile in a mangrove forest. Wetlands 29:16–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White JR, Reddy K, Moustafa MZ (2004) Influence of hydrologic regime and vegetation on phosphorus retention in Everglades stormwater treatment area wetlands. Hydrological Processes 18:343–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Wang N, Rutchey K (2006) An analysis of spatial complexity of ridge and slough patterns in the Everglades ecosystem. Ecological Complexity 3:182–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1996) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Dan Nowacki, Jennifer O’Reilly, Ami Riscassi, Joel Detty, and Leanna Westfall for their assistance with field and laboratory work, and Forrest Dierberg, Kurt Kowalski, and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This work was funded by the Everglades Priority Ecosystem Science Program and National Research Program of the USGS and a Canon National Parks Science Scholarship to LGL. Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, 430 National Center, Reston, VA, 20192, USA

    Gregory B. Noe, Judson W. Harvey, Raymond W. Schaffranek & Laurel G. Larsen

Authors
  1. Gregory B. Noe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Judson W. Harvey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Raymond W. Schaffranek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Laurel G. Larsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory B. Noe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Noe, G.B., Harvey, J.W., Schaffranek, R.W. et al. Controls of Suspended Sediment Concentration, Nutrient Content, and Transport in a Subtropical Wetland. Wetlands 30, 39–54 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-009-0002-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-009-0002-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation