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A hydrologic tracer study in a small, natural wetland in the humid tropics of Costa Rica

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Abstract

Growing populations and food demand in the tropics are leading to increased environmental pressures on wetland ecosystems, including a greater reliance on natural wetlands for water quality improvement. Effective assessment of wetland treatment potential requires an improved understanding of the hydraulic and biogeochemical factors that govern contaminant behavior, however detailed studies of flow through natural, tropical wetlands are scarce. We performed a tracer study using a conservative salt (potassium bromide) to examine the hydraulic behavior of a small, natural wetland in the Costa Rican humid tropics and modeled observed breakthrough curves using the 1-D advection–dispersion equation. Velocities in the wetland were extremely slow, from less than 4 m day−1 to a maximum of ~30 m day−1, and were distributed across several flowpaths, illustrating a spatial heterogeneity of flow and velocities. Modeled dispersion coefficients were also low (33 ± 33 m2 day−1). Estimated residence times suggested high potential pollutant removal capacity over a range of influent concentrations, reinforcing the environmental services provided by this and other small tropical wetlands. The study also highlighted how small variations in wetland topography and vegetation yield strong differences in transport patterns that affect transport and mixing in densely vegetated, heterogeneous wetland systems. Empirical data on the hydraulics, and resulting ecosystem functions, of small, distributed wetlands may provide support for improved conservation and management of these important ecosystems.

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Abbreviations

Br− :

Bromide

BTC:

Breakthrough curve

τ:

Residence time

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Wynn Philips and the University of Florida (UF) Gatorade Foundation for the generous funding to support this research. This work would not have been possible without the contributions of Paul Lane, Timothy Townsend, Hwidong Kim (UF) and Julio Tejada, Faelen Tais Kolln, Maria Floridalma Miguel Ros, Natalia Solano Valverde, Pedro Bidegaray, and Daniel Sherrard (EARTH University). M. Bachelin thanks Dr. Andrea Rinaldo (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) for M.Sc. co-supervision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Sciences Department, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, 6 Phelps Lab, P.O. Box 116350, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    D. Kaplan

  2. Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida, 287 Frazier Rogers Hall, P.O. Box 110570, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    D. Kaplan, M. Bachelin, C. Yu & R. Muñoz-Carpena

  3. Section Sciences et Ingénierie de l’Environnement, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CE 3 316, Station 1, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    M. Bachelin

  4. USDA-ARS Southeast Watershed Laboratory, 2316 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA, 31793, USA

    Thomas L. Potter

  5. EARTH University, P.O. Box 4442-1000, San José, Costa Rica

    W. Rodriguez-Chacón

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  1. D. Kaplan
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  2. M. Bachelin
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  4. R. Muñoz-Carpena
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Correspondence to D. Kaplan.

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Kaplan, D., Bachelin, M., Yu, C. et al. A hydrologic tracer study in a small, natural wetland in the humid tropics of Costa Rica. Wetlands Ecol Manage 23, 167–182 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9367-1

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