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Climate Change Effects on Hydrology and Ecology of Wetlands in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands

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Abstract

Global climate change has received increased attention in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands (MAH) Region of the United States in recent years. Several climate models predict increases in mean temperature of 1–5°C over the next one hundred years for the region, which has considerable implications for wetland ecosystems already encumbered by numerous anthropogenic stressors; however, historical (i.e., 1890s–current) data from the MAH presented here show increasing trends in precipitation intensity and decreasing trends in temperature. Continuation of historical trends for the next 90 years are used to predict potential impacts on regional wetland extent and function using empirical and conceptual models. Recommendations for management of climate related impacts on wetlands include analysis of historical climate trends at regional and local scales, establishment of wetland monitoring networks to quantify impacts of climate induced stress on wetland ecosystems, and integration of historical trends and research findings into empirical and conceptual models. Management strategies of this nature will facilitate early detection and mitigation of climate induced effects on wetlands in the MAH.

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Acknowledgments

The authors of this paper thank the Environmental Research Center of West Virginia for providing logistical support and funding for this project and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for financial support. This is scientific article 3121 of the West Virginia University Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Research Center, West Virginia University, PO Box 6125, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6125, USA

    Jonathan L. Pitchford, Chenjie Wu, LianShin Lin, J. Todd Petty, Richard Thomas, Walter E. Veselka IV, Danny Welsch, Nicolas Zegre & James T. Anderson

  2. Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, PO Box 6125, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6125, USA

    Jonathan L. Pitchford, J. Todd Petty, Walter E. Veselka IV, Nicolas Zegre & James T. Anderson

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, PO Box 6103, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6125, USA

    Chenjie Wu & LianShin Lin

  4. Department of Biology, West Virginia University, PO Box 6057, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6125, USA

    Richard Thomas

  5. Canaan Valley Institute, 494 RiverStone Road, Davis, WV, 26260, USA

    Danny Welsch

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  1. Jonathan L. Pitchford
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Correspondence to James T. Anderson.

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Pitchford, J.L., Wu, C., Lin, L. et al. Climate Change Effects on Hydrology and Ecology of Wetlands in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands. Wetlands 32, 21–33 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-011-0259-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-011-0259-3

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