Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Water Quality Consequences of Restoring Wetland Hydrology to a Large Agricultural Watershed in the Southeastern Coastal Plain

  • Published:
Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To ameliorate local and coastal eutrophication, management agencies are increasingly turning to wetland restoration. A large portion of restoration is occurring in areas that were drained for agriculture. To recover wetland function these areas must be reflooded and disturbances to soils, including high nutrient content due to past fertilizer use, loss of organic matter and soil compaction, must be reversed. Here, we quantified nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) retention and transformation in a unique large-scale (440 ha) restored wetland in the North Carolina coastal plain, the Timberlake Restoration Project (TLRP). For 2 years following restoration, we quantified water and nutrient budgets for this former agricultural field. We anticipated that TLRP would export high concentrations of inorganic P immediately following reflooding, while retaining or transforming inorganic N. In the first 2 years after a return to the precipitation and wind-driven hydrology, TLRP retained or transformed 97% of NO3–N, 32% of TDN, 25% of NH4–N, and 53% of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) delivered from inflows and precipitation, while exporting 20% more dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), and 13% more total P (inorganic, organic, and particulate P) than inputs. Areal mass retention rates of N and P at TLRP were low compared to other restored wetlands; however, the site efficiently retained pulses of fertilizer NO3–N derived from an upstream farm. This capacity for retaining N pulses indicates that the potential nutrient removal capacity of TLRP is much higher than measured annual rates. Our results illustrate the importance of considering both organic and inorganic forms of N and P when assessing the benefits of wetland restoration. We suggest that for wetland restoration to be an efficient tool in the amelioration of coastal eutrophication a better understanding of the coupled movement of the various forms of N and P is necessary.

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.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldous A, McCormick P, Ferguson C, Graham S, Craft C. 2005. Hydrologic regime controls soil phosphorus fluxes in restoration and undisturbed wetlands. Restor Ecol 13:341–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aldous AR, Craft CB, Stevens CJ, Barry MJ, Bach LB. 2007. Soil phosphorus release from a restoration wetland, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Wetlands 27:1025–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allan RP, Soden BJ. 2008. Atmospheric warming and the amplification of precipitation extremes. Science 321:1481–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • APHA, American Public Health Association. 1998. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. Washington (DC): American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Army Corps of Engineers. 1997. Umbrella Memorandum of agreement between bank sponsors, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al. In: U.S.A.C.o. Ed. Engineers. p 27.

  • BenDor T, Sholtes J, Doyle MW. 2009. Landscape characteristics of a stream and wetland mitigation banking program. Ecol Appl 19:2078–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett EM, Carpenter SR, Caraco NF. 2001. Human impact on erodable phosphorus and eutrophication: a global perspective. Bioscience 51:227–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernhardt ES, Band LE, Walsh CJ, Berke PE. 2008. Understanding, managing, and minimizing urban impacts on surface water nitrogen loading. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1134:61–96.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Braskerud BC. 2002a. Factors affecting nitrogen retention in small constructed wetlands treating agricultural non-point source pollution. Ecol Eng 18:351–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braskerud BC. 2002b. Factors affecting phosphorus retention in small constructed wetlands treating agricultural non-point source pollution. Ecol Eng 19:41–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruland GL, Richardson CJ. 2005. Spatial variability of soil properties in created, restored, and paired natural wetlands. Soil Sci Soc Am J 69:273–84.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carter LJ. 1975. Agriculture—new frontier in coastal North-Carolina. Science 189:271–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chesapeake Bay Program 2000. Chesapeake 2000. http://www.chesapeakebay.net/content/publications/cbp_12081.PDF.

  • Coveney MF, Stites DL, Lowe EF, Battoe LE, Conrow R. 2002. Nutrient removal from eutrophic lake water by wetland filtration. Ecol Eng 19:141–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craft CB, Richardson CJ. 1993. Peat accretion and N, P, and organic C accumulation in nutrient-enriched and unenriched Everglades peatlands. Ecol Appl 3:446–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl TE. 2006. Status and trends of wetlands in the conterminous United States 1998 to 2004. Washington, DC

  • Davidson EA, Swank WT. 1986. Environmental parameters regulating gaseous nitrogen losses from 2 forested ecosystems via nitrification and denitrification. Appl Environ Microbiol 52:1287–92.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz RJ, Rosenberg R. 2008. Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems. Science 321:926–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duff JH, Carpenter KD, Snyder DT, Lee KK, Avanzino RJ, Triska FJ. 2009. Phosphorus and nitrogen legacy in a restoration wetland, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Wetlands 29:735–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Efron B. 1982. The jackknife, the bootstrap, and other resampling plans. Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics CBMS-NSF Monographs 38.

  • Fink DF, Mitsch WJ. 2004. Seasonal and storm event during nutrient removal by a created wetland in an agricultural watershed. Ecol Eng 23:313–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fink DF, Mitsch WJ. 2007. Hydrology and nutrient biogeochemistry in a created river diversion oxbow wetland. Ecol Eng 30:93–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genereux DP, Jordan MT, Carbonell D. 2005. A paired-watershed budget study to quantify interbasin groundwater flow in a lowland rain forest, Costa Rica. Water Resour Res 41:W04011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt PG, Stone KC, Humenik FJ, Matheny TA, Johnson MH. 1999. In-stream wetland mitigation of nitrogen contamination in a USA coastal plain stream. J Environ Qual 28:249–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston CA. 1991. Sediment and nutrient retention by freshwater wetlands: effects on surface-water quality. Crit Rev Environ Control 21:491–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan TE, Whigham DF, Hofmockel KH, Pittek MA. 2003. Nutrient and sediment removal by a restored wetland receiving agricultural runoff. J Environ Qual 32:1534–47.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kadlec RH. 2006. Free surface wetlands for phosphorus removal: the position of the Everglades Nutrient Removal Project. Ecol Eng 27:361–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kadlec RH. 2009a. Comparison of free water and horizontal subsurface treatment wetlands. Ecol Eng 35:159–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kadlec RH. 2009b. Wastewater treatment at the Houghton Lake wetland: hydrology and water quality. Ecol Eng 35:1287–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koroleff F. 1983. Simultaneous oxidation of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds by persulfate. In: Grasshoff K, Eberhardt M, Kremling K, Eds. Methods of seawater analysis. New York: Wiley VCH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacic DA, Twait RM, Wallace MP, Bowling JM. 2006. Use of created wetlands to improve water quality in the Midwest-Lake Bloomington case study. Ecol Eng 28:258–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Likens GE, Bormann FH. 1995. Biogeochemistry of a forested ecosystem. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Gosselink JG. 2007. Wetlands. Hoboken (NJ): Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Wu XY, Nairn RW, Weihe PE, Wang NM, Deal R, Boucher CE. 1998. Creating and restoring wetlands—a whole-ecosystem experiment in self-design. Bioscience 48:1019–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Day JW, Gilliam JW, Groffman PM, Hey DL, Randall GW, Wang NM. 2001. Reducing nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin: strategies to counter a persistent ecological problem. Bioscience 51:373–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Day JW, Zhang L, Lane RR. 2005. Nitrate-nitrogen retention in wetlands in the Mississippi river basin. Ecol Eng 24:267–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse JL. 2010. Farm fields to wetlands: Biogeochemical consequences of re-flooding in coastal plain agricultural lands. Durham: University Program in Ecology. Duke University. p 134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moustafa MZ. 1999. Nutrient retention dynamics of the Everglades nutrient removal project. Wetlands 19:689–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Needham R. 2006. Implementation plan for agricultural restoration at Timberlake farms. Wilmington (NC): Needham Environmental Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neely H. 2008. Restoring farmland to wetlands: the potential for carbon credits in eastern North Carolina. Durham (NC): Nicholas School of the Environment. Duke University. p 31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novak JM, Szogi AA, Stone KC, Watts DW, Johnson MH. 2007. Dissolved phosphorus export from an animal waste impacted in-stream wetland: response to tropical storm and hurricane disturbance. J Environ Qual 36:790–800.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pant HK, Reddy KR. 2003. Potential internal loading of phosphorus in a wetland constructed in agricultural land. Water Res 37:965–72.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Poe AC, Pichler MF, Thompson SP, Paerl HW. 2003. Denitrification in a constructed wetland receiving agricultural runoff. Wetlands 23:817–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulter B, Halpin PN. 2008. Raster modelling of coastal flooding from sea-level rise. Int J Geogr Inf Sci 22:167–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulter B, Christensen NL, Halpin PN. 2006. Carbon emissions from a temperate peat fire and its relevance to interannual variability of trace atmospheric greenhouse gases. J Geophysical Res 111:D06301.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Poulter B, Goodall JL, Halpin PN. 2008. Applications of network analysis for adaptive management of artificial drainage systems in landscapes vulnerable to sea level rise. J Hydrol 357:207–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raisin GW, Mitchell DS, Croome RL. 1997. The effectiveness of a small constructed wetland in ameliorating diffuse nutrient loadings from an Australian rural catchment. Ecol Eng 9:19–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy KR, DeLaune RD. 2008. Biogeochemistry of wetlands: science and applications. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy KR, Kadlec RH, Flaig E, Gale PM. 1999. Phosphorus retention in streams and wetlands: a review. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 29:83–146.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reinelt LE, Horner RR. 1995. Pollutant removal from stormwater runoff by palustrine wetlands based on comprehensive budgets. Ecol Eng 4:77–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson CJ. 1983. Pocosins: vanishing wastelands or valuable wetlands? Bioscience 33:626–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson CJ. 1985. Mechanisms controlling phosphorus retention capacity in freshwater wetlands. Science 228:1424–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson CJ. 2003. Pocosins: hydrologically isolated or integrated wetlands on the landscape? Wetlands 23:563–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson CJ, Ed. 2008. The Everglades experiments. Lessons for ecosystem restoration. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royer TV, David MB, Gentry LE. 2006. Timing of riverine export of nitrate and phosphorus from agricultural watersheds in Illinois: implications for reducing nutrient loading to the Mississippi River. Environ Sci Technol 40:4126–31.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shields CA, Band LE, Law N, Groffman PM, Kaushal SS, Savvas K, Fisher GT, Belt KT. 2008. Streamflow distribution of non-point source nitrogen export from urban-rural catchments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Water Resources Research 44:W09416.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Skaggs RW, Gilliam JW, Sheets TJ. 1980. Effect of agricultural land development on drainage waters in North Carolina Tidewater region. Raleigh (NC): Water Resources Research Institute, University of North Carolina.

    Google Scholar 

  • State Climate Office of North Carolina. 2009. http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/climate/drought.php.

  • Stevens CJ, Quinton JN. 2009. Diffuse pollution swapping in arable agricultural systems. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 39:478–520.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stoy PC, Katul GG, Siqueira MBS, Juang JY, Novick KA, McCarthy HR, Oishi AC, Uebelherr JM, Kim HS, Oren R. 2006. Separating the effects of climate and vegetation on evapotranspiration along a successional chronosequence in the southeastern US. Glob Chang Biol 12:2115–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USFW.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. http://www.fws.gov/PocosinLakes/news/news-erf-out.html

  • Van Dijk J, Stroetenga M, Bos L, Van Bodegom PM, Verhoef HA, Aerts R. 2004. Restoring natural seepage conditions on former agricultural grasslands does not lead to reduction of organic matter decomposition and soil nutrient dynamics. Biogeochemistry 71:317–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venterink HO, Davidsson TE, Kiehl K, Leonardson L. 2002. Impact of drying and re-wetting on N, P and K dynamics in a wetland soil. Plant Soil 243:119–30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verhoeven JTA, Arheimer B, Yin CQ, Hefting MM. 2006. Regional and global concerns over wetlands and water quality. Trends Ecol Evol 21:96–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Aber JD, Howarth RW, Likens GE, Matson PA, Schindler DW, Schlesinger WH, Tilman GD. 1997. Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: sources and consequences. Ecol Appl 7:737–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner KI, Gallagher SK, Hayes M, Lawrence BA, Zedler JB. 2008. Wetland restoration in the new millennium: do research efforts match opportunities? Restor Ecol 16:367–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walbridge MR. 1991. Phosphorus availability in acid organic soils of the lower North Carolina coastal plain. Ecology 72:2083–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weller DE, Mitsch WJ, Hogan DM, Hogan DE. 1994. Denitrification in riparian forests receiving agricultural discharges. In: Mitsch WJ, Ed. Global wetlands; old world and new. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiegner TN, Seitzinger SP. 2004. Seasonal bioavailability of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen from pristine and polluted freshwater wetlands. Limnol Oceanogr 49:1703–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winter TC. 1981. Uncertainties in estimating water balance of lakes. Water Resour Bull 17:82–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woltemade CJ. 2000. Ability of restored wetlands to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in agricultural drainage water. J Soil Water Conserv 55:303–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zedler JB. 2003. Wetlands at your service: reducing impacts of agriculture at the watershed scale. Front Ecol Environ 1:65–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zedler JB, Kercher S. 2005. Wetland resources: status, trends, ecosystem services, and restorability. Annu Rev Environ Resour 30:39–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to R. Bier, K. Ballance, and M. Burke-Scoll for help in the field and the laboratory. K. Novick provided ET estimates. This research was supported by a private gift from GDSMB in support of basic research, grant 70233 from North Carolina’s Water Resources Research Institute, a small grant for monitoring equipment from NC DENR, and a grant to E.S. Bernhardt from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (BER) through the Coastal Center of the National Institute for Climatic Change Research at Tulane University. J.L. Morse was supported by an EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship (FP916599) and M. Ardón was supported by NSF DBI-085576.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    Marcelo Ardón, Jennifer L. Morse & Emily S. Bernhardt

  2. Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA

    Martin W. Doyle

Authors
  1. Marcelo Ardón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer L. Morse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martin W. Doyle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Emily S. Bernhardt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcelo Ardón.

Additional information

Author contributions

This study was designed by MA, JLM, MWD, and ESB. MA and JLM performed research. MA and JLM analyzed data. MA, JLM, MWD, and ESB wrote the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ardón, M., Morse, J.L., Doyle, M.W. et al. The Water Quality Consequences of Restoring Wetland Hydrology to a Large Agricultural Watershed in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Ecosystems 13, 1060–1078 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9374-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9374-x

Key words

Search

Navigation