Nutrient Release from a Recently Flooded Delta Wetland: Comparison of Field Measurements to Laboratory Results

Wetland restoration is expected to reduce external phosphorous (P) loading to hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, USA, where P was identified as the primary driver of lake productivity. However, previous laboratory experiments showed that a large P release could occur when former agricultur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.) N.C.), 2011-04, Vol.31 (2), p.433-443
Main Authors: Wong, Siana W., Barry, Matthew J., Aldous, Allison R., Rudd, Nathan T., Hendrixson, Heather A., Doehring, Carolyn M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Agricultural production
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Coastal Sciences
Decomposition
Ecology
Environmental Management
Environmental restoration
Experiments
Flooding
Floods
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Groundwater discharge
Hydrogeology
Hydrology
Laboratories
Lakes
Landscape Ecology
Levees & battures
Life Sciences
Nutrient concentrations
Nutrient release
Nutrients
Restoration
River ecology
Soil erosion
Surface water
Water quality
Watersheds
Wetlands
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Summary:Wetland restoration is expected to reduce external phosphorous (P) loading to hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, USA, where P was identified as the primary driver of lake productivity. However, previous laboratory experiments showed that a large P release could occur when former agricultural land is re-flooded for restoration, thus presenting an initial challenge for wetland restoration projects. We tested whether results from those experiments were supported during the initial phase of restoration at the Williamson River Delta adjacent to Upper Klamath Lake. Our objectives were to document post-flood surface water nutrient concentrations, estimate the P mass released from the newly flooded wetlands, and compare these results to the laboratory experiments. Phosphorus concentrations in the wetlands ranged from 0.1 to 0.63 mg P/L and were up to six times greater than in the lakes, corroborating that the wetlands released P upon flooding. However, we estimated 2 Mg P released within three weeks of flooding, which is much lower than the anticipated 64-Mg release from these wetlands, and a fraction of the annual 21–25 Mg load from the Delta before reconnection. This pulse is expected to be short-term; longer term studies will address the role of these wetlands in retaining nutrients.
ISSN:0277-5212
1943-6246
DOI:10.1007/s13157-010-0137-4