Denitrification
Carbon Sequestration
Hydrology
Headwater Wetland Functioning
Although small in area, riparian wetlands provide a disproportionate share of valuable ecosystem functions to the larger landscape. These systems act as sinks for and transformers of inorganic nutrients, and as sources of organic material to aquatic systems. In light of the pressures on these systems from surrounding land use, assessments must be performed in order to elucidate the current functioning of riparian wetlands. In this study we are aiming to investigate the relationships between wetland condition, as described by condition assessments developed in Pennsylvania (Level 2 Rapid Assessment Protocol) and Ohio (ORAM), and key ecosystem services such as flood storage, carbon sequestration, and nitrogen cycling.
Our Research Team
Collaborators
- Denice H. Wardrop, Project PI, Penn State, Wetland Ecologist
- Siobhan M. Fennessy, Project PI, Kenyon College, Botanist
- Aliana Britson, Penn State, Wetland Ecologist
- Melanie Harrison, NOAA, Ecologist
- Hannah Ingram, Penn State, Wetland Ecologist
Students
- Brett Dietz, Penn State (2006 - 2012)
- Marla Korpar, Penn State (2011)
- Kyle Martin, Penn State (2011)
- Becca Baker, Penn State (2012)
- Sally Wilson, Kenyon College (2010)
Project Products
Fennessy, M.S., D.H. Wardrop, J.B. Moon, S.A. Wilson, & C.B. Craft. 2018. Shifts in soil carbon sequestration in freshwater wetlands across a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance. Ecological Engineering 114:129-136.
Wardrop, D.H., M.S. Fennessy, J.B. Moon, & A. Britson. 2016. Effects of human activity on the processing of nitrogen in riparian wetlands: implications for watershed water quality, In: Vymazal, J. (Ed.). Natural and Constructed Wetlands: Nutrients, heavy metals and energy cycling and flow. Springer International Publishing, AG, Cham, Switzerland.