Home > Science Seminar > Fall 2006 Seminar Schedule > Riparian Buffer Systems
The Science Seminar Series: September 21, 2006 4pm
Riparian Buffer Systems
Dr. Richard Lowrance
USDA-Southeast Watershed Lab in Tifton
Powell Hall AuditoriumTime: 4:00 - 5:00pm
Abstract
Historically, wetlands were managed to remove excess water as quickly as possible. The goal was to convert wetlands and wetland soils to non-wetland uses or to convert them to farmed wetlands. Wetland management has changed because of a scientific consensus that loss of wetlands adversely affected water quality, flood storage, and wildlife habitat. Today, although some wetland conversion and filling continues, non-farmed wetlands are more likely to be managed to improve water quality, increase flood storage, and enhance wildlife habitat. Best Management Practices (BMPs) for wetlands include wetland restoration, wetland enhancement, wetland creation, and wetland construction. Thus wetland management as a conservation practice can range from building completely new wetlands for wastewater treatment to increasing the ecological functions of existing wetlands. These management approaches are all recognized as separate but often interacting practices and can be used to achieve a suite of conservation and environmental quality objectives. In many cases in highly altered landscapes, managed wetlands may be most effective at outlets of watersheds rather than scattered around throughout the basin. Hydrologic loading is of special importance because the relationship between hydrologic fluxes and storage in wetlands determines the residence time of water. Residence time is critical in nitrogen removal by wetlands and riparian zones. Even in ideal conditions for using wetlands as a denitrification reactor where high nitrate water is put into a wetland environment, there can be low efficiency of nitrate removal due to low residence time of water. The Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) a model of riparian wetland function will be used to address the effects of varying N loadings on denitrification in wetland soils. In wetland soils with high denitrification potentials, REMM shows that very high loadings will be denitrified and not reach receiving waters. In soils with lower denitrification potentials, a higher proportion of the nitrogen load is passed through the wetland.