Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands
Prairie-pothole wetlands provide the critical habitat necessary for supporting North American migratory waterfowl populations. However, climate and land-use change threaten the sustainability of these wetland ecosystems. Very few experiments and analyses have been designed to investigate the relativ...
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doaj-bd3429b6eb7d42e9bc7398d64ac223752020-11-25T00:34:30ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502019-11-011123658110.3390/su11236581su11236581Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole WetlandsOwen P. McKenna0Samuel R. Kucia1David M. Mushet2Michael J. Anteau3Mark T. Wiltermuth4U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USAU.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USAU.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USAU.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USAU.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI 54603, USAPrairie-pothole wetlands provide the critical habitat necessary for supporting North American migratory waterfowl populations. However, climate and land-use change threaten the sustainability of these wetland ecosystems. Very few experiments and analyses have been designed to investigate the relative impacts of climate and land-use change drivers, as well as the antagonistic or synergistic interactions among these drivers on ecosystem processes. Prairie-pothole wetland water budgets are highly dependent on atmospheric inputs and especially surface runoff, which makes them especially susceptible to changes in climate and land use. Here, we present the history of prairie-pothole climate and land-use change research and address the following research questions: 1) What are the relative effects of climate and land-use change on the sustainability of prairie-pothole wetlands? and 2) Do the effects of climate and land-use change interact differently under different climatic conditions? To address these research questions, we modeled 25 wetland basins (1949−2018) and measured the response of the lowest wetland in the watershed to wetland drainage and climate variability. We found that during an extremely wet period (1993−2000) wetland drainage decreased the time at which the lowest wetland reached its spill point by four years, resulting in 10 times the amount of water spilling out of the watershed towards local stream networks. By quantifying the relative effects of both climate and land-use drivers on wetland ecosystems our findings can help managers cope with uncertainties about flooding risks and provide insight into how to manage wetlands to restore functionality.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/23/6581prairie pothole wetlandsclimate changeland-use changewetland drainagephyliss model |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Owen P. McKenna Samuel R. Kucia David M. Mushet Michael J. Anteau Mark T. Wiltermuth |
spellingShingle |
Owen P. McKenna Samuel R. Kucia David M. Mushet Michael J. Anteau Mark T. Wiltermuth Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands Sustainability prairie pothole wetlands climate change land-use change wetland drainage phyliss model |
author_facet |
Owen P. McKenna Samuel R. Kucia David M. Mushet Michael J. Anteau Mark T. Wiltermuth |
author_sort |
Owen P. McKenna |
title |
Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands |
title_short |
Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands |
title_full |
Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands |
title_fullStr |
Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands |
title_sort |
synergistic interaction of climate and land-use drivers alter the function of north american, prairie-pothole wetlands |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2019-11-01 |
description |
Prairie-pothole wetlands provide the critical habitat necessary for supporting North American migratory waterfowl populations. However, climate and land-use change threaten the sustainability of these wetland ecosystems. Very few experiments and analyses have been designed to investigate the relative impacts of climate and land-use change drivers, as well as the antagonistic or synergistic interactions among these drivers on ecosystem processes. Prairie-pothole wetland water budgets are highly dependent on atmospheric inputs and especially surface runoff, which makes them especially susceptible to changes in climate and land use. Here, we present the history of prairie-pothole climate and land-use change research and address the following research questions: 1) What are the relative effects of climate and land-use change on the sustainability of prairie-pothole wetlands? and 2) Do the effects of climate and land-use change interact differently under different climatic conditions? To address these research questions, we modeled 25 wetland basins (1949−2018) and measured the response of the lowest wetland in the watershed to wetland drainage and climate variability. We found that during an extremely wet period (1993−2000) wetland drainage decreased the time at which the lowest wetland reached its spill point by four years, resulting in 10 times the amount of water spilling out of the watershed towards local stream networks. By quantifying the relative effects of both climate and land-use drivers on wetland ecosystems our findings can help managers cope with uncertainties about flooding risks and provide insight into how to manage wetlands to restore functionality. |
topic |
prairie pothole wetlands climate change land-use change wetland drainage phyliss model |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/23/6581 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT owenpmckenna synergisticinteractionofclimateandlandusedriversalterthefunctionofnorthamericanprairiepotholewetlands AT samuelrkucia synergisticinteractionofclimateandlandusedriversalterthefunctionofnorthamericanprairiepotholewetlands AT davidmmushet synergisticinteractionofclimateandlandusedriversalterthefunctionofnorthamericanprairiepotholewetlands AT michaeljanteau synergisticinteractionofclimateandlandusedriversalterthefunctionofnorthamericanprairiepotholewetlands AT marktwiltermuth synergisticinteractionofclimateandlandusedriversalterthefunctionofnorthamericanprairiepotholewetlands |
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