Effects of altered precipitation regimes on wetland ecohydrology and biogeochemistry

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Wetlands are integral units in the landscape, providing a number of ecosystem services to society, including important hydrological, biogeochemical, ecological, and societal functions. Climate change scenarios are predicting decreased growing season precipitation concentrated in fewer, more intense extreme events in the Great Lakes region of North America. Hydrology is the single greatest control on wetland form and function. A shift in the distribution of precipitation may fundamentally alter wetland hydrological processes. Presently we have very little knowledge on the dynamics of wetland ecohydrology and biogeochemistry in response to individual precipitation events, and therefore we cannot accurately predict wetland response to changing precipitation regime. This research will address three objectives: 1) to investigate the response of near-surface wetland vertical hydrological and biogeochemical processes to changes in precipitation; 2) to understand the processes that lead to changes in wetland lateral flow and nutrient transfer dynamics in response to precipitation regimes; and, 3) to determine the resistance and resiliency of temperate wetland ecosystems to precipitation change through coupled plant-water-nutrient dynamics. It will use a combined field hydrometric and geochemical analysis approach with both lab and field experimentation on plant growth and rates of water movement and water source area. This research will provide clear ranges of wetland response and species threshold tolerances to precipitation-related climate change across wetland type in three geologic areas that land managers will utilize for more-informed strategic planning and projecting.