Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our fundamental goals are to advance knowledge of: (a) how hydrology and biogeochemistry interact to control wetland biodiversity; and (b) how hydrology and biogeochemistry are controlled by the hydrogeologic settings in which wetlands with high plant biodiversity occur. A concomitant goal is of provide sound scientific information to resource agencies and conservation organizations making decisions about high diversity wetland ecosystems. Outputs completed during this reporting period focused on: (a) data entry, management, and analysis of a completed fertilization experiment and vegetation surveys for a long-term, full-factorial nitrogen and phosphorus field experiment in five species-rich fens; (b) writing programs to analyze these data and provide preliminary results; and (c) disseminating results to the scientific community and state and federal resource agencies through publications, formal and informal presentations, and participation in meetings of professional scientific societies and with conservation organizations and resource and regulatory agencies. Presentations included: (a) Crowley, K.F. 2009. Mosses facilitate vascular plants in rich fens through effects on the biogeochemistry of shallow soils. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Science, Millbrook, NY, November 5; (b) Crowley, K.F. and B.L. Bedford. 2009. Reaching beneath the surface: Influence of mosses on vascular plant root growth in rich fens. Society of Wetland Scientists and Wetland Biogeochemistry Symposium Annual Meeting, Madison, WI, June 22-26; (d) Simkin, S.M., B.L. Bedford, and K.C. Weathers. 2009. Spatiotemporal pattern of wetland plant exposure to sulfide in a calcareous rich fen. Society of Wetland Scientists and Wetland Biogeochemistry Symposium Annual Meeting, Madison, WI, June 22-26; (d) Simkin, S.M. 2009. Freshwater wetland sulfide variability and plant response. 2009 EPA Graduate Fellows Conference, Washington, D.C., September 21-22. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Primary outcomes of our work this period include advances in knowledge, changes in action, and changes in condition. Our research on NY fens resulted in the completion of a doctoral dissertation, new understanding of the role of brown mosses in fen biogeochemistry and vascular plant diversity, and refined understanding of how hydrogeological setting influences fen plant communities through porewater sulfide. Our work on Great Lakes wetlands provided the U.S. EPA with improved methods for evaluating the condition of plant communities in Great Lakes wetlands. The PI continues to advise staff of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy (ANC), as a member of its Board of Trustees, on scientific issues pertaining to wetland conservation in the Adirondacks, especially the recent large purchase of former Finch-Pruyn timber land. In addition, based on her work on Great Lakes wetlands, the PI was asked to review proposed plans for a new regulation schedule of lake levels by the International Great Lakes Levels Board of the International Joint Commission of the Great Lakes. This schedule will affect all wetlands on the Great Lakes. She also was asked to advise the South Florida Management District on a new management plan that will reserve surface water for restoration of the Kissimmee River wetlands from other development or residential uses. Florida is the first state to implement such water reservations and the Kissimmee reservation area is the largest in all of Florida, covering nearly a third of the State.
Publications
- Johnston, C.A., Zedler, J.B., Tulbere, M.G., Frieswyk, C.B., Bedford, B.L., and Vaccaro, L. 2009. A unifying approach for evaluating the condition of wetland plant communities and identifying related stressors. Ecological Applications 19:1739-1757.
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Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We continue to pursue our fundamental goals of advancing knowledge of: (a) how hydrology and biogeochemistry interact to control wetland biodiversity; and (b) how hydrology and biogeochemistry are controlled by the hydrogeologic settings in which wetlands with high plant biodiversity occur. We also pursued our concomitant goal of providing sound scientific information to resource agencies and conservation organizations making decisions about wetland ecosystems. Outputs completed during this reporting period focused on: (a) completing fertilizations and vegetation surveys for a long-term, full-factorial nitrogen and phosphorus field experiment in five species-rich fens; (b) completing data entry for all surveys; and (c) disseminating results to the scientific community and state and federal resource agencies through publications, formal and informal presentations, and participation in meetings of professional scientific societies and with conservation organizations and resource and regulatory agencies. Presentations included: (a) Brosnan, D., Bedford, B.L., Burkett, V., and Walters, J. Recommendations Pertaining to Recovery Plans for Four Endangered Avian Species in the Everglades, Everglades Task Force Meeting and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Miami FL, February 2008; (b) Boomer, C.M., and B.L. Bedford. Linking groundwater-induced redox gradients with patterns of plant species diversity in New York fens. Annual Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists, Washington, DC. May 2008; (c) Johnston, C.A., B. Bedford, M. Bourdaghs, C. Frieswyk, M. Tulbure, L. Vaccaro, and J. Zedler. Classifying Great Lakes coastal wetland plant communities by multivariate statistical methods. Annual Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists, Washington, DC. May 2008; (d) Boomer, K.B. "Integrating multi-scaled landscape analyses to assess human impacts on aquatic ecosystems." U.S. EPA Gulf Ecology Division. Gulf Breeze, FL. June 2008. In addition, we continue to: (a) advise the staff of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy (ANC), as a member of its Board of Trustees, on scientific issues pertaining to wetland conservation in the Adirondacks; and (b) serve as a consultant on wetlands for an NSF grant to Charles Canham of the Institute of Environmental Studies to develop watershed models for Adirondack lakes. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included the P.I., B.L. Bedford, who had primary responsibility for conceptual development and supervision of all work, as well as all advising to agencies and organizations; four graduate students, K. Bailey Boomer, L. Vaccaro, K.F. Crowley, and S.M. Simkin, who had primary responsibility for executing experiments, lab protocols, and field work; four undergraduates who assisted with field and lab work. The project provided opportunities for professional training and development for all participants. Bailey Boomer completed all work related to her Ph.D. dissertation. Vaccaro completed all of the work for her M.S. Crowley and Simkin completed significant portions of the work for their Ph.D.s. All of these students acquired skills in scientific presentations and preparation of manuscripts for publication. The undergraduates learned scientific methods and protocols as well as the excitement of the scientific enterprise as it is applied to real-world problems. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project continues to deliver scientific presentations and publications to the broader scientific community, and to provide sound scientific advice to state and federal resource agencies and to conservation organizations making decisions that affect NY State's and the Nation's wetlands. Specific audiences included managers and regulators in NYDEC, U.S. EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Everglades Task Force (the intergovernmental body overseeing the restoration of the Everglades), and the staff and trustees of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Primary outcomes of our work this period include advances in knowledge, changes in action, and changes in condition. In terms of Everglades wetlands, our work resulted in a new fundamental understanding of multi-species recovery plans for endangered wetland birds, and the adoption by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of seven of the recommendations we provided to them regarding management of endangered Everglades birds. Our work on Great Lakes wetlands provided the U.S. EPA with improved knowledge of the relationship between wetland vegetation and land use within the sub-watersheds of these wetlands, and new vegetative indicators of the conditions of Great Lakes wetlands. The significant outcome of our work with the Adirondack Nature Conservancy is the identification of wetlands within the recent Finch Pruyn purchase that will be classified as "forest reserve" to be maintained by NY State DEC as "forever wild" and subject neither to a classification with lesser protection nor lease. The addition of lands to this most protective classification within the Park is momentous in terms of conservation and has received extensive coverage in the media, including several pieces in the NY Times.
Publications
- Boomer, K.M. Bailey, and B.L. Bedford. 2008. Influence of nested groundwater systems on reduction-oxidation and alkalinity gradients with implications for plant nutrient availability in four New York fens. Journal of Hydrology 351:107-125.
- Boomer, K.B., and B.L. Bedford. 2008. Groundwater-induced redox-gradients control soil properties and phosphorus availability across four headwater wetlands, New York, USA. Biogeochemistry 90:259-274.
- Brinson, M.M., B.L. Bedford, B. Middleton, and J.T.A. Verhoeven. Temperate freshwater wetlands: Response to gradients in moisture regime, human alterations, and economic status. 2008. Pp. 127-140. In: N. Polunin (ed.) Aquatic Ecosystems: Trends and Global Prospects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
- Johnston, D.M. Ghioca, M.Tulbure, B.L. Bedford, M. Bourdaghs, C.B. Frieswyk, L. Vaccaro, and J.B. Zedler. 2008. Partitioning vegetation response to anthropogenic stress to develop multi-taxa indicators of wetland indicators. Ecological Applications 18(4):983-1001.
- Sustainable Ecosystems Institute (Brosnan, D., B.L. Bedford, V. Burkett, M. Collopy, S. Derrickson, C. Elphick, R. Hunt, K. Potter, J. Sedinger, and J. Walters). 2007. Everglades multi-species avian ecology and restoration review: Final Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Everglades Task Force. Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, Portland, OR.
- Johnston, C.A., B.L. Bedford, M. Bourdaghs, T. Brown, C.B. Frieswyk, M. Tulbare, L. Vaccaro, and J.B. Zedler. 2007. Plant species indicators of physical environment in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Journal of Great Lakes Research 33(3):106-124.
- Milder, J.C., J.P. Lassoie, and B.L. Bedford. 2007. Conserving biodiversity and ecosystem function through limited development: An empirical evaluation. Conservation Biology 22:70-79.
- National Research Council, Committee on Independent Scientific Reviews of Everglades Restoration Progress (W.C. Huber, B.L. Bedford, L.K. Blum, D.F. Boesch, F.D. Dottavio, W.L. Graf, C.T. Hendrickson, J. Liu, G.H. Orians, P.S.C. Rao, L. Shabman, J.R. Walters). 2007. Progress toward restoring the Everglades: The first biennial review - 2006. The National Academics Press, Washington, DC.
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Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our activities during this reporting period included completion of a field study and moss removal experiment in two fens, processing and analysis of most of the samples, initiation of data analysis, mentoring two CALS undergraduates in our research laboratory, presentation of posters at two scientific meetings (Ecological Society of America, International Wetland Biogeochemistry Symposium), two meetings with collaborators, and serving as a consultant to the Adirondack Nature Conservancy (ANC) on wetlands in the Adirondack Park. Products included preparation of a teaching module using a physical groundwater model to demonstrate how water moves through watersheds to wetlands, streams, and lakes. Dissemination included presenting information on wetlands and plant diversity to the Board of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy at a meeting in Keene and to the members of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy in a field trip along the upper Hudson River. I also accompanied ANC staff in
the field to evaluate fens along the upper Hudson River and met with ANC staff to help develop conservation plans for lands within a large purchase recently made by the ANC, the largest in the history of The Nature Conservancy. We hosted Pat Reixinger, recently named Director of NYDEC's Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Marine Resources, during a visit to the Cornell campus and my wetlands class. We also submitted and revised a manuscript on our groundwater work in NY fens, which now is in press (Journal of Hydrology).
PARTICIPANTS: In addition to the P.I., the primary participants in this research are one graduate and two undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Collaborators include the Director and staff of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, staff of the Adirondack Park Agency, and Pat Reixinger, Director of DEC's Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Marine Resources. These collaborations and research experience provide opportunities for training and professional development for the graduate and undergraduate students.
TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary audiences for our work are Cornell graduate and undergraduate students, the greater wetland scientific community, state resource management agencies, state conservation organizations, and wetland land owners.
Impacts
The results of our research have established new knowledge of the role of groundwater as a direct and indirect influence on phosphorus availability in fens, and hence on plant species diversity. Contrary to our initial hypothesis on the role played by calcium, these results indicate that iron-sulfur dynamics as influenced by groundwater delivery of alternate electron acceptors are the key controls on phosphorus availability. Because fens are primarily phosphorus-limited, this understanding is essential to managing these specie-rich wetlands. We also are the first to show that mosses play a primary role in regulating plant species richness in fens through their effects on establishment, aboveground growth, root growth, and root topology of vascular plant species growing with them. Our advice to the Adirondack Nature Conservancy affected the actions they currently are taking with respect to conservation plans for a recent very large land purchase in the Adirondack
Park.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
The objectives of this project are to: (1) develop and verify a hydrogeological classification of rich fens and their watersheds based oon hydrometric data, water chemistry, soil chemistry, and vegetation sampling in 50 fens; (2) examine the extent to which patterns in species composition, species richness, plant community biomass, and nutrient availability in fens can be explained by abiotic factors controlled by hydrogeologic setting; (3) experimentally test hypotheses regarding the role of hydrogeologic setting in mediating the response of fen vegetation to nutrient enrichment. The first objective was completed and published in 2003. The second objective was completed in 2005, a dissertations based on the work was filed in 2006, and a manuscript was submitted to the Journal of Hydrology. One manuscript was published and two more manuscripts are in preparation. Results show that basin morphometry and watershed mineralogy were critical determinants of spatial
patterns in fen hydrology and water chemistry. Together these two factors in turn controlled phosphorus availability through effects on redox reactions. The field component of the third objective was completed in 2005, an extensive set of laboratory analyses were completed in 2006, and data interpretation is now underway. A Ph.D. dissertation and a publication based on some of this work also were completed in 2006. This work established that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are important components of fen vegetation and mediate plant response to nutrient enrichment.
Impacts
This work has shown that the delivery of nitrate- or sulfate-enriched ground water to fens has significant effects of nutrient and trace mineral mobilization. These biogeochemical linkages emplace significant controls on the development of the unique, species-rich plant assemblages found in fens. Our findings will allow conservation organizations to better manage fens according to the different hydrogeologic settings in which particular fens occur.
Publications
- Bailey, K.M. 2006. Effects of Ground-Water Flow on Soil Chemistry, Nutrient Availability and Plant Species Distributions in Four New York State Fens. Ph.D. dissertation, Field of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
- Weishampel, P.A. 2006. Distribution and function of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in calcareous fen plant communities. Ph.D. dissertation, Field of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
- Weishampel, P.A. and B.L. Bedford. 2006. Wetland dicots and monocots differ in colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and dark septate endophytes. Mycorrhiza 16:495-502.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
The objectives of this project are: (1) development and verification of a hydrogeological classifcation of rich fens and their watersheds based on hydrometric data, water chemistry, soil chemistry, and vegetation sampling in 50 fens, (2) a survey to examine the extent to which patterns in species composition, species richness, plant community biomass, and nutrient availability in fens can be explained by abiotic factors controlled by hydrogeological setting, and (3) experimental fertilization to test hypotheses regarding the role of hydrogeologic setting in mediating the response of Fen vegetation to nutrient enrichment. The first objective was completed and published in 2003. The second objective was completed in 2005 and a dissertation based on it will be filed in 2006. Results showed that basin morphometry and watershed mineralogy were critical in determining fen hydrology and water chemistry in ways that then determined nutrient availability to fen plant species.
The third objective is on-going. Plots were fertilized again in the summer of 2005 and samples are being processed.
Impacts
In addition to being used by EPA and The Nature Conservancy, this work is now being used by the State of Washington which has developed a handbook based in part on this work.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
The objective of this project is to develop vegetative indicators of the health of the Great Lakes in collaboration with scientists at two other institutions. We have completed sampling the vegetation of 24 wetlands along the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie. In addition, a survey of litter abundance and species composition was completed for six Lake Ontario wetlands and a litter removal experiment across a gradient of productivity in invasive species of cattail ((Typha spp.) in a single Lake Ontario wetland was conducted. Data from both surveys and the litter removal experiment have been analyzed and incorporated into an M.S. thesis, which was successfully defended in January 2005. Manuscripts to be submitted to peer-reviewed journals are now in preparation.
Impacts
The EPA is using the classification approach developed in this project for planning wetland mitigation and restoration. In 2001 the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences issued a report on wetland mitigation and restoration which recommended the use of 'landscape profiles', an approach developed under this grant, by those involved in planning and regulating wetland mitigation and restoration.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
The objectives of this work are to: (a) develop and evaluate a classification of New York fens based on hydrogeologic setting; (b) evaluate patterns in plant species richness, biomass, and nutrient availability in New York fens: and (c) experimentally enrich fens in different hydrogeologic settings in order to determine whether they are nitrogen or phosphorus limited and determine effects on plant species richness. To date, objectives (a) and (b) have been completed with a manuscript now published on objective (a) and one in preparation on objective (b). With respect to objective (c), seven sites have been fertilized for three years with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in a full factorial design. Effects are apparent as an increase in plant tissue nutrients, decreases in bryophyte species density, and increases in soil concentrations of total N, available P, and total P in treatment plots. Available P has increased three-fold in plots receiving P alone and in those
receiving N and P. Controls show no such trends. We also have found that mycorrhizal colonization of plant roots decreases in response to P fertilization, suggesting the role that mycorrhizal fungi play in maintaining the species diversity of these phosphorus-poor wetlands. A fourth year of fertilization was completed in summer 2003. In addition, species density was determined and all aboveground biomass was harvested from half the area of all treatment plots and control plots. Biomass was sorted by plant growth form, dried, and weighed. Data entry and analysis are now underway.
Impacts
The EPA is using the classification approach developed in this project for planning wetland mitigation and restoration. In 2001 the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences issued a report on wetland mitigation and restoration which recommended the use of 'landscape profiles', an approach developed under this grant, by those involved in planning and regulating wetland mitigation and restoration.
Publications
- Bedford, B.L., Godwin, K.S. 2003. Fens of the United States: distribution, characteristics, and scientific connection versus legal isolation. Wetlands 223:608-629.
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
The objectives of this work are to: (a) develop and evaluate a classification of New York fens based on hydrogeologic setting; (b) evaluate patterns in plant species richness, biomass, and nutrient availability in New York fens; and (c) experimentally enrich fens in different hydrogeologic settings in order to determine whether they are nitrogen or phosphorus limited and determine effects on plant species richness. To date, objectives (a) and (b) have been completed with a manuscript now published on objective (a) and one in preparation on objective (b). With respect to objective (c), seven sites have been fertilized for two years with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in a full factorial design. Effects are apparent as an increase in plant tissue nutrients, decreases in bryophyte species density, and increases in soil concentrations of total N, available P, and total P in treatment plots. Available P has increased three-fold in plots receiving P alone and in those
receiving N and P. Controls show no such trends. We also have found that mycorrhizal colonization of plant roots decreases in response to P fertilization, suggesting the role that mycorrhizal fungi play in maintaining the species diversity of these phosphorus-poor wetlands. A third year of fertilization has been completed but no measures of plant species density nor soil chemistry were collected. All plots will be harvested, species density and biomass determined, and soil chemistry assessed in summer 2003.
Impacts
The EPA is using the classification approach developed in this project for planning wetland mitigation and restoration. In 2001 the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences issued a report on wetland mitigation and restoration which recommended the use of "landscape profiles," an approach developed under this grant, by those involved in planning and regulating wetland mitigation and restoration.
Publications
- Godwin, K.S., J. Shallenberger, D.J. Leopold, and B.L. Bedford. 2002. Linking landscape properties to local hydrogeologic gradients and plant species occurrence in New York fens: a hydrogeologic setting (HGS) framework. Wetlands 22(4):722-737.
- Cornwell, W.K., B.L. Bedford, and C.T. Chapin. 2001. Occurrence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a phosphorus-poor wetland and mycorrhizal response to phosphorus fertilization. Amer. J. of Botany 88:1824-1829.
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Progress 01/01/01 to 12/31/01
Outputs
The objectives of this work are to: (a) develop and evaluate a classification of New York fens based on hydrogeologic setting; (b) evaluate patterns in plant species richness, biomass, and nutrient availability in New York fens: and (c) experimentally enrich fens in different hydrogeologic settings in order to determine whether they are nitrogen or phosphorus limited and determine effects on plant species richness. To date, objectives (a) and (b) have been completed with a manuscript accepted on objective (a) and one in preparation on objective (b). With respect to objective (d), 7 sites have been fertilized for two years with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in a full factorial design. Effects are apparent in plant tissue nutrients, bryophyte species density, and soil concentrations of total N and P. A third year of fertilization is planned before plots are harvested in 2003.
Impacts
The EPA is exploring use of the classification approach developed in this project for planning wetland mitigation and restoration. A 2001 report of the National Research Council on wetland mitigation and restoration recommended the use of "landscape profiles," an approach developed under this grant, by those involved in planning and regulating wetland mitigation and restoration." In June 2001 the Society of Wetland Scientists awarded the PI their National Merit Award for her development of sound science pertinent to wetland policy issues, specifically the landscape approaches to wetland impact assessment and restoration developed under this grant.
Publications
- Bedford, B.L., D.J. Leopold, and J. Gibbs. 2001. Wetland ecosystems. Pp. 781-804 in S.A. Levin, ed. Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Vol. 5. Academic Press, New York.
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Progress 01/01/00 to 12/31/00
Outputs
The objectives of this work are to: (a) develop and evaluate a classification of New York fens based on hydrogeological setting; (b) evaluate patterns in plant species richness, biomass, and nutrient availability in New York fens: and (c) experimentally enrich fens in different hydrogeological settings in order to determine whether they are nitrogen or phosphorus limited and determine effects on plant species richness. To date, data on the hydrology, water chemistry, soil chemistry, nutrient availability, and plant species composition have been collected for 16 fens with data on water chemistry, soil chemistry, and plant species composition on an additional 38 fens. A preliminary classification has been developed and fertilization of 7 sites has been completed. Preliminary results were presented in 6 different papers and poster presented at the INTECOL International Wetland Meetings in Quebec City, Canada in August 2000. Data analysis and preparation of manuscripts is
underway.
Impacts
The results of this work is being used by conservation organizations to help guide decisions about managing nutrients in wetland watersheds, including decisions about land acquisition to protect wetlands of high biological diversity. The Environmental Protection Agency is exploring use of the classification approach developed in this project for planning wetland mitigation and restoration.
Publications
- Bailey, K.M., and B.L. Bedford. 2001. Transient geomorphic control of water table and hydraulic head reversals in a coastal freshwater peatland. Wetlands (submitted).
- Cornwell, W.K., B.L. Bedford, and C.T. Chapin. 2001. Occurrence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a phosphorus-poor wetland and mycorrhizal response to phosphorus fertilization. American Journal of Botany (accepted).
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