Assessing Nutrient Retention of Restored Wetlands in North Carolina

Abstract

Wetlands are among the most productive and dynamic ecosystems in the world; biogeochemical cycling and storage processes are crucial for nutrient retention in wetland systems. This study aims to test if restored wetlands improve downstream water quality by reducing nutrient concentrations, to determine which variables are important for nutrient retention, and to analyze the temporal trend of wetland nutrient retention. We gathered water quality data from three locations in North Carolina, for a total of 13 restored and constructed wetlands. We compared nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in the inflow and outflow of each wetland and determined the significance of other categorical and continuous variables. The results of our study can help ascertain the most important variables for choosing potential wetland restoration sites, and lead to a better understanding of how nutrient removal changes over time.