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Biology
4-1-2011
Agricultural conservation practices increase
wetland ecosystem services in the Glaciated
Interior Plains
Siobhan Fennessy
[email protected]
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Recommended Citation
Fennessy, M. S. and C. Craft. 2011. Effects of agricultural conservation practices on wetland ecosystem services in the Glaciated
Interior Plains. Ecological Applications 21:s49-64.
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Ecological Applications, 21(3) Supplement, 2011, pp. S49–S64
Ó 2011 by the Ecological Society of America
Agricultural conservation practices increase wetland ecosystem
services in the Glaciated Interior Plains
SIOBHAN FENNESSY1,3
AND
CHRISTOPHER CRAFT2
1
Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 43022 USA
School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
2
Abstract. The Glaciated Interior Plains historically supported a broad variety of wetland
types, but wetland losses, primarily due to agricultural drainage, range from 50% to 90% of
presettlement area. Wholesale land use change has created one of the most productive
agricultural regions on earth, but wetland conversion has also led to the loss of the ecosystem
services they provide, particularly water quality improvement, flood de-synchronization, carbon
sequestration, and support of wetland-dependent species (biodiversity). Nearly three-quarters of
the Glaciated Interior Plains fall within the Mississippi River drainage basin, where the
combination of extensive tile drainage and fertilizer use has produced watersheds that contribute
some of the highest nitrogen yields per acre to the Mississippi River. Wetland conservation
practices implemented under Farm Bill conservation programs have established or involved
management of nearly 110 000 ha of wetlands, riparian zones, and associated ecosystem services
over the period 2000–2007. We estimated the cumulative ability of these conservation practices
to retain sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus in Upper Mississippi River Basin watersheds.
Estimated retention amounts to 1.0%, 1.5%, and 0.8% of the total N, sediment, and P,
respectively, reaching the Gulf of Mexico each year. If nutrient reduction is estimated based on
the quantity of nutrients exported from the Glaciated Interior Plains region only, the numbers
increase to 6.8% of N, 4.9% of P, and 11.5% of sediment generated in the region annually. On a
watershed basis, the correlation between the area of wetland conservation practices implemented
and per-hectare nutrient yield was 0.81, suggesting that, for water quality improvement,
conservation practices are successfully targeting watersheds that are among the most degraded.
The provision of other ecosystem services such as C sequestration and biodiversity is less well
studied. At best, implementation of wetland and riparian conservation practices in agricultural
landscapes results in improved environmental quality and human health, and strengthens the
rationale for expanding conservation practices and programs on agricultural lands.
Key words: carbon sequestration; flood abatement; Glaciated Interior Plains, USA; nitrogen; U.S.
Midwest; water quality improvement.
INTRODUCTION
The Glaciated Interior Plains (GIP) covers most of a
seven-state area stretching from Ohio to Minnesota,
USA, encompassing a broad variety of landscapes and
associated wetlands. Sometimes referred to as the ‘‘corn
belt,’’ this area is one of the most productive agricultural
regions on earth, accounting for .50% of the nation’s
corn production (Power et al. 1998), as well as extensive
production of soybeans, wheat, and other grains. The
wholesale land conversion that occurred to make way for
agriculture resulted in a loss of native ecosystems,
including wetlands, reducing their ability to provide
critical ecosystem services. Globally, wetlands deliver a
wide range of services (e.g., water purification, climate
regulation, flood regulation, coastal protection, water
Manuscript received 16 February 2009; revised 17 November
2009; accepted 23 November 2009; final version received 5
January 2010. Corresponding Editor: J. S. Baron. For reprints
of this Special Issue, see footnote 1, p. S1.
3 E-mail: [email protected]
supply, fish and fiber production, recreational opportunities, and tourism) that contribute substantially to
human well-being (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment
2005). Within the GIP, wetland ecosystem services such
as flood abatement, water quality improvement, and the
support of biodiversity have declined dramatically due to
extensive wetland drainage (Hey 2002, Zedler 2003b). One
consequence of wetland loss, combined with regionally
intense agricultural inputs (fertilizer, pesticides), is the
chronic degradation of water quality, particularly in the
upper Mississippi River Basin, which ultimately contributes to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper
describes what is known about the types and status of
wetlands in the GIP and how conservation practices
implemented through Farm Bill conservation programs
contribute to the restoration of wetland ecosystem
services, particularly water quality improvement.
DIVERSITY
OF
WETLANDS IN THE GLACIATED
INTERIOR PLAINS
The GIP of the Midwest United States (Fig. 1) contain
a variety of wetland types that exhibit extensive spatial
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SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
variability, differing from east to west as precipitation
decreases and from north to south with increasing
temperatures. The climate of the region is characterized
as temperate continental with subhumid to humid
summers and cold winters (Trewartha 1981). Mean
annual temperatures range from 11.18C in the east
(Columbus, Ohio) to 9.68C in the west (Des Moines,
Iowa), with associated rainfall ranging from 96.2 cm to
77.7 cm (Amon et al. 2002). Much of the region was
shaped in the most recent, Wisconsin glaciation, which
produced the current distribution and type of wetlands,
including depressional marshes, shrub and forested bogs,
fens, forested wetlands, and wet meadows. Wetlands of
the Midwest can be distinguished on the basis of the
dominant water source, consisting of those that receive
water mostly from surface flooding (floodplain and
riparian forests), precipitation (depressional wetlands,
vernal pools, bogs), groundwater (fens, seeps), and a
combination of sources (e.g., wet meadows) (Fig. 2). In
the east (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana), forested wetlands
(depressional, seep, and riparian), marshes, and fens are
predominant. Forested riparian wetlands are common
along floodplains (Brown and Peterson 1983, Rust and
Mitsch 1984, Polit and Brown 1996, Baker and Wiley
2004). These wetlands provide important ecosystem
services, including water quality maintenance, habitat,
and flood de-synchronization (Table 1).
Depressional wetlands exist on broad, upland flats in
topographic low spots, and to a lesser extent, on
floodplains and are dominated by either forested or
herbaceous emergent vegetation (Galatowitsch et al.
2000, Craft et al. 2007). Depressional wetlands lack
strong surface water connections to other aquatic
ecosystems and, although they are sinks for pollutants
in the local landscape, their role in regional water quality
maintenance is less well understood (Table 1). However,
they are important habitat for wetland-dependent avian,
fish, and amphibian species, and as watering holes for
animals. Vernal pools represent a special type of
depressional wetland. They are typically smaller in size
and forested, with a shorter hydroperiod than depressional wetlands such as marshes (Zedler 2003a). Because
of the short hydroperiod, these wetlands lack predators
such as fish, making them critical sites for amphibian
reproduction (Table 1; Gibbons 2003).
Fens and seeps occur in areas where mineral-rich
groundwater discharges. They are typically low in
nutrients, particularly P, and high in carbonates with
high plant species diversity (Bridgham et al. 1996, Amon
et al. 2002). Fens and seeps often have strong connections
to regional groundwater flows that deliver carbonates
(CaCO3), as well as nutrients (NO3–) leached from
agricultural lands (Amon et al. 2002, Craft et al. 2007).
Wetlands of the central portion of the Midwest
(Illinois, Iowa, southern Wisconsin), where annual
precipitation is less than in the east, consist of forested
floodplains and stream corridors, freshwater marshes,
and wet meadows and prairies. Wet meadows possess
Ecological Applications
Special Issue
shorter hydroperiods than marshes in the region. Soils
tend to be saturated, and not inundated (Prince 1997).
In the eastern part of the region, wet meadows are found
in association with oak savannas of the mesic prairie
landscape (Nuzzo 1986). These wetlands support a rich
diversity of plants (Table 1), and threatened grassland
birds such as Greater Prairie-chicken, Tympanucus
cupido, that use these habitats for roosting (Toepfer
and Eng 1988).
In the north (Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern
Michigan), peat-accumulating wetlands (bogs and fens)
are common landscape features. Bogs receive essentially
all of their water and nutrients from precipitation,
making their peat acidic (pH , 4), low in available
nutrients, with an enormous store of carbon (Table 1;
Grigal 1991, Crum 1995, Bridgham et al. 2001). Other
wetlands in the northwestern portion of the region
include glacially formed lakes with extensive littoral
zones dominated by marsh vegetation (Tiner 2003).
WETLAND LOSSES, LANDSCAPE CHANGE,
AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
The conversion of wetlands to crop and pasture lands
over the past 250 years has transformed the landscape of
the GIP. Humans cleared forests, broke sod, and
drained wetlands to clear land and facilitate farming.
An unintended consequence of this land conversion was
degraded water quality, flood damage, diminished
biodiversity, and radically altered regional hydrology
(Prince 1997, Hey et al. 2005). Because hydrology
determines the location of wetlands and their structural
and functional properties, agricultural expansion has
caused not only an enormous loss of wetland acreage,
but has also compromised the ability of existing
wetlands to provide their characteristic ecosystem
services (Zedler 2003b).
Agricultural land use dominates the region, ranging
from 93% agricultural land use in the state of Iowa to
30% in Michigan. Much of this land is drained using
drain tile to move water (and associated chemicals)
quickly from the field to adjacent ditches and streams.
The extent of tile drainage underlying croplands ranges
from 50% in Ohio and Indiana (;3 3 106 ha in each
state) to 10% (0.9 3 106 ha) in Wisconsin (Mitsch et al.
1999). Over 40% of the N fertilizer used in the United
States is applied to agricultural lands in the GIP. Of this,
35% is estimated to run off into receiving waters
(Howarth et al. 2002, Zedler 2003b).
As part of these land use changes, large areas of
wetlands once common throughout the Midwestern
states have been lost, and with them the landscape’s
ability to regulate water movement and biogeochemical
cycles. Wetland conversion to make way for agriculture
came early; for example, the four states that make up the
bulk of the GIP lost between 80% and 90% of their
original wetland acreage between 1780 and 1980 (Dahl
1990), including Ohio (90%), Indiana (87%), Illinois
(85%), and Iowa (89%). In addition, two enormous
April 2011
WETLAND SERVICES IN THE GLACIATED PLAINS
S51
FIG. 1. Map of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) assessment regions under the Conservation Effects
Assessment Program (CEAP). Region 1, expanded in the inset, represents the Glaciated Interior Plains (GIP).
wetland complexes, the Great Black Swamp in northwestern Ohio and the Great Kankakee Marsh in
northern Indiana and Illinois, each more than
1 000 000 acres (400 000 ha) in size, were systematically
drained for agriculture and no longer exist today
(Mitsch and Gosselink 2000). Losses in the northerntier states are lower, with nearly half of the original
wetland acreage lost (Michigan lost 50%, Wisconsin
46%, and Minnesota 42%; Dahl 1990). The push for
wetland drainage slowed dramatically in Wisconsin and
Michigan in the early 1900s, when many peat soils were
found to be acidic and deficient in essential plant
nutrients (Prince 1997). Collectively, the seven states
that make up the GIP have had ;18.6 million ha of
farmland drained for agriculture (Mitsch et al. 1999).
Water quality impacts
The loss of wetlands from a landscape removes their
capacity to act as sinks and transformers of sediments,
FIG. 2. Relationship between water source and wetland
type. The figure is modified from Brinson (1993).
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SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
Ecological Applications
Special Issue
TABLE 1. Wetland types of the Midwest (USA) and their relative contribution for delivering
ecosystem services related to water quality maintenance, habitat, hydrology, and carbon
sequestration.
Wetland type
Water quality
maintenance
Habitat
Hydrology
Carbon
sequestraiton
Riparian forest
Floodplain forest
Depression
Vernal pool
Wet meadow
Fen
Seep
Bog
high
high
low
low
low–medium
low–medium
low
low
high high high§
high§
medium}
high}
medium
high}
low–mediumà
highà
medium#
low
low–medium
low
low
medium#
low
low
low
low
low–medium
medium
low
high
High productivity and connectivity.
à Flood de-synchronization.
§ Breeding grounds for herpetofauna.
} High plant diversity.
# Groundwater recharge.
nutrients, and other chemicals that they receive. This
service can vary both temporally and spatially, but
wetlands have consistently been shown to improve the
water quality of nonpoint source runoff, and wetland
losses have contributed to reductions in water quality in
the region. The combination of extensive drainage and
intensive row crop fertilization in the GIP has produced
watersheds that contribute some of the highest nitrogen
yields per acre to the Mississippi River (nearly threequarters of the GIP region is located in the Mississippi
River watershed; Goolsby et al. 1999). The environmental
consequences of this are particularly well documented,
where high N export has led to downstream water quality
issues, most notably the hypoxic zone (or the ‘‘dead
zone’’) in the Gulf of Mexico (Rabalais et al. 2002).
Agricultural sources are responsible for an estimated 58%
of nitrogen export in the Mississippi River Basin due
primarily to fertilizer use and the planting of legume
crops (soybeans). The Illinois River watershed alone,
which constitutes only 2% of the area of the Mississippi
River watershed, contributes ;114 000 Mg of nitrate per
year (or 12% of the total nitrate load) to the Gulf of
Mexico (Hey 2002). Like much of the Glaciated Interior
Plains, nearly 90% of the original wetland area in the
Illinois River watershed has been drained. Over the past
50 years, fertilizer use in the region has intensified, and N
loads from the upper Mississippi River Basin to the Gulf
of Mexico have increased nearly three-fold since 1950
(Rabalais et al. 2002).
Flood abatement
Wetlands naturally trap and store water, and floodplains are particularly important in water storage and
flood conveyance. As floodplains and wetlands have been
altered or lost, their ability to store floodwaters in the
GIP has diminished. Nationally, the estimates of damage
due to flooding have risen steadily since 1900, increasing
from an annual mean of US$1.4 billion over the 30-year
period 1903–1933 to $3.4 billion during 1963–1993 (Hey
and Philippi 1995). This occurred as wetlands were
drained and floodplains developed (Hey and Philippi
1995, Zedler and Kercher 2005). The Mississippi River
flood of 1993 alone cost an estimated $12–$16 billon.
Support of diversity
One consequence of widespread wetland losses is the
decline of wetland-dependent species such as amphibians, invertebrates, and waterfowl, as well as species that
are primarily terrestrial but use wetlands for refugia and
subsidy (Hansson et al. 2005). In the case of amphibians,
habitat loss and fragmentation are recognized as major
causes of diversity declines (Hecnar and M’Closkey
1996). Amphibians are particularly at risk due to their
relatively poor dispersal abilities (Findlay and Houlahan
1997, Lehtinen et al. 1999). Two particular species of
anurans that occur in the GIP and are reportedly in
decline are the northern leopard frog (Rana pipens) and
the cricket frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi ) (Kolozsvary
and Swihart 1999).
Reptiles are relatively unstudied, but data indicate
that taxa such as freshwater turtles have declined as
agriculture and road density have increased (Rizkalla
and Swihart 2006), with predictions that wetlanddependent herpetofauna face a greater risk of extinction
than other vertebrate species (White et al. 1997).
Wetland invertebrates provide an important connection
between primary productivity and the abundance of
migratory and resident vertebrate populations, serving
as important food supplies for a wide array of bird
species such as bitterns, egrets, herons, shorebirds,
waterfowl, and songbirds (Hershey et al. 1999).
Despite this, there are few data on the status of
invertebrate communities in light of wetland losses.
Bird diversity is known to decline with wetland area, so
wetland loss has consequences for the persistence of
avian species in the region (Hershey et al. 1999). Thus,
the loss of wetlands in the GIP has contributed directly
to declines in regional biodiversity (Findlay and
Houlahan 1997, Hershey et al. 1999).
April 2011
WETLAND SERVICES IN THE GLACIATED PLAINS
Despite the extent of agricultural land use, the species
richness of remaining wetlands can be high. For
example, Mensing et al. (1998), in a study of 15 riparian
wetlands, documented 175 plant species and 151 animal
species (including birds, fish, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates), demonstrating the value of wetlands in
biodiversity support.
Carbon sequestration
Hydrologic conditions that lead to the accumulation
of soil carbon are a defining feature of wetlands
(Bridgham et al. 2007). Carbon storage capacity varies
depending on wetland type, with peatlands (freshwater
wetlands with surface soil organic deposits greater than
40 cm thick, commonly called bogs and fens) storing
considerably more C than wetlands with mineral soils
(those with less soil organic matter). Globally, peatlands
contain between 16% and 33% of the total soil carbon
pool (Bridgham et al. 2001). While the majority of
peatlands occur north of 508 N, there are substantial
areas of peatlands in the upper GIP (Gorham 1991,
Bridgham et al. 2007). Bogs receive nearly all of their
water from precipitation (Fig. 2), the peat is acidic,
nutrient poor, and only slightly decomposed (Bridgham
et al. 2001). Fens are typically phosphorus limited but,
because of groundwater inputs, they are not as acidic as
bogs and contain more highly decomposed peat
(Bridgham et al. 2001). The slower rate of decomposition (i.e., carbon mineralization) in bogs compared to
fens (Bridgham et al. 1998) leads to deeper peat and
organic C accumulation (Craft et al. 2008).
Regionally specific estimates of carbon storage in the
GIP are lacking, but wetland drainage has reduced
carbon stores substantially, perhaps by as much as 15
million Mg of carbon per year in North America
(Bridgham et al. 2006). The loss of C storage has
diminished wetlands’ role as climate regulators.
EFFECTS OF NRCS CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AND
PRACTICES ON WETLAND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Of the ecosystem services wetlands provide, four are
particularly significant in the GIP: water quality
improvement, flood abatement, biodiversity support,
and carbon processing and storage. We focus here on
water quality improvement, and to a lesser extent on
flood abatement, biodiversity support, and carbon
storage. This follows, in large part, what we know
based on the available literature.
In order to restore wetland and riparian-zone acreage
to the landscape, a suite of conservation practices has
been developed by the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) specifically to establish or
manage wetlands on agricultural and associated lands.
These practices are designated as: wetland creation
(establishing wetlands on non-hydric soils), enhancement
(typically changing the hydroperiod of an existing
wetland using water control structures), restoration
(establishment of wetland on hydric soils), wetland
S53
wildlife habitat management (a system of practices that
establishes or restores wildlife habitat, and may be
implemented with wetland restoration, creation, or
enhancement practices), and riparian forest buffer
establishment (establishment of a riparian forest buffer
along streams where former riparian wetlands existed or
where they currently exist but in a degraded state). These
practices are collectively referred to as ‘‘wetland conservation practices.’’ Implementation of these practices is
supported by financial and technical assistance as codified
in the conservation title of what has become known as the
‘‘Farm Bill’’ to achieve environmental or biological goals
on agricultural and associated lands. In this case, the
Farm Bill refers to a series of legislative acts, including the
Food Security Act of 1985; the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation and Trade Act of 1990; the Federal
Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996; the
Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002; and the
Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.
Collectively, these conservation practices have added to
or enhanced more wetland acreage in the agricultural
landscapes of the GIP than in any other region included
in this study. The implementation of wetland conservation practices supported by a variety of Farm Bill
conservation programs (e.g., Wetlands Reserve Program
[WRP], Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
[CREP], Conservation Reserve Program [CRP], Wildlife
Habitat Incentives Program [WHIP]) are expected to
reestablish ecosystem services, providing regional benefits
in terms of water quality, flood abatement, biodiversity
support, and carbon storage.
In total, .1 million wetland conservation projects
were implemented in the GIP, accounting for 33.4% of
all practices implemented nationally between 2000 and
2006, and amounting to ;110 000 ha (1100 km2) of land.
In terms of area, the wetland practices implemented are
dominated by wetland restoration, followed by the
establishment of wetland wildlife habitat, and riparian
buffers (Fig. 3). Over 80% of wetland conservation
practices in the GIP were implemented between 2004
and 2006, demonstrating the potential for landscape
change over a relatively short time period (Fig. 3).
At the regional scale, we examined the distribution of
conservation wetlands and riparian zones by mapping
the top 100 subwatersheds in the GIP based on the total
area of wetland conservation practices established in
each (Fig. 4). The largest concentration of wetland
conservation practices is located in the southwestern
part of the GIP that largely coincides with the drainage
basin of the Mississippi River. Subwatersheds that
received the largest acreage of wetland conservation
include the Rock River in Illinois and the Wabash River
in southern Illinois and Indiana.
Water quality maintenance
Because of their high connectivity to uplands, riparian
and floodplain forests are important regulators of the
flow of materials across the landscape, reducing
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SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
sediment and phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) loads to
streams and rivers (Risser 1993, Fennessy and Cronk
1997). Riparian and floodplain forests can remove
substantial amounts of sediment (Table 2); for example,
riparian wetlands trap up to 50 Mgha1yr1, substantially more than floodplain forest’s 2–5 Mgha1yr1.
Sediment accumulation is low (0.2–2 Mgha1yr1) in
groundwater and precipitation-driven wetlands such as
depressions, bogs, and fens. Phosphorus removal also is
greater in riparian forests and floodplain wetlands
(Table 2). And N accumulation in soils is greater in
floodplains (30–300 kg Nha1yr1) than in bogs (80 kg
Nha1yr1), fens–cedar swamps (30–60 kg Nha1yr1),
or depressions (30 kg Nha1yr1). Constructed wetlands
in the region remove relatively large amounts of sediment
and nutrients, comparable to riparian and floodplain
wetlands (Table 2).
Denitrification is the primary process by which nitrate
is transformed by wetlands, thereby removing a key
waterborne pollutant (Table 3). Because of their
connectivity to lotic ecosystems, high C availability,
and inflows of nitrate, denitrification is greater in
riparian and floodplain wetlands than in depressions,
bogs, or fens in the region (Table 3). Riparian wetlands
intercept nitrate in shallow groundwater (Gilliam 1994,
Hill 1996), whereas river flooding enhances denitrification of surface water nitrate in floodplain wetlands
(Hernandez and Mitsch 2006). Although depressions,
bogs, and fens are not as important for water quality
improvement as riparian and floodplain wetlands, they
are significant nutrient sinks at local scales (Craft and
Casey 2000, Whigham and Jordan 2003).
In the GIP, riparian buffers and constructed wetlands
are increasingly employed as the best management
practices to filter sediment and nutrients and improve
water quality. From a landscape perspective, studies
suggest that nutrient export from stream catchments is
correlated with the presence of wetlands and with the
extent and characteristics of the riparian zone (e.g.,
buffer width, vegetation type). In Wisconsin, catchments
with more wetland area (7–10% vs. ,4%) had lower P
yields during extreme precipitation events (Reed and
Carpenter 2002). Variability in P yield was negatively
correlated with riparian characteristics of width, continuity, and sinuosity, suggesting that preferential transport of nutrients to stream waters occurs in gaps in
riparian corridors, such as those created by roads (Reed
and Carpenter 2002). The placement of buffers within
the landscape to intercept nutrients and other pollutants
also is important. In Iowa, researchers calculated that
56% of riparian cells (using a 30-m grid) surveyed would
receive runoff from ,0.4 ha (Tomer et al. 2003),
suggesting that it is important to strategically place
riparian buffers in areas that will maximize interception
of water, sediment, and nutrient flows.
In the agricultural Midwest, nitrate leaching is a
significant problem, enriching streams and rivers
(Keeney and DeLuca 1993) and contributing to hypoxia
Ecological Applications
Special Issue
in the Gulf of Mexico (Turner and Rabalais 1991,
Rabalais et al. 2002). Natural and restored wetlands,
riparian areas, and constructed wetlands have the
potential to reduce nitrate loadings and help alleviate
this problem. Whitmire and Hamilton (2005) reported
that a variety of natural wetlands in Michigan, ranging
from groundwater fens to precipitation-driven bogs,
have the potential to remove significant amounts of
nitrate. In Illinois, grass and forested riparian buffers
reduced local nitrate loadings by up to 90% (Osborne
and Kovacic 1993), and forest vegetation, because its
roots penetrate deeper and deliver more carbon to
denitrifying bacteria, was more effective than grass for
intercepting nitrate as it is preferentially transported in
subsurface flow (Fennessy and Cronk 1997).
Tile drainage complicates the removal of N from
agricultural runoff since wetlands typically have little
opportunity to intercept N in this water (Crumpton et al.
2006). Where wetlands can intercept tile drainage, Nremoval efficiencies are high. In a study of the Iowa
CREP program, Crumpton et al. (2006) report that
wetlands restored to intercept tile drainage removed
between 25% and 78% of NO3– amounting to 368–2310
kg Nha1yr1. In another study in Illinois, a constructed
wetland removed an average of 33% of the N in tile
drainage (Miller et al. 2002). However, there was no
significant removal of P or nine common herbicides (e.g.,
atrazine, alachlor) used in the Midwest. Phosphorus
removal by constructed wetlands receiving tile drainage
typically is low, as little as 2% (Kovacic et al. 2000)
because much of the P (.50%) is transported bound to
sediment in surface waters (Royer et al. 2006). Little is
known about the relative effectiveness of different
conservation practices (e.g., constructed wetland vs.
wetland restoration) in improving water quality, and
what the associated trade-offs might be between water
quality improvement and other ecosystem services.
Constructed wetlands also have been used to remove
instream pollutants. These wetlands typically receive
higher loads of sediment and nutrients and, so, remove
greater quantities of pollutants than natural wetlands in
the region (Table 2). Four wetlands were constructed in
the floodplain of the Des Plaines River (Illinois) in the
late 1980s to filter sediment, nutrients, and agricultural
chemicals from the river water (Kadlec and Hey 1994).
Over a three-year period, the wetlands removed
between 40% and 95% of incoming nitrate-N, 38–
100% of the incoming sediment, 27–100% of the
phosphorus, and ;50% of the herbicide atrazine
(Fennessy et al. 1994, Kadlec and Hey 1994, Phipps
and Crumpton 1994). Removal rates were greater in the
summer than winter, illustrating how removal efficiencies vary with season. Flow rates also regulated nutrient
retention as the efficiency of P removal was greater
under low-flow (64 –92% removal) than high-flow
conditions (53–90% removal; Mitsch et al. 1995). On
average, the constructed wetlands removed ;5–30 kg
Pha1yr1; comparable to highly loaded natural
April 2011
WETLAND SERVICES IN THE GLACIATED PLAINS
S55
FIG. 3. The area of wetland conservation practices implemented in the Glaciated Interior Plains between 2000 and 2006.
wetlands. The percentage of nitrate removal was also
greater under low- than high-loading conditions in these
wetlands (Phipps and Crumpton 1994).
On the Olentangy River (Ohio), constructed wetlands
also remove substantial quantities of sediments and
nutrients. Over a 10-year period (1994–2004), the wetlands
stored an average of 43–47 Mg sedimentha1yr1,
162–166 kg Nha1yr1, and 33–35 kg Pha1yr1 in soil
(Table 2). During the same period, the wetlands removed
an average of 410–470 kg Nha1yr1 of nitrate-N via
denitrification, with only a small amount, ,1%, evolved as
N2O (Hernandez and Mitsch 2006).
FIG. 4. The top 100 watersheds in the Glaciated Interior Plains (by hectares and acres) of wetland conservation practices
implemented through Farm Bill conservation programs. The conservation practices include Wetland Creation, Wetland
Restoration, Wetland Enhancement, Riparian Forest Buffer, and Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management.
S56
SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
Ecological Applications
Special Issue
TABLE 2. Rates of sediment, P, N, and C accumulation in soils of Midwestern wetlands.
Sediment
(Mgha1yr1)
P
(kgha1yr1)
N
(kgha1yr1)
Riparian
Wisconsin
Missouri
5–78
50
82
524
Floodplain
Illinois
Wisconsin
Indiana
5
2.5
34
11
7–14
27
92–295
Wetland type
and state
Wet meadow
Michigan
Michigan lucastrine
Source
Johnston et al. (1984)
Heimann and Roell (2000)
540 1200–3700
10
Marsh
Indiana depressional
Fen
Indiana
Organic C
(kgha1yr1)
Mitsch et al. (1979)
Johnston et al. (1984)
N and P data from Craft and
Schubauer-Berigan (2006), C
data from C. B. Craft
(unpublished data)
Kadlec and Robbins (1984)
1.8
30 610
C data from Craft et al. (2008);
sediment, P, and N data from
C. B. Craft (unpublished data)
Kadlec and Robbins (1984)
N and P data from Craft and
Schubauer-Berigan (2006), C
data from C. B. Craft
(unpublished data)
Graham et al. (2005), Richardson
and Marshall (1986)
14
0.9
2
61
900
Michigan
0.2
1–9à
30
420
Cedar swamp
Michigan
0.3
36
950
C data from Craft et al. (2008);
sediment, P, and N data from
C. B. Craft (unpublished data)
Bog
Minnestoa
0.5
7–12
790–1980
Michigan
0.3
80
Wieder et al. (1994), Urban and
Eisenreich (1988)
C data from Craft et al. (2008);
sediment, P, and N data from
C. B. Craft (unpublished data)
Constructed marsh
Illinois
Ohio
Iowa
5–128
43–47
4–29
130–380
33–35
162–166
368–1510
1320
1525–1660
Fennessy et al. (1994), Mitsch et
al. (1995), Phipps and
Crumpton (1994)
Anderson and Mitsch (2006)
Crumpton et al. (2006)
Note: Numbers in boldface represent accumulation in highly loaded wetlands.
Calculated assuming C:N ¼ 20.
à Richardson and Marshall (1986) found 9 kgha1yr1 from a fen receiving wastewater.
Not all constructed wetlands are as effective for
pollutant removal. Sidle et al. (2000) reported that
wetlands constructed in the Kankakee River (Indiana)
were less effective for nitrate removal than natural
wetlands because of nonuniform subsurface flow and
short hydrologic residence time. For constructed and
restored surface water wetlands to be effective, they
must have high water storage capacity to retain nitrate
during high-discharge events, when greater than 50% of
the nitrate is exported from adjacent uplands (Royer et
al. 2006).
Flood abatement
Wetlands are known to regulate the movement of
water through watersheds via a combination of process-
es such as water storage, evapotranspiration, and
gradual release that augments stream base flow in dry
seasons (Brauman et al. 2007). Increasing wetland area
in a watershed will almost always decrease its surface
water discharge due to the effects of vegetation alone,
particularly forests (Brooks et al. 2006, Brauman et al.
2007). For example, Novitski (1985), working in the
Northeastern United States, found that peak flows were
an average of 50% lower in watersheds with 4% or
greater wetland area compared to those with less
wetland coverage. Models of the relationships between
the flood storage capacity of wetlands as a percentage of
total land area in a watershed and flood peak reduction
have shown a threshold of 10%, such that, in watersheds
with ,10% wetland area, even small additional losses in
April 2011
WETLAND SERVICES IN THE GLACIATED PLAINS
area can have major effects on flood flows (Johnston et
al. 1990). If wetlands make up 10% or more of a
watershed, flooding is reduced and stream base flows are
better maintained; for instance, Hey and Philippi (1995)
calculated that restoring 5.3 million ha of wetlands in
the Upper Mississippi River watershed (10% of the land
area of the watershed) could have stored enough water
to accommodate the 1993 Mississippi floods, thereby
substantially reducing the $16 billion in flood damages
that resulted. Beyond this, there are few direct estimates
of the ability of wetlands to reduce flooding in the GIP,
nor are there spatially explicit data available for
conservation wetlands that would allow calculation of
the contribution of these sites in reducing runoff and
downstream flooding.
Research to increase our understanding of the
aggregate effects of wetlands on flood flows would also
help define the most strategic placement of wetlands in a
watershed to maximize these services. Based on acreage
alone, the wetlands established through conservation
practices and programs to date may have relatively small
effects at the large scale, but almost certainly have
beneficial effects at the local scale, particularly in
watersheds where the area of wetlands established is
relatively high (Fig. 4). For instance, wetlands located in
headwater areas within a watershed can effectively abate
flooding depending on the ratio of their storage relative
to the volume of floodwater (Potter 1994). These
landscape approaches to wetland services allow for the
setting of provisional targets for the restoration or
enhancement of wetland acreage in flood-prone areas.
Biodiversity
While there have been few systematic data collected
on the establishment of animal species as a result of
wetland conservation practices, the available literature
indicates that the establishment of wetland-dependent
species is rapid across many taxonomic groups including
invertebrates, herpetofauna, fish, and birds (Rewa
2005). In some cases, species richness has been shown
to approach natural levels; for example, comparisons of
natural with newly restored wetlands has shown that
amphibian, avian, and invertebrate species richness was
similar, or in some cases, higher in the created sites (e.g.,
Balcombe et al. 2005a, b), although this is sometimes
due to a predominance of nonnative or tolerant species.
With respect to these taxonomic groups (including
plants, which are not discussed here), there are no data
that allow us to fully describe the benefits of the various
wetland conservation practices, or to distinguish how
they might differ in habitat value.
Despite the importance of macro-invertebrates in
wetlands, there are few studies documenting their
successional patterns or community development.
Invertebrates are diverse both in terms of species
richness and the trophic levels they occupy (herbivores,
detritivores, predators/carnivores), and so they are
involved in multiple ecosystem processes. Several studies
S57
TABLE 3. Rates of denitrification in Midwestern wetlands.
Wetland
Denitrification
rate
(kgha1yr1)
Source
Floodplain
Minnesota
10
Michigan
,0.1
Michigan
22
Wet meadow
Wisconsin
1–2
Goodroad and Keeney
(1984)
Marsh
Wisconsin
,0.1
Goodroad and Keeney
(1984)
Bog
Minnesota
0.1
Urban et al.
(1988)
Constructed marsh
Ohio
1.3
Hernandez and Mitsch
(2006)
Zak and Grigal
(1991)
Merrill and Zak
(1992)
Groffman and Tiejde
(1989)
have found invertebrate species richness to be similar in
natural and restored wetlands (e.g., Balcombe et al.
2005b). However, a study comparing macro-invertebrate
community structure in restored and natural wetlands in
Ohio found significantly higher total taxa richness,
particularly for chironomids, in the natural sites, with a
higher relative abundance of dipterans and tolerant
snails in the restored sites (Fennessy et al. 2004). In
Wisconsin, Dodson and Lillie (2001) found that
zooplankton taxa richness was similar in natural (with
an average of 7.3 taxa per site) and restored wetlands
(7.2 taxa). In this study, taxa richness was positively
correlated with time since restoration.
Bird species response to wetland restoration is
relatively well documented. Bird species are shown to
rapidly colonize sites, and while reports vary, many
projects report that avian species richness levels approach that of natural wetlands, including those of
management concern in Iowa and migratory species in
Ohio (Mitsch et al. 1998, Fletcher and Koford 2003). A
constructed wetland located on floodplain of the
Olentangy River in Ohio provided habitat for a total
of 126 bird species (wetland and adjacent terrestrial
habitat) by the fifth year following construction (Mitsch
et al. 1998).
The capacity of wetlands to support amphibian
populations depends on both the conditions within the
site and the characteristics of the surrounding landscape,
including the presence of terrestrial forested buffers,
distance to nearest neighbor wetlands, road density, and
presence of corridors connecting habitat areas (Knutson
et al. 1999, Lehtinen et al. 1999, Weyrauch and Grubb
2004). Both road density and distance to the nearest
neighbor wetlands in agricultural landscapes were
S58
SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
significant predictors of amphibian species richness in
the GIP (Lehtinen et al. 1999).
Microhabitats and trophic interactions affect species
establishment. In a study of Ohio wetlands, Porej et al.
(2004) found that amphibian diversity was significantly
higher in restored wetlands with shallows and without
predaceous fish. Vegetated shallows are important for
floral and faunal diversity and are nearly always present
in natural wetlands. The overall structure of the
amphibian community was also different in the restored
sites, with a dominance of some species, e.g., bullfrog
(Rana catesbeiana), green frog (Rana clamitans), and
toads, and the near absence of other species, such as
spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), western chorus
frogs (Pseudacris triseriata), and most salamanders.
Ultimately, wetland practices that provide sites with
seasonal inundation and an upland buffer will provide
habitat for herpetofauna. With this, as with other
taxonomic groups, details on the relationships between
wetland conservation practices, landscape characteristics, and the provision of habitat are yet to be
determined.
Carbon sequestration
Soils are a major reservoir of organic matter and thus
an important sink of carbon. Compared to agricultural
soils, which contain an average of 0.5–2% C with up to
5% C, wetland soils can accumulate up to 30–40% C
(Lal et al. 1995). Wetlands generally sequester carbon at
higher rates than terrestrial soils in the region, and peataccumulating wetlands, bogs, and to a lesser extent fens,
have the greatest capacity to accumulate and store
carbon (Table 2).
The importance of Midwestern wetlands for carbon
sequestration has been understudied relative to terrestrial ecosystems, where vast areas potentially are
available for restoration. However, in the conterminous
United States, C sequestration in wetlands with mineral
soils is estimated to be 5.3 Pg (1 Pg ¼ 1015 g ¼ 1 billion
metric tons), with 6.6 Pg stored in non-permafrost
peatlands, a small proportion of the 529 Pg of C stored
in wetland soils globally (Bridgham et al. 2006).
Floodplain wetlands in the region sequester C at rates
comparable to bogs and fens, whereas depressional
wetlands have lower rates of C sequestration (Table 2).
Although wetlands sequester more carbon than
terrestrial ecosystems per unit area, they occupy only a
fraction of the Midwest landscape, and C sequestration
in soil is a slow process relative to biomass accrual. For
this reason, wetlands are not considered an important
short-term restoration strategy for sequestering carbon.
There is also a trade-off between the capacity of
wetlands to absorb carbon dioxide and the fact that
they are a source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Estimates vary, but it is possible that any gains in C
sequestration due to wetland restoration could be offset
by methane emissions (Bridgham et al. 2006). Further
complications arise from the fact that nutrient enrich-
Ecological Applications
Special Issue
ment stimulates peat accretion and C accumulation in
wetland soils of the GIP and elsewhere (Craft and
Richardson 1993). For example, in Indiana, a natural
floodplain marsh receiving treated wastewater sequestered three times more C (3700 kgha1yr1) than a
comparable unenriched floodplain marsh (1200
kgha1yr1) (Table 2). The effect of nutrient enrichment on CH4 emissions is in the GIP is largely unknown.
The pattern of carbon fluxes over the long term is
important to the question of whether restored wetlands
will be a carbon sink. Bridgham et al. (2006) estimate
that the historical destruction of wetlands (through
drainage, et cetera) had the largest impact of carbon
fluxes, moving C from soil to the atmosphere. Until
more data are available, where wetlands are created or
restored, their potential to sequester C should not be
overlooked (Table 2).
CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONSERVATION PRACTICES
TO WATER QUALITY IN THE GIP
Wetlands serve an important role in nutrient management at the landscape scale. Restoring wetlands to
improve water quality requires a landscape approach
that maximizes the ability of sites to capture and process
diffuse runoff. At the site-scale riparian zones, even
narrow bands (e.g., ,10 m) adjacent to streams, ditches,
or rivers can remove up to 90% of N (Zedler and
Kercher 2005). Although relatively little is known about
the links between the placement of wetlands within a
watershed and the accumulation of services at the
watershed scale, the extent of wetland practices implemented can be used to make an initial characterization
of the ecosystem services provided.
The degradation of water quality in the Upper
Mississippi has been extensively documented. In an
investigation of N loading to the Mississippi River,
Goolsby et al. (1999) delineated 42 subwatersheds to
provide detailed information on N export and identify
those with abnormally high outflows. Nitrogen was the
focus as it has been identified most responsible for
hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico (Rabalais et al. 2002).
Sixteen of these watersheds lie wholly or partially in the
GIP (Fig. 5), including some with the highest nutrient
export rates in the entire basin. For example, the upper
Illinois River exports more N per unit area than any
other subwatershed in the Mississippi Basin, yielding
3120 kg Nkm2yr1. This is followed by the Iowa and
Skunk Rivers at 2750 and 2290 kg Nkm2yr1,
respectively.
We used estimates of the nutrient retention rates for
the various wetland conservation practices (Table 2),
along with an estimate of the area of wetland
conservation practices implemented within the portion
of the GIP that lies in the Mississippi River watershed,
to estimate their cumulative nutrient retention ability
(Table 4). This provides an estimate of the cumulative
nutrient retention capacity of conservation wetlands put
in place through Farm Bill conservation programs (e.g.,
April 2011
WETLAND SERVICES IN THE GLACIATED PLAINS
S59
FIG. 5. Overlap between the area of the Glaciated Interior Plains and the subbasins used to analyze nutrient export to the
Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Subbasin boundaries are based on Goolsby et al. (1999).
WRP, CREP, CRP, Technical Assistance), and their
overall ability to reduce sediment, N, and P export to the
Gulf of Mexico. Nutrient retention rates vary with the
type and acreage of wetlands involved. Reflecting their
ability to process large amounts of N, riparian buffer
strips remove more N than any other practice, totaling
an estimated 6.5 million kg/yr. Wetland restoration
accounts for another 4.5 million kg/yr. In total,
conservation practices are estimated to retain nearly
14.6 million kg/yr. The total annual load to the Gulf of
Mexico ranges between 1.5 and 1.6 million Mg of N
(Goolsby et al. 1999, Alexander et al. 2008); therefore,
the amount of N intercepted by conservation wetlands
amounts to an estimated 1.0% of the total N reaching
the Gulf of Mexico annually. Given that most of the
wetland area in the GIP was created over a three-year
period (2004–2006), these estimates show the potential
for the restoration of ecosystem services that are
measurable at the watershed scale.
Sediment and P retention are also substantial.
Wetland restoration projects account for the largest
sink for sediments: Collectively, these sites retain an
estimated 1.5 million Mg of sediment annually (Table
4), representing an estimated 1.8% of the total sediment
load that flows from the Mississippi River each year.
Phosphorus retention is estimated to account for 0.8%
of the total annual load in the Mississippi River.
The water quality benefits of nutrient interception can
also be made using estimates of the relative proportion
of nutrients that are generated within the GIP region
itself, calculated based on the proportion (15.8%) of the
GIP that lies within the Mississippi River watershed. In
this case, the estimated nutrient retention capacity of
conservation wetlands amounts to 6.8% of N, 4.9% of P,
and 11.5% of the sediment exported from the region
annually. These estimates demonstrate the potential for
reestablishing ecosystem services through conservation
practices based on wetland and riparian-zone establishment and management.
In response to hypoxia in the Gulf, nutrient management strategies were set forth in the ‘‘Action plan for
reducing, mitigating, and controlling hypoxia in the
Northern Gulf of Mexico’’ (Mississippi River/Gulf of
Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force 2001, Rabalais
et al. 2002). The action plan established the goal of
reducing the five-year running average of the areal
extent of the hypoxic zone to 5000 km2 or less by 2015.
Initial estimates set the level of N load reductions needed
to meet this goal at 30% below the 1980–1996 average
(Rabalais et al. 2002, Scavia et al. 2003). Subsequent
models developed during a reassessment of the action
plan, required every five years, have shown that, while a
30% reduction in N loads would lead to a 20–60%
reduction in the extent of hypoxia, it will require a 40–
S60
Ecological Applications
Special Issue
SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
TABLE 4. Estimated annual nutrient retention rates (with percentages of nutrient load) for NRCS conservation practices located in
the Mississippi River Basin portion of the Glaciated Interior Plains (GIP) for those wetlands established or managed over the
period 2000–2006.
Practice
Total area
implemented (ha)
Sediment
retained
(Mg/yr) Nitrogen
retained
(kg/yr)à
22
13 120
1007
3030
30 190
30 284
77 652
NA
1083
656 010
50 341
30 297
1 509 508
302 837
2 550 077
1.8#
3250
6 560 105
151 023
302 974
4 528 523
3 028 373
14 574 247
1.0||
Constructed Wetland
Riparian Buffers
Wetland Creation
Wetland Enhancement
Wetland Restoration
Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management
Total
Percentage of total nutrient load in
Mississippi River retained
Relative percentage of nutrient load
from GIP region retained
NA
11.5
Phosphorus
retained
(kg/yr)§
433
131 202
20 136
30 297
603 803
302 837
1 088 710
0.8 6.8
4.9
Carbon
retained
(kg/yr)}
10 833
6 560 105
503 408
1 514 868
15 095 076
15 141 867
38 826 157
...
...
Note: Conservation practice area data were supplied by NRCS. NA indicates not applicable; ellipses indicate that data were not
available.
Assumes mean retention rate of 50 Mgha1yr1; 10 Mgha1yr1 for enhancement and wildlife habitat activities (see Table 2).
à Assumes mean retention of 500 kgha1yr1for riparian buffers; 150 kgha1yr1 for constructed, created, and restored
wetlands; and 100 kgha1yr1 for enhancement and wildlife habitat (see Table 2).
§ Assumes mean retention rate of 10 kgha1yr1 for riparian buffers; 20 kgha1yr1 for constructed, created, and restored
wetlands; and 10 kgha1yr1 for enhancement and wildlife habitat (see Table 2).
} Assumes mean retention rate of 500 kgha1yr1 (see Table 2).
# Assumes mean annual sediment export of 144 million Mg to the Gulf of Mexico.
jj Assumes mean annual N export of 1.4 million Mg to the Gulf of Mexico.
Assumes mean annual P export of 0.14 million Mg to the Gulf of Mexico.
45% nitrogen load reduction to meet the 5000 km2 goal
(Scavia et al. 2003, Justic et al. 2007, Scavia and
Donnelly 2007). Of the 31 states that contribute to the
Mississippi River flow, nine states (Illinois, Iowa,
Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Ohio, and Mississippi ) deliver 75% of the total N and
P to the Gulf of Mexico (Alexander et al. 2008). The
GIP contains all or parts of five of these nine states
(Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio). A focused
program of wetland restoration in the GIP region has
the potential to reduce seasonal hypoxia by helping to
meet targets for reductions in nutrient exports.
One component of a watershed-based approach to
accomplish the goal of protecting downstream water
quality is to promote large-scale efforts to create and
restore wetlands (Table 5). Mitsch et al. (2001) estimated
that the creation and restoration of 2.1–5.3 million ha of
wetlands in the Mississippi River Basin (0.7–1.8% of the
basin) could reduce nitrate loadings to the Gulf of
Mexico by 300–800 3 103 Mg/yr, or by 18–50%, based
on annual loads of 1.5–1.6 million Mg/yr. Likewise, Hey
and Philippi (1995) recommended that 5.3 million ha of
restored wetlands would hold the floodwater equal to
the 1993 Mississippi River flood. An earlier study called
for the restoration or creation of 10 million ha of
wetlands and riparian zones (3.4% of the basin),
concluding that this would reduce nitrogen in the river
by an estimated 40% (Mitsch et al. 1999). Extrapolating
from our broad estimates of the N removed by NRCS
conservation practices (Table 4), ;1.3 million ha (;3.1
million acres) would be required to achieve a 40%
reduction in N. While these numbers will undoubtedly
be refined, these studies place the need for restoration at
between 3 and 10 million ha, or 1.0–3.4% of the land
area of the basin. If reductions in N loads of 40% could
be achieved, the analysis conducted as a result of the
TABLE 5. Estimates of riparian/wetland area needed to significantly improve the water quality of
receiving waters.
Activity and location
Riparian restoration (USA) Wetland creation and restoration (USA) Wetland creation and restoration (USA) Wetland creation and restoration (Sweden)à
Wetlands (China)
Percentage
of watershed Reduction
converted in load (%)
0.7–1.8
2.7–6.6
5
5–10
;5
19–50 (N)
19–50 (N)
46 (N)
25–50 (N)
34–68 (P)
.90 (P)
Source
Mitsch et al. (2001)
Mitsch et al. (2001)
Kovacic et al. (2006)
Tonderski et al. (2005)
Verhoeven et al. (2006)
Note: Abbreviations are: N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus.
All activities in the United States were carried out in the Mississippi River Basin.
à Involves conversion of arable land to wetland.
April 2011
WETLAND SERVICES IN THE GLACIATED PLAINS
action plan indicates that this could help meet Gulf of
Mexico water quality goals.
The spatial distribution of conservation projects will
be a key factor in successfully reducing nutrient loads in
surface waters. By targeting restoration in certain highnutrient watersheds like the Illinois River Basin, even
greater reductions could be achieved with less effort
(Mitsch et al. 2001, Kovacic et al. 2006). While studies
to quantify the effects of the spatial distribution of
conservation practices within a watershed are underway
in projects such as the NRCS ‘‘benchmark’’ watershed
studies (King et al. 2008), results to date are limited and
questions remain on the watershed-scale benefits of
project implementation.
One crucial question regarding ecosystem services is
whether the implementation of conservation practices
coincides with areas that are in most need of restoration,
such as locating conservation wetlands appropriately to
treat high-nutrient runoff. Using the subwatersheds to
evaluate nutrient export to the Mississippi River
(Goolsby et al. 1999), we found a strong correlation (r
¼ 0.81) between the total area of NRCS conservation
practices implemented between 2000 and 2006 and the
estimated nitrogen export from each subwatershed prior
to the implementation of these projects (Fig. 6),
suggesting that, at least for water quality improvement,
conservation practices are successfully targeting watersheds that are exporting the most N. At its best, the
provision of ecosystem services through implementation
of wetland conservation practices will result in improved
environmental quality and human health in terms of
improved downstream water quality. What is lacking in
the GIP is specific data to demonstrate that these
conservation practices are measurably decreasing N
export at the subwatershed scale, and whether or not
wetlands are being sited within watersheds in ways that
maximize water quality improvement (White and
Fennessy 2005).
CONCLUSIONS
More than 80% of the acreage involving Wetland
Restoration, Creation, Enhancement, the establishment
of Riparian Forest Buffers, and Wetland Wildlife
Habitat Management conservation practices implemented in the period between 2000 and 2006 was put in place
in just three years (2004–2006), demonstrating the
potential for wetland practices to rapidly restore
ecosystem services that are measurable at the watershed
scale. However, many subwatersheds in the Glaciated
Interior Plains were untouched by these practices and
associated Farm Bill conservation programs; thus, they
offer the potential for further conservation efforts to be
implemented in the region. The preliminary results
presented here indicate generally that the quantity of
ecosystem services delivered regionally can be increased
over remarkably short time periods. Our analysis points
to the need for indicators that can document the ability
of conservation practices to deliver ecosystem services
S61
FIG. 6. Correlation between the N export from the
subbasins shown in Fig. 5 (data from Goolsby et al. [1999])
and the area of wetland conservation practices (i.e., Wetland
Creation, Wetland Restoration, Wetland Enhancement,
Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management, and Riparian Forest
Buffer) implemented in each watershed through Farm Bill
conservation programs between 2000 and 2006.
and how the spatial distribution of conservation
practices on the landscape affects the delivery of those
services. In many cases landowners have choices about
which practices might best suit their land or needs.
Decision making of this sort would be strengthened if we
understood the trade-offs in the relative degree of
services delivered by one conservation practice (e.g.,
wetland restoration) over another (wetland wildlife
habitat management). At this point there is no means
to distinguish the benefits provided by individual
practices or the trade-offs between the provisioning of
different ecosystem services (e.g., water purification vs.
biodiversity support). This is particularly true for
carbon sequestration and potential changes in carbon
dynamics due to altered nutrient loadings and issues
related to climate change (e.g., CH4 emissions). Future
establishment of conservation projects might take
advantage of the opportunity to impose whole watershed experiments by systematically testing the effects of
the quantity and spatial distribution of wetland projects
(or lack thereof ) on a subwatershed basis. This
approach is being used in several of the NRCS
benchmark studies designed to investigate the benefits
of watershed-scale restoration (King et al. 2008).
Focusing research on these questions will help us
determine whether, and to what extent, wetland and
riparian restoration projects on agricultural lands are
providing critical wetland ecosystem services.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Diane Eckles for her unflagging support, help with
data, and patience with queries throughout the process. We
dedicate this paper to her as she completes more than 30 years
of service to federal conservation programs. Susan Wallace and
Peter Chen are gratefully acknowledged for assistance with GIS
analysis and mapping. S. Fennessy is indebted to Hugh Prince,
of University College London, Department of Geography, for
formative conversations on the environmental history of
wetlands in the Midwest. This project was funded in part by
S62
SIOBHAN FENNESSY AND CHRISTOPHER CRAFT
Grant Number 06-DG-11132650 from the USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service to the Ecological Society of
America, through the USDA Forest Service.
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