HR: 1330h
AN: NB33H-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Floodplain Wetland Dynamics and Development Following Dam Removal on a North Carolina Coastal Plain River
AU: * Riggsbee, A
EM: ariggsbe@email.unc.edu
AF: UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering Campus Box 7431 , Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431 United States
AU: Wetzel, R G
EM: rwetzel@unc.edu
AF: UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering Campus Box 7431 , Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431 United States
AU: Doyle, M W
EM: mwdoyle@email.unc.edu
AF: UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Department of Geography Campus Box 3220, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3220 United States
AB: Dam removal is used to experimentally investigate hydrologic, geomorphic and ecological links in streams, particularly floodplain succession and floodplain nutrient retentive capacity (FNRC). Here, FNRC is defined as the ability of the flood plain to attenuate surface water nutrient concentrations during spates. Following dam removal, altered hydraulics will drive upstream channel evolution exposing nutrient-rich sediments for floodplain succession. The dam removal is in progress so particular emphasis will be focused on the fate of interstitial nutrients within the developing floodplain wetland and floodplain community succession. Initial data show interstitial water N and P concentrations 10-20X greater than adjacent surface water. N leaching to the channel from the floodplain has been observed supporting the hypothesis that FNRC will be compromised during early stages of succession. Secondary succession is measured using macrophyte biomass (AFDM) and benthic algae (chl a), and within the rooting-zone using fungal biomass and bacterial productivity. Nutrient data from the floodplain are being collected throughout the successional process (surface water, interstitial and sediment surface). In addition to the field studies, development of FNRC is being simulated using mesocosms within a greenhouse under variable hydrologic conditions in the presence and absence of wetland floodplain vegetation along a biomass gradient.
DE: 9901 NABS Student Award - Basic Research
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly