We present water quality data from 58 coastal wetlands, sampled as part of a larger effort investigating effects of nutrient enrichment and habitat disruption in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Our sampling design selected sites from across a gradient of agricultural intensity within combinations of biogeographic ecoprovince and wetland hydromorphic type and captured a large range in water quality....

Editor's Note: After reviewing the preceding chapters, EPA's Office of Wetland Protection prepared this concluding chapter, which presents their recommendations for protecting coastal wetlands. Recognizing the numerous benefits and values accrued to society from wetlands, there are several options available for minimizing potential future losses of wetlands from predicted sea level rise. These ...

Urban wetlands play a significant role in the sustainable development of the urban eco-environment. However, accelerated urbanization has caused rapid changes in urban wetland landscape patterns, which may seriously affect their functions. Based on land-use maps, TM images, and field data from the Wuhan wetlands, the spatiotemporal evolution and wetland landscape pattern were quantitatively ana...

Tropical wetlands are not included in Earth system models, despite being an important source of methane (CH4) and contributing a large fraction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from land use, land use change, and forestry in the tropics. This review identifies a remarkable lack of data on the carbon balance and gas fluxes from undisturbed tropical wetlands, which limits the ability of global c...

Malaria is a major global public health problem, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The spatial heterogeneity of malaria can be affected by factors such as hydrological processes, physiography, and land cover patterns. Tropical wetlands, for example, are important hydrological features that can serve as mosquito breeding habitats. Mapping and monitoring of wetlands using satellite remote sensi...

Wetlands in the Limpopo Basin support the livelihoods of many poor people through agriculture for both food production and income. Wetlands are used to mitigate the problem of low crop yields associated with low rainfall and droughts. However, wetlands are complex and ecologically sensitive environments, which fulfill other important environmental functions, such as flood control or groundwater...

One goal in indicator development is to implement long-term monitoring that will track the relative condition of the indicator over time. Among the first steps in establishing a monitoring program is to develop a sampling design that adequately characterizes the indicator to be monitored as well as the cost-effectiveness of the program. We used breeding bird data collected in Lake Superior and ...

Mining throughout the Floridan aquifer system alters groundwater conditions. Determination of magnitude and extent of groundwater alterations in this regional karst aquifer system is difficult due to preferential flow paths, blasting, and widespread aquifer withdrawals and injections. Additionally, hydrologic models do not reveal subsurface impacts to the biotic environment, such as destruction...