Wetland : Hydroperiods & Seiche/

Guest Lecture: Dr. Anett Trebitz Research Ecologist US-EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Duluth MN

Guest Lecture for Wetlands Ecology class 7 Sept. 2017 PART 1: TIME SCALES OF HYDROLOGIC INFLUENCES

Day Month Seasonal Inter-annual Episodic Artificial

2 TIDE: day and month time scales

Lunar cycle superimposed on daily or twice-daily highs and lows Affect both salt- and fresh-water wetlands ( can travel 100+ km). Magnitude and frequency are broadly predictable (can be forecast)

From Mann & Lazier. 1991. Dynamics of Marine3 Ecosystems. Blackwell. From NOAA. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_tides/media/supp_tide07b.html SEICHE (wind tide): hour to day time scale Wind- & barometric pressure-driven water-level oscillations

Internal seiche occurs at in many lakes; surface seiche is significant only in From US-ACE & Great Lakes Commission. 2000. Living with the Lakes. very large bodies of water.

MN Grant, photos from 2002

From Ohio DNR: http://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/extra-news- archives/2011-articles/lake-erie-seiche-or-wind- 4 SEICHE continued magnitude: variable over both frequency: spatially predictable (basin space (somewhat predictable) shape/size); temporally somewhat and time (not predictable) predictable (interval but not re-set)

Erie 15 14.5 12 9 9.0 6 6.0 3 Superior: 6 – 13 cm 0

Huron: 5 - 17 cm Huron Ont: 3 – 6 cm 8 Michigan: 6 6.6 7 - 23 cm 4 4.8 2 0 Michigan 10 Erie: 7 - 27 cm 8 9.0 6 Lk. Erie at Toledo OH 5.0 4 3.2 2 2.2 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 cm Ontario 8 6 Lk. Ontario at Kingston ON 4 5.2 2 2.4 0 From Trebitz. 2006. 0 10 20 30 40 cm Characterizing seiche period of peaks detected seiche (hrs) Superior and tide-driven daily 8 7.9 frequency distribution of of distribution frequency range level daily water Lk. Superior at Duluth MN water level fluctuations 6 4.8 4 3.7 affecting coastal 3.0 2 2.3 ecosystems of the 0 0 10 20 30 cm Great Lakes. J. Great Lakes Res. 32:102-116. stations (along long axis of lake)5 SEASONAL (annual) time scale

Combination of precipitation & temperature (which drives evaporation and snow accumulation and melt) impose seasonal cycles of water depth and flow across broad regions.

from Mitsch & Gosselink. 2000. Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons.

From water.usgs.gov.

6 from NOAA Great Lakes water level website INTERANNUAL time scale

Because precip and temp vary across Data from NOAA 183.6 Duluth water level years, so does timing recording station and magnitude of 183.5 seasonality. 183.4

183.3 Predictability of this lake level (m) lake level 1998 varies from fairly high 183.2 1999 2000 (e.g., for ENSO 183.1 Apr5 May10 Jun14 Jul19 Aug23 Sep27 Nov1 cycles), to moderate (e.g., wet-dry climate cycles) to low.

From www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/dashboard/GLWLD.html

7 EPISODIC HYDROLOGIC EVENTS (unpredictable) - often cast in terms of statistical frequency of occurrence (return interval). - examples: storm surges, floods.

flood

1999 flood on Iron River upstream from a coastal wetland on

From W.J. Mitsch & J.G. Gosselink. 2000. Wetlands. John Wiley & sons.

From K.W. Bedford. 1992. The physical effects of the Great Lakes on tributaries and 8 wetlands. J. Great Lakes Res. 18:571-589. ARTIFICIAL HYDROPERIOD - un-natural time-cycles: e.g., level raised in fall for waterfowl habitat, reduced overwinter for future storage, daily cycle imposed by hydropower - altered amplitude: e.g., reduced for flood control, increased by hydropower generation (“peaking” generation) - normal cycles absent: e.g., diked wetlands cut off from hydrologic exchange

A diked wetland. From W.J. Mitsch. 1992. Combining ecosystem and landscape approaches to Great Lakes wetlands. J. Great Lakes Res. 18:552-570.

Stream outflow bypasses wetland.

9 PART 2: HYDROLOGY as WETLAND “SIGNATURE”

Hydroperiod and hydrodynamics: - Are the temporal pattern of inundation, water source, water movement – Result from the interaction between hydrologic cycles and wetland morphology and landscape position - Are predictive of a wetland’s structure and function yet can be temporally quite variable

Externalities: Wetland setting: Hydrologic features:

Precipitation Elevation Water table depth Temperature Morphology Inundation period Cloudiness Connectivity Lake level 10 Opening size Inundated surface area HYDROLOGY is an important element of wetland classification

11 HYDROPERIOD can be quite variable - Some wetlands are alternately wet or dry; others are inundated year-round but with varying depth/extent - Can vary considerably, even within wetland types or the same wetland over time

From Brockmeyer et al. 1997. Rehabilitation of impounded estuarine wetlands by hydrologic reconnection to the Indian River Lagoon, FL. Wetl. Ecol. Manage. 4:93-109.

1997 1965

From Skidds and Golet. 2005. Estimating hydroperiod suitability for breeding amphibians in southern Rhode Island forest ponds. Wetl Ecol & Manage 13:349-366.

12

photo: Dale Wrubleski, Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research HYDROLOGY EXAMPLE from Great Lakes coastal wetlands

184.2 a) Lost Creek 0.3 tributary 183.8 wetland 0.2 lake C 183.4 C 0.1 tributary discharge (m

184.2 b) Little Fish 0.5

183.8 C C C C 0.3 C C C C C C C C 183.4 C 0.1 3 184.2 4 /s) lake and wetland water level (m) level water wetland and lake c) Amnicon C 3 183.8 C D D D D D C C 2 183.4 C 1

28Jun00 26Jul00 23Aug00 20Sep00 18Oct00

From Trebitz et al. 2006. J. Great Lakes Res. 28:212-227.

13 From Morrice et al. 2011 Wetlands 31:1199-1213. WATER BUDGET example from Great Lakes coastal wetland

From Mitsch & Reeder. 1992. Nutrient and hydrologic budgets of a Great Lakes coastal freshwater wetland during a drought year. Wetlands Ecol. Manage. 1:211-222. 14 PART 3: IMPORTANCE OF HYDROLOGY TO ECOLOGY

15 HYDROLOGY has legal importance - Supreme Court decision in 2001 removed Clean Water Act protection from wetlands having “isolated, intra-state, non-navigable waters” unless there was a “significant nexus” with navigable waters.

- Has catalyzed significant research on hydrological and ecological connectivity of such wetlands.

16 inundated area plant succession LONG-TERM depth seed banks PATTERNS: time resident species connectivity ecosystem connectivity invasive plant establishment

evaporation ice scour snowmelt primary production SEASONAL runoff migratory species. CYCLES: water table resident species lake level water chemistry oxic/anoxic sediments

temperature salinity DAILY tide dissolved O seiche 2 CYCLES: species movements plant zonation 17 PRAIRIE POTHOLES: seasonal & interannual water level effects on biota rainfall & re-flooding Regenerating • die-off of terrestrial veg Dry Marsh • aquatic veg establishes Marsh • epiphytic algae increase • dormant & flying inverts return • increased epiphitic inverts

drought drawdown succession • death of remaining submerged veg • emergent veg & epiphytes degenerate • algae establish on mudflats • increased algal mats • terrestrial & emerg veg germinates • highest abundance of epiphytic inverts • aquatic inverts leave/go dormant • increased benthic inverts • colonization by terrestrial species • highest abundance of waterfowl • shorebirds abundant on mudflats

Degenerating Lake Marsh more succession • deeper veg disappears Marsh • phytoplankton replaces algal mats • decreased epiphytic inverts • increased benthic inverts • highest abundance of diving birds

Figure from Dale Wrubleski, drawn after A.G. van der Valk, and C.B. Davis. 1978. The 18 role of seed banks in the vegetation dynamics of prairie glacial marshes. Ecology 59:322-335. : tide effects on vegetation

from R.E. Turner. 2001. Of manatees, mangroves, and the Mississippi River: is there an estuarine signature for the ? Estuaries 24:139-150.

From W.J. Mitsch & J.G. Gosselink. 2000. Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons 19 ESTUARIES: tide and tributary effects on water quality

From Kelly 2001. Nitrogen effects on coastal marine ecosystems. Pp. 207-251 in Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems, and Management. Follett and Hatfields (eds), Elsevier.

from R.E. Turner. 2001. Of manatees, mangroves, and the Mississippi River: is there an estuarine signature for the Gulf of Mexico? Estuaries 24:139-150.

20 GREAT LAKES: lake-level effects on vegetation

From Minc. 1997. Vegetative response in Michigan’s coastal wetlands to Great Lakes water level fluctuations. Mich. Nat. Features Inventory report.

21 GREAT LAKES: seiche and tributary effects on water quality

Sand Cut Slough: Lost: seiche >> trib [no trib] seiche ≈ trib

West Fish: seiche << trib

lake-like water tributary--like water

From Trebitz et al. 2006. Hydromorphic determinants of aquatic habitat variability in Lake Superior coastal wetlands. Wetlands 25:505-519.

13 120 WF SO 100 BK EB WB AM 9 EF 80 MD

60 LO 5 40 oxygen saturation oxygen saturation (%)

20 DO (mg/L) mid-morning 1 22 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 02Jun 17Jun 13Jul 05Aug 09Sep 26Oct flow due to seiche and trib (cm/sec) EFFECTS OF WATER LEVEL STABILIZATION

816 Lake Manitoba water level (feet above MSL) Fairford Dam installed 814 (for flood control)

812

810 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Photos: Doug Wilcox, USGS Ann Arbor. 23 Image: Dale Wrubleski, Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research Re-establishing hydrology is critical to wetland restoration

from Environment Canada. 2002. Where the Land meets the Water: Understanding 24 Wetlands of the Great Lakes. EXAMPLE: Metzger Marsh ()

- natural barrier beach lost: combination of stream diversion, shoreline hardening, high water

- diking stopped wetland loss but didn’t restore original condition

- water control structure installed: permits drawdown and water exchanges with lake

- drawdown and flooding used to control nuisance plant species

25 from Environment Canada. Canada. from Environment Meets “Where Land 2002. Understanding Water: of the Great Lakes”. Wetlands Final Photo: Delta Marsh wetland complex adjacent to Lake Manitoba