Even Small Changes in Water Tables Could Lead to Big Changes in Wetlands
Some wetlands could be much drier by the end of the 21st
century, according to a recently
published study involving Center scientists. Center research hydrologist Ge
Sun and research colleagues used long-term hydrologic and meteorological data
from five forested wetland study sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida to
build models that incorporated projections of rising temperatures and altered
precipitation patterns. “Our primary goal was to understand how water tables in
these study sites will respond to climate change,” says Sun. The models
indicated that water tables could recede by a few to several inches and lead to
drier wetlands—even where changes in water tables seem relatively small—with implications
for wildland fire risk, exotic plant invasions, and ecosystem services such as water filtration, carbon storage, and wildlife habitat. Read
more in CompassLive…
