Stochastic dynamics of wetlandscapes: Ecohydrological implications of shifts in hydro-climatic forcing and landscape configuration

Bertassello, Leonardo Enrico; Jawitz, James W.; Aubeneau, A. F.; Botter, Gianluca; Rao, P. Suresh C.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133765

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The key novelty introduced here is to consider the two quantities as temporally variable, driven by external stochastic forcing. Following Bertassello et al [26], we estimated temporal fluctuations in attributes (e.g. surface area) of each wetland resulting from the net of precipitation falling over each wetland contributing area, evapotranspiration losses and water exchanged with shallow groundwater (see electronic supplementary material for details).…”

Section: D-spom: Coupling Spatio-temporal Dynamics Wetland Hydrology mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Potential evapotranspiration (PET) data were estimated by the Thornthwaite method using temperature data (NOAA stations) at monthly resolution. The full list of other parameters needed to implement the hydrological model can be found in Bertassello et al [26].…”

Section: Case Studies and Hydroclimatic Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…area, perimeter, gap distances, etc.) driven by stochastic hydroclimatic forcing [25,26], coupled to fixed species attributes (colonization and extinction rates, dispersal ability), determine patch connectivity and occupancy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamic spatio-temporal patterns of metapopulation occupancy in patchy habitats

et al. 2021

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Spatio-temporal dynamics in habitat suitability and connectivity among mosaics of heterogeneous wetlands are critical for biological diversity and species persistence in aquatic patchy landscapes. Despite the recognized importance of stochastic hydroclimatic forcing in driving wetlandscape hydrological dynamics, linking such effects to emergent dynamics of metapopulation poses significant challenges. To fill this gap, we propose here a dynamic stochastic patch occupancy model (SPOM), which links parsimonious hydrological and ecological models to simulate spatio-temporal patterns in species occupancy in wetlandscapes. Our work aims to place ecological studies of patchy habitats into a proper hydrologic and climatic framework to improve the knowledge about metapopulation shifts in response to climate-driven changes in wetlandscapes. We applied the dynamic version of the SPOM (D-SPOM) framework in two wetlandscapes in the US with contrasting landscape and climate properties. Our results illustrate that explicit consideration of the temporal dimension proposed in the D-SPOM is important to interpret local- and landscape-scale patterns of habitat suitability and metapopulation occupancy. Our analyses show that spatio-temporal dynamics of patch suitability and accessibility, driven by the stochasticity in hydroclimatic forcing, influence metapopulation occupancy and the topological metrics of the emergent wetlandscape dispersal network. D-SPOM simulations also reveal that the extinction risk in dynamic wetlandscapes is exacerbated by extended dry periods when suitable habitat decreases, hence limiting successful patch colonization and exacerbating metapopulation extinction risks. The proposed framework is not restricted only to wetland studies but could also be applied to examine metapopulation dynamics in other types of patchy habitats subjected to stochastic external disturbances.

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Section: D-spom: Coupling Spatio-temporal Dynamics Wetland Hydrology mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studies and Hydroclimatic Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamic spatio-temporal patterns of metapopulation occupancy in patchy habitats

et al. 2021

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“…Canadian climate models and studies using future climate scenarios predict increases in extreme temperatures and precipitation (Tebaldi et al 2006;Masud et al 2018) as well as an earlier snowmelt, decrease in snowpack depth and length of the snow season, increase in stream flow during the start of the growing season, increase in the length of growing season (Kompanizare et al 2018;Chunn et al 2019), and an increase in evapotranspiration (Pan et al 2015). Modeling efforts have emphasized the key interactions between hydroclimatic forcing and landscape configuration in wetlandscapes (e.g., Kompanizare et al 2018;Bertassello et al 2019;Johnson and Poiani 2016).…”

Section: Climate and Wetlandscape Reclamationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential of integrating distribution and structure of permanent open-water wetlandscapes in reclamation design: a case study of Alberta, Canada

Ridge

Robinson

Rooney

2020

Wetlands Ecol Manage

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Wetlands are multi-functional systems that provide a disproportionate number of ecosystem services given the spatial extent they occupy both nationally and globally. The ecological functioning of these wetlands is dependent on the structure of the landscape, which poses unique challenges when reclaiming wetlands in areas where resource extraction is occurring. Resource extraction mega-projects require that entire wetlandscapes be reclaimed and often involve timelines that necessitate the consideration of climate projections to create self-sustaining, naturally appearing wetlandscapes that meet policy objectives. To understand wetlandscape structure and guide reclamation planning and closure permitting evaluation, a random sample of 13,676 1-km2 landscapes were subselected to identify 1684 permanent open-water wetlandscapes. A parsimonious set of landscape metrics were applied and compared across levels of anthropogenic disturbance and across natural regions (i.e., Grassland, Parkland and Boreal). Results demonstrated that permanent open-water wetlands are relatively rare (12.3% of our total random sample) and typically occupy less than 8% of wetlandscapes when present. The majority of wetlands in the study area are less permanent and more variable in nature than the permanent open water wetlandscapes created by megaproject reclamation, which has the potential to alter the distribution and size of open-water wetlands beyond their natural occurrence. Comparison across disturbance levels and natural regions yield statistical differences among landscape structure. General wetland landscapes representing a combination of disturbance level and natural region can be created for each metric to guide reclamation design and closure planning approval.

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“…However, such depression wetlands may be increasingly vulnerable to anthropogenic climate and landcover change and to human demands on water resources (Tiner 2003;Wolfe et al 2004;Gómez-Rodríguez et al 2010;Bird and Day 2014;Bolpagni et al 2019;Cartwright 2019). Many small depression wetlands are seasonally inundated-holding water for only part of each year-with inundation patterns driven by wetland and drainage-basin characteristics (e.g., size, geomorphology, substrate) and climate variability (Brooks 2004;Calhoun et al 2017;Bertassello et al 2019;Davis et al 2019). Primary impacts of climate change and human water use in these depression wetland ecosystems can arise through hydrologic changes such as shifts in seasonal timing of inundation and changes in hydroperiod (i.e., the number of days per year that a wetland is inundated ;Brooks 2009;Gómez-Rodríguez et al 2010;Russell et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Hydroperiod in a Karst-depression Wetland Based on 165 Years of Simulated Daily Water Levels

Cartwright

Wolfe

2021

Wetlands

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The hydrology of seasonally inundated depression wetlands can be highly sensitive to climatic fluctuations. Hydroperiod—the number of days per year that a wetland is inundated—is often of primary ecological importance in these systems and can vary interannually depending on climate conditions. In this study we re-examined an existing hydrologic model to simulate daily water levels in Sinking Pond, a 35-hectare seasonally inundated karst-depression wetland in Tennessee, USA. We recalibrated the model using 22 years of climate and water-level observations and used the recalibrated model to reconstruct (hindcast) daily water levels over a 165-year period from 1855 to 2019. A trend analysis of the climatic data and reconstructed water levels over the hindcasting period indicated substantial increases in pond hydroperiod over time, apparently related to increasing regional precipitation. Wetland hydroperiod increased on average by 5.9 days per decade between 1920 and 2019, with a breakpoint around the year 1970. Hydroperiod changes of this magnitude may have profound consequences for wetland ecology, such as a transition from a forested wetland to a mostly open-water pond at the Sinking Pond site. More broadly, this study illustrates the needs for robust hydrologic models of depression wetlands and for consideration of model transferability in time (i.e., hindcasting and forecasting) under non-stationary hydroclimatic conditions. As climate change is expected to influence water cycles, hydrologic processes, and wetland ecohydrology in the coming decades, hydrologic model projections may become increasingly important to detect, anticipate, and potentially mitigate ecological impacts in depression wetland ecosystems.

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Stochastic dynamics of wetlandscapes: Ecohydrological implications of shifts in hydro-climatic forcing and landscape configuration

Cited by 22 publications

References 49 publications

Dynamic spatio-temporal patterns of metapopulation occupancy in patchy habitats

Dynamic spatio-temporal patterns of metapopulation occupancy in patchy habitats

Assessing the potential of integrating distribution and structure of permanent open-water wetlandscapes in reclamation design: a case study of Alberta, Canada

Increasing Hydroperiod in a Karst-depression Wetland Based on 165 Years of Simulated Daily Water Levels

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