Name
Mixed Signals: Evaluating Wetland Influence on Downstream Carbon and Nitrate Dynamics During Storms in a Low-Relief, Wetland-rich Catchment
Date & Time
Wednesday, May 27, 2026, 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Description
Short-term, high-flow events, such as storms, can impact flow and solute transport through streams and rivers, creating distinct concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships. Wetlands distributed in the landscape may further alter catchment C-Q relationships due to their large storage and processing potential. However, the impacts of wetlands on event-scale C-Q dynamics downstream and at the catchment scale are poorly constrained. In this study, we investigated event-scale C-Q relationships across three nested sites: upstream of a wetland, at the wetland outlet, and downstream of the wetland in a low-relief, wetland-rich catchment located in southwestern Michigan, USA. We assessed C-Q relationships across the entire sampling period and for 15 individual storm events using high-frequency dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrate (NO3−), and discharge measurements collected every 15 minutes using in-situ probes and loggers. Our findings reveal that the wetland outlet site had a unique, highly variable C-Q relationship that was difficult to disentangle downstream at the larger catchment scale. The downstream C-Q response showed DOC enrichment and NO3− dilution with increasing discharge, like the C-Q response seen at the small headwater stream site upstream of the wetland. These findings suggest that understanding wetland impacts on stream solute patterns may be challenging to detect at the larger catchment scale, particularly in low-relief catchments with complex surface and subsurface biogeochemical drivers. By providing a new, high-frequency dataset of storm response in a wetland-rich catchment, our study offers insights and future avenues of research for understanding low-relief, wetland-rich catchments located across the much of the USA and Canada.
Location Name
DSU 303
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
214
Speaker Organization
Michigan State University
Session Name
H7 (4 of 4)
Co-authors
Caroline Weidner, Michigan State University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Arsh Grewal, University of Saskatchewan, Department of Geography and Planning Arial Shogren, University of Alabama, Department of Biological Sciences
Presenting Author
Jay P. Zarnetske, Michigan State University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences