Quantifying Nutrient Retention by Lake Erie Coastal Wetlands - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

This project addressed key information gaps identified by land managers, regulators, and conservation groups involved in coastal wetland restoration and management efforts around Lake Erie. Capitalizing on the unique long-term water quality monitoring record at Old Woman Creek Reserve in Ohio, the project developed a unique analytic approach – a Bayesian hierarchical model – to quantify the long-term capacity for riverine Lake Erie coastal wetlands to retain phosphorus. The team developed a series of technical tools, including a monitoring protocol and freely available statistical code, to enable others to repeat their analysis and calculate the retention capacity of their own wetlands.

The return of large harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, as well as low oxygen levels (hypoxia) in lake bottom waters, have led to an intensified effort to understand, predict and reduce nutrient loading to the lake. Coastal wetland restoration has been identified as an important management tool to achieve nutrient reduction goals, including an international goal of 40% reduction in phosphorus loading to Lake Erie. However, the capacity of different coastal wetlands to retain nutrients and improve water quality is not well understood.

==Project Lead

Kristi Arend

Old Woman Creek National Estuarine

Research Reserve

Ohio DNR Office of Coastal Management

(419) 433-4601

kristin.arend@dnr.state.oh.us

Song Qian

Department of Environmental Sciences

University of Toledo

(419) 530-4230

song.qian@utoledo.edu

Emily Kuzmick

Old Woman Creek NERR

emily.kuzmick@dnr.state.oh.us

==Project Type

Collaborative Research – generating

science that informs decisions

==Project Partners

• City of Sandusky

• Erie Soil and Water

Conservation District

• Ohio Department of Natural Resources,

Ohio Coastal Management Program

• Ohio State University

• The Nature Conservancy Ohio

• University of Toledo

• U.S. Geological Survey, Great

Lakes Science Center

The distributor does not assume liability.

None

Cite this dataset when used as a source: NOAA retains the right to analyze, synthesize and publish summaries of the NERRS/NSC data. The NERRS/NSC retains the right to be fully credited for having collected and process the data. Following academic courtesy standards, the NERR site where the data were collected should be contacted and fully acknowledged in any subsequent publications in which any part of the data are used. The data enclosed within this package/transmission are only as accurate as the quality assurance and quality control procedures that are described in the associated metadata reporting statement allow. The user bears all responsibility for its subsequent use/misuse in any further analyses or comparisons. The Federal government does not assume liability to the Recipient or third persons, nor will the Federal government reimburse or indemnify the Recipient for its liability due to any losses resulting in any way from the use of this data. Requested citation format: NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) Science Collaborative(NSC).