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Abstract Wetland hydrologic connections to downstream waters influence stream water quality. However, no systematic approach for characterizing this connectivity exists. Here using physical principles, we categorized conterminous US freshwater wetlands into four hydrologic connectivity classes based on stream contact and flowpath depth to the nearest stream: riparian, non-riparian shallow, non-riparian mid-depth and non-riparian deep. These classes were heterogeneously distributed over the conterminous United States; for example, riparian dominated the south-eastern and Gulf coasts, while non-riparian deep dominated the Upper Midwest and High Plains. Analysis of a national stream dataset indicated acidification and organic matter brownification increased with connectivity. Eutrophication and sedimentation decreased with wetland area but did not respond to connectivity. This classification advances our mechanistic understanding of wetland influences on water quality nationally and could be applied globally.
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Freshwater corridors in the conterminous United States: A coarse‐filter approach based on lake‐stream networks
Abstract Maintaining regional‐scale freshwater connectivity is challenging due to the dendritic, easily fragmented structure of freshwater networks, but is essential for promoting ecological resilience under climate change. Although the importance of stream network connectivity has been recognized, lake‐stream network connectivity has largely been ignored. Furthermore, protected areas are generally not designed to maintain or encompass entire freshwater networks. We applied a coarse‐filter approach to identify potential freshwater corridors for diverse taxa by calculating connectivity scores for 385 lake‐stream networks across the conterminous United States based on network size, structure, resistance to fragmentation, and dam prevalence. We also identified 2080 disproportionately important lakes for maintaining intact networks (i.e., hubs; 2% of all network lakes) and analyzed the protection status of hubs and potential freshwater corridors. Just 3% of networks received high connectivity scores based on their large size and structure (medians of 1303 lakes, 498.6 km north–south stream distance), but these also contained a median of 454 dams. In contrast, undammed networks (17% of networks) were considerably smaller (medians of six lakes, 7.2 km north–south stream distance), indicating that the functional connectivity of the largest potential freshwater corridors in the conterminous United States currently may be diminished compared with smaller, undammed networks. Network lakes and hubs were protected at similar rates nationally across different levels of protection (8%–18% and 6%–20%, respectively), but were generally more protected in the western United States. Our results indicate that conterminous United States protection of major freshwater corridors and the hubs that maintain them generally fell short of the international conservation goal of protecting an ecologically representative, well‐connected set of fresh waters (≥17%) by 2020 (Aichi Target 11). Conservation planning efforts might consider focusing on restoring natural hydrologic connectivity at or near hubs, particularly in larger networks, less protected, or biodiverse regions, to support freshwater biodiversity conservation under climate change.
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- PAR ID:
- 10392822
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ecosphere
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 2150-8925
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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