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1.
The ability of wetlands to improve the quality of water has long been recognized and has led to the proliferation of wetlands as a means to treat diffuse and point source pollutants from a range of land uses. However, much of the existing research has been undertaken in temperate climates with a paucity of information on the effectiveness of wetlands, particularly natural wetlands, in tropical regions. This paper contributes to addressing this issue by presenting a comprehensive measurement based assessment of the potential for a naturally occurring tropical riverine wetland to improve the quality of the water entering it. We found small net imports and exports of sediment to/from the wetland in individual years, but over the longer term this kind of wetland is neither a sink nor source of sediment. In contrast, phosphorus was continually removed by the wetland with an overall net reduction of 14%. However, it should be noted that there is no ‘permanent’ gaseous loss mechanism for phosphorus, and its removal from the water column is equal to its accumulation in the wetland soil. We found very little removal of nitrogen by this type of wetland from several analyses including: (i) Surface and groundwater fluxes, (ii) Estimation of water column and soil denitrification rates, (iii) Wetland residence times, and (iv) Hydraulic loading. We also found no clear evidence for transformation of nitrogen to more or less bio‐available forms. Hence, while the benefits of using wetlands to improve water quality in controlled environments have been demonstrated in the literature, these benefits may not always be directly translated to unmanaged natural wetland systems when there is strong seasonality in flows and short residence time during the periods of maximum sediment and nutrient load. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
2.
In the northern glaciated plain of North America, the duration of surface water in seasonal wetlands is strongly influenced by the rate of infiltration and evaporation. Infiltration also plays important roles in nutrient exchange at the sediment–water interface and groundwater recharge under wetlands. A whole‐wetland bromide tracer experiment was conducted in Saskatchewan, Canada to evaluate infiltration and solute transport processes. Bromide concentrations of surface water, groundwater, sediment pore water and plant tissues were monitored as the pond water‐level gradually dropped until there was no surface water. Hydraulic head gradients showed strong lateral flow from under the wetland to the treed riparian zone during the growing season. The bromide mass balance analysis showed that in early spring, almost 50% of water loss from the wetland was by infiltration, and it increased to about 70% in summer as plants in and around the wetland started to transpire more actively. The infiltration contributed to recharging the shallow, local groundwater under the wetland, but much of it was taken up by trees without recharging the deeper groundwater system. Emergent plants growing in the wetlands incorporated some bromide, but overall uptake of bromide by vegetation was less than 10% of the amount initially released. After one summer, most of the subsurface bromide was found within 40–80 cm of the soil surface. However, some bromide penetrated as deep as 2–3 m, presumably owing to preferential flow pathways provided by root holes or fractures. Copyright © 2004 Crown in the Right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
3.
Quantifying groundwater dependency of riparian surface hydrologic features using the exit gradient 
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下载免费PDF全文 Barton R. Faulkner Scott G. Leibowitz Timothy J. Canfield Justin F. Groves 《水文研究》2016,30(13):2167-2177
Numerical groundwater flow models necessarily are limited to subsurface flow evaluation. It is of interest, however, to examine the possibility that, for unconfined aquifer systems, they could be used to proportionately measure the magnitude of seepage they estimate when these aquifers intersect the landscape surface. Our goal in this study was to determine the degree to which an unconfined groundwater model can estimate run‐off or seepage at the land surface during winter time wet season conditions, as well as in the dry season, when evapotranspiration is a major part of the water balance, using a lowland basin‐fill example study area in the Pacific Northwest. The exit gradient is a metric describing the potential for vertical seepage at the landscape surface. We investigated the spatial relationship of mapped surface features, such as wetlands, streams and ponds, to the model‐predicted mapped exit gradient. We found that areas mapped as wetlands had positive exit gradients. During the wet season, modelled exit gradients predicted seepage throughout extensive areas of the groundwater shed, extending far beyond mapped wetland areas (355% increase), associated with previously observed increases in nitrate‐nitrogen in streams in wet season. During the dry season, exit gradients spatially corresponded with wetland areas. The increase in in‐stream nitrogen corresponds with shorter residence times in carbon‐rich wetland zones because of the onset of saturation overland flow. We present results that suggest that the exit gradient could be a useful concept in examining the groundwater–surface water linkage that is often under represented physically in watershed flow models. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. 相似文献
4.
鄱阳湖典型洲滩湿地水分补排关系 总被引：3，自引：1，他引：2
湿地水分在地下水含水层-土壤-植物-大气界面的运移和转换是维持能量和营养物平衡的重要环节,水分运移是湿地生态水文过程研究的关键.数值模型模拟已成为水分运移研究的重要手段,然而限于复杂的湿地自然条件及有限的监测手段,部分界面水分通量连续动态变化数据的获取及定量化工作较为困难,目前应用数值模拟法于湿地水分运移研究的案例仍不多见.本文以鄱阳湖典型湿地为研究区,构建垂向一维数值模型,阐释了湖泊水位显著季节性变化条件下,湿地水分在不同界面的传输过程,量化了湿地水分的补排关系.结果表明:(1)界面水分通量季节性差异大,降雨入渗地面和根系层水分渗漏均对降雨变化响应敏感,主要集中在4—6月,分别占年总量(1450和1053 mm)的65%和73%.土面蒸发和植物蒸腾年总量为176和926 mm,土面蒸发主要受气候条件影响,植物蒸腾还与植物生长特征有关,均集中在7—8月,分别占年总量的30%和47%.深层土壤向浅层根系层的水分补给集中发生在地下水浅埋时段6—8月,占年总量(609 mm)的76%;(2)湿地植物根系层水分补排受鄱阳湖水位季节性波动影响显著.除丰水期(7—9月)主要补给为深层土壤水外,退、枯、涨水期的主要补给均为降水入渗.涨水期(4—6月)和枯水期(12—3月)的主要排泄为根系层水分渗漏,丰水期以植物蒸腾排泄为主,退水期(10—11月),土面蒸发与植物蒸腾为主要排泄,且比重相当.本文定量了鄱阳湖典型湿地不同界面水分连续交换关系,区分了土面蒸发和植物蒸腾,辨析了各界面水分的主要影响因子,研究结果有助于深入理解水分在湿地生态系统地下水含水层-土壤-植物-大气界面的相互作用机制,认识湖泊洲滩湿地水量平衡,为揭示湖泊水情变化对湿地生态的可能影响提供依据,为湿地生态水文过程研究提供重要方法和理论参考. 相似文献
5.
Long‐term effects of aquifer overdraft and recovery on groundwater quality in a Ramsar wetland: Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park,Spain 下载免费PDF全文
下载免费PDF全文 Silvino Castaño Almudena de la Losa Pedro Martínez‐Santos Rosa Mediavilla Juan Ignacio Santisteban 《水文研究》2018,32(18):2863-2873
Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park is one of Spain's most representative groundwater‐dependent ecosystems. Under natural conditions, water inflows combined brackish surface water from River Gigüela with freshwater inputs from River Guadiana and the underlying aquifer. Since the mid‐1970s, aquifer overexploitation caused the desiccation of the wetlands and neighbouring springs. The National Park remained in precarious hydrological conditions for three decades, with the only exception of rapid floods due to extreme rainfall events and sporadic water transfers from other basins. In the late 2000s, a decrease in groundwater abstraction and an extraordinarily wet period reversed the trend. The aquifer experienced an unexpected recovery of groundwater levels (over 20 m in some areas), thus restoring groundwater discharge to springs and wetlands. The complex historical evolution of the water balance in this site has resulted in substantial changes in surface and groundwater quality. This becomes evident when comparing the pre‐1980 groundwater quality and the hydrochemical status in the wetland in two different periods, under “dry” and “wet” conditions. Although the system is close to full recovery from the groundwater‐level viewpoint, bouncing back in the major hydrochemical constituents has not yet been obtained. These still appear to evolve in response to the previous overexploitation state. Moreover, in some sectors, there are groundwater‐dependent ecosystems that remain different to those found in preoverexploitation times. The experience of Las Tablas de Damiel provides an observatory of long‐term changes in wetland water quality, demonstrating that the effects of aquifer overexploitation on aquatic ecosystems are more than a mere alteration of the water balance and that groundwater quality is the key to aquifer and aquatic ecosystem sustainability. 相似文献
6.
Riparian wetlands as typical aquatic-terrestrial interfaces control, in a very specific way, nonpoint water and related chemical fluxes exchanging between catchment areas to their respective water systems (streams, lakes). The existing groundwater and soilwater flow models reveal gaps in dealing with the complex behaviour of processes and the considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity of riparian wetlands. Based on long-term experience gained through field observations and the interpretation of model produced data, a multi-box aggregation of processes which determines lateral as well as vertical flows and, as a whole, water balance, is used to discretise a generic riparian wetland transect situated between an upland aquifer and a receiving water body.
The resulting mathematical model, FEUWAnet, endowed also with an original methodology to adapt parameters, has been applied to a riparian alder wetland adjacent to Lake Belau (northern Germany). Results of simulations illustrate a good fit between calculated water levels and observed values and an accordance of calculated water balance to previous independent evaluations. This confirms that the sound simplifications of real situations performed by the FEUWAnet mathematical model are a promising way to deal with hydrological complexity of riparian zones. Moreover, FEUWAnet permits, to a certain extent, one to unravel the spatial heterogeneity and temporal variation of lateral (from catchment area to water systems) and vertical (from canopy to groundwater zone) water fluxes typical of riparian ecosystems: this is the necessary step to undertake when developing integrated models capable of assessing the effectiveness of riparian systems in controlling the fluxes of nonpoint pollution discharging in the open water bodies. 相似文献
7.
Calcareous fens are species‐rich peatlands that are dependent on minerotrophic water sources for wetland functioning, with current conceptual models suggesting the water source is ubiquitously groundwater upwelling. By quantifying the water balance and subsurface water flow paths and fluxes over 3 growing seasons for calcareous fens in 3 different hydrogeomorphic settings (Riparian, Trough, and Basin), we show evidence that challenges this conceptual model. The Riparian Fen received an order of magnitude more water inputs than the Trough or Basin Fens and was dominated by stream recharge inputs and groundwater outputs. Precipitation and evaporation dominated the water balance of the Trough Fen whereas only the Basin Fen received sizeable groundwater inputs. Indeed, subsurface water fluxes were low at all fens due to weak hydraulic gradients and low saturated hydraulic conductivity in some areas of each wetland, though variations in growing season precipitation led to subsurface flow reversals in all 3 fens. Our results demonstrate the importance of understanding landscape position, or hydrogeomorphic setting, on calcareous fen hydrology for improving conservation, management, and restoration efforts of these important ecosystems. 相似文献
8.
A tracer‐based simulation approach to quantify seasonal dynamics of surface‐groundwater interactions in the Pantanal wetland 下载免费PDF全文
下载免费PDF全文 The Pantanal wetland is one of the least explored regions of South America. It is characterized by an outstanding flora and fauna adapted to a seasonal flood pulse controlled by a dry and a wet season within each year. The resulting inundation covers in average an area of approximately 150 000 km2 and is seen as the most important driver for ecological integrity. Evaporation from the large floodplain is supposed to influence the climate of the whole continent. The regional groundwater is connected to the surface water and plays an important role for the characteristic flooding regime by regulating the wetland's water table. The water balance assessment of the wetland and the internal water exchange between surface and groundwater is therefore of high relevance for the conservation of the Pantanal biodiversity. Despite of its importance, water balance studies including groundwater–surface water interactions based on field data are rarely undertaken. This is mainly due to the remoteness and difficulty in accessing this area, which results in lack of data. In our study, we developed a new tracer‐based model to simulate the spatio–temporal surface and subsurface fluxes for a range of water bodies. The model was able to simulate these fluxes considering a dynamic simulation of inflow and outflow using a newly collected 2‐year dataset of water levels, stable water isotopes and chloride collected from several water bodies in the northern Pantanal region. Quantitative differences between water bodies according to their location in the floodplain were determined by the flooding regime and connectivity as well as site‐specific characteristics, such as hydraulic conductivity and water depth. Our model simulated water balance fluxes with a Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.61, whereas it simulated stable water isotopic compositions better than chloride. We present the first study based on field data for the Pantanal, which is able to quantify water balances fluxes. Because their representation in global climate and land cover products is insufficient, our simulation results are valuable for validating large‐scale models. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
9.
Understanding soil water dynamics and the water balance of tropical coral islands is important for the utilization and management of their limited freshwater resources, which is only from rainfall. However, there is a significant knowledge gap in the influence of soil water on the water cycle of coral islands. Soil water dynamics and the water balance of Zhaoshu Island, Xisha Archipelago were thus investigated using soil moisture measurements and the Hydrus-1D model from October 2018 to September 2019. Over the study period, vegetation transpiration, soil evaporation, groundwater recharge and storage in the vadose zone were approximately 196, 330, 365 and 20 mm, occupying 22%, 36%, 40% and 2% of annual rainfall total (911 mm), respectively. For the wet season (from May to October) these values became 75, 202, 455 and 40 mm, occupying 10%, 26% and 59% and 5% of the seasonal rainfall total (772 mm), respectively. During the dry season (from November to April), a dry soil layer between 40 and 120 cm depth of the soil profile was identified that prevented water exchange between the upper soil layers and the groundwater resulting in the development of deep roots so that vegetation could extract groundwater to supplement their water requirements. Vegetation not only consumes all dry season rainfall (140 mm) but extracts water deeply from groundwater (90 mm) as well as from the vadose layer (20 mm). As such, the vegetation appears to be groundwater-dependent ecosystems. The research results aid us to better understand the process of water dynamics on coral islands and to protect coral island ecosystems. 相似文献
10.
洪泛湿地是位于水生系统和陆生系统之间的过渡带,在河流和陆地之间的水文生态方面起着纽带作用,受气候变化和人类活动的叠加影响,其水文过程改变很大程度上影响了湿地生态系统循环、结构和功能的稳定。本文以鄱阳湖洪泛区湿地为研究区,应用湖泊水动力和洪泛区地下水数值模型,评估鄱阳湖拟建水利枢纽工程对洪泛区地下水系统的影响。模拟结果表明,拟建水利枢纽工程将会遵循调度方案使得湖泊水位明显提高,但同时导致洪泛区地下水位的整体抬升,且东部主湖区附近的地下水位受到的影响（约1～3 m）要明显强于洪泛区其它区域（约小于1 m）。地下水位的变化同时导致不同典型时期洪泛区地下水流速的减小及地下水流向的改变,表现为枢纽建设后地下水流向的逆转和流速基本小于0.1 m/d。鄱阳湖涨水-丰水期总体为湖水补给洪泛区地下水模式,枯水-退水期主要为地下水补给湖水模式,但水利枢纽可能导致洪泛区地下水系统水均衡状态发生转变,影响了地下水系统的补给和排泄状态,最终形成了长期稳定的湖泊补给地下水的作用模式。从地下水-生态系统响应变化的角度分析,拟建水利枢纽建设引起的地下水位上升,可能会给湿地生物地球化学元素的迁移转化、植被群落的演变与退... 相似文献
11.
AbstractWater balance studies with stable water isotopes have rarely been conducted in remote and tropical wetland areas. As such, little is known regarding the water balance and groundwater–surface water interaction in the Pantanal, one of the largest and most pristine wetlands in the world. We applied MINA TrêS, a water balance model utilizing stable water isotopes (δ18O, δ2H) and chloride (Cl-) to assess the dry-season hydrological processes controlling groundwater–surface water interactions and the water balance of six floodplain lakes in the northern Pantanal, Brazil. Qualitatively, all lakes exhibited similarity in hydrological controls. Quantitatively, they differed significantly due to morphological differences in controlling groundwater inflow and lake volume. Our approach is readily transferable to other remote and tropical wetland systems with minimal data input requirements, which is useful in regions with sparse hydrometric monitoring.
Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz 相似文献
12.
Over the past centuries, the agricultural use of wetlands in Central Europe has required interference with the natural wetland water balance. Often this has consisted of drainage measures alone. In low‐precipitation areas, it has also involved the operation of combined drainage and sub‐irrigation systems. Model studies conducted as part of planning processes, or with a view to finding out the impact of changing climate conditions on the water balance of wetlands, must take these facts into account. For this reason, a water balance model has been devised for wetlands whose water balance is governed by water resources management systems. It is based on the WBalMo model system. Special modules were integrated into WBalMo to calculate the water balance of wetland areas (WABI module) and to regulate inflow partitioning within the wetland (REGINF module). When calculating the water balance, the WABI module takes into account precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, groundwater levels below surface, soil types, land‐use classes, inflows via the running water system, and data for target water levels. It provides actual evapotranspiration, discharge into the running water system, and groundwater levels in the area. The example of the Spreewald, a major wetland area in north‐eastern Germany, was used to design and test the WBalMo Spreewald model. The comparison of measured and calculated water balance parameters of the wetland area confirms the suitability of the model for water balance studies in wetlands with complex water resources management systems. The results reveal the strong influence of water management on the water balance of such areas. The model system has proved to be excellently suited for planning and carrying out water management measures aimed at the sustainable development of wetlands. Furthermore, scenario analyses can be used to assess the impact of global change on the water balance of wetlands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
13.
There is widespread acceptance of the phosphorus retention capability of wetlands even though research findings are often inconclusive and contradictory. The results of a one year phosphorus budget study indicate that internal wetland processes may transform sediment bound phosphorus to plant available orthophosphorus. While total phosphorus imports were nearly double the total phosphorus exports for the study wetland, orthophosphorus exports were 22 per cent greater than imports. This study supports the recent finding that wetlands have limited capability to retain orthophosphorus and indicates that wetlands may even increase the export of orthophosphorus. The generally accepted nutrient retention function of wetlands and their possible role in eutrophication is thus questionable. 相似文献
14.
Chrystelle Auterives Luc Aquilina Olivier Bour Mélanie Davranche Valérie Paquereau 《水文研究》2011,25(18):2890-2906
The present study makes use of a detailed water balance to investigate the hydrological status of a peatland with a basal clay‐rich layer overlying an aquifer exploited for drinking water. The aim is to determine the influence of climate and groundwater extraction on the water balance and water levels in the peatland. During the two‐year period of monitoring, the hydrological functioning of the wetland showed a hydric deficit, associated with a permanent unsaturated layer and a deep water table. At the same time, a stream was observed serving as a recharge inflow instead of draining the peatland, as usually described in natural systems. Such conditions are not favourable for peat accumulation. Field investigations show that the clay layer has a high hydraulic conductivity (from 1·10?7 to 3·10?9 m.s?1) and does not form a hydraulic barrier. Moreover, the vertical hydraulic gradients are downward between the peat and the sand aquifer, leading to high flows of groundwater through the clay layer (20–48% of the precipitation). The observed hydric deficit of the peatland results from a combination of dry climatic conditions during the study period and groundwater extraction. The climatic effect is mainly expressed through drying out of the peatland, while the anthropogenic effect leads to an enhancement of the climatic effect on a global scale, and a modification of fluxes at a local scale. The drying out of the peatland can lead to its mineralisation, which thus gives rise to environmental impacts. The protection of such wetlands in the context of climate change should take account of anthropogenic pressures by considering the wetland‐aquifer interaction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
15.
《Limnologica》2020
Assessment and monitoring of biodiversity is critical for conservation planning. Considering the cost and time associated to monitoring, selecting proper bio-indicators is important, particularly in countries where financial resources are limited. The objectives of this study were to investigate community congruence of macroinvertebrates and wetland birds in natural wetlands of southwest Ethiopia, exposed to different levels of human disturbance and to identify important environmental variables related to these bio-indicators. Data on macroinvertebrates, birds, physico-chemical water quality, human disturbance and vegetation cover were collected from 54 sampling sites distributed over 12 wetlands during dry and wet season of 2015. Procrustes analysis was used to quantify community congruence between the two assemblages across different disturbance levels. The congruence of macroinvertebrates and wetland dependent birds was higher for low disturbed wetlands (R2 = 0.60) than for moderately disturbed wetlands (R2 = 0.31). Moderately disturbed wetlands showed no significant congruence between macroinvertebrates and wetland birds and between wetland dependent and wetland associated birds. A significant and positive relation between richness of macroinvertebrates and wetland dependent birds was observed when the full data set was used, whereas no significant relation was observed when the data was split according to the different levels of human disturbance. Vegetation cover, dissolved oxygen, water depth, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and conductivity were significantly correlated with both macroinvertebrate and wetland bird occurrence. Based on our study we suggest to monitor both bio-indicators as they provide important complementary information on the status of the wetlands. 相似文献
16.
Using a mass balance algorithm, this study develops an extension module that can be embedded in the commonly used Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). This module makes it possible to assess effects of riparian wetlands on runoff and sediment yields at a watershed scale, which is very important for aquatic ecosystem management but rarely documented in the literature. In addition to delineating boundaries of a watershed and its subwatersheds, the module groups riparian wetlands within a subwatershed into an equivalent wetland for modelling purposes. Further, the module has functions to compute upland drainage area and other parameters (e.g. maximum volume) for the equivalent wetland based on digital elevation model, stream network, land use, soil and wetland distribution GIS datasets. SWAT is used to estimate and route runoff and sediment generated from upland drainage area. The lateral exchange processes between riparian wetlands and their hydraulically connected streams are simulated by the extension module. The developed module is empirically applied to the 53 km2 Upper Canagagigue Creek watershed located in Southern Ontario of Canada. The simulation results indicate that the module can make SWAT more reasonably predict flow and sediment loads at the outlet of the watershed and better represent the hydrologic processes within it. The simulation is sensitive to errors of wetland parameters and channel geometry. The approach of embedding the module into SWAT enables simulation of hydrologic processes in riparian wetlands, evaluation of wetland effects on regulating stream flow and sediment loading and assessment of various wetland restoration scenarios. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
17.
Lilin Zheng Pengfei Zhan Jinying Xu Ligang Xu Zhiqiang Tan Xiaolong Wang 《水文研究》2020,34(11):2645-2659
Water regime characteristics have been recognized as critical factors for aquatic vegetation. In this study, we examined changes in aquatic vegetation coverage area in two shallow sub-lakes of Poyang Lake (Bang Lake and Cuoji Lake) during the dry season from 1987 to 2017. The relationships between eight water regime components (annual average water level, annual maximum water level, annual minimum water level, and flooded days at five water levels [11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 m]) and aquatic vegetation coverage area were determined. The most critical water regimes were identified and results demonstrated that aquatic vegetation coverage area in Bang Lake and Cuoji Lake peaked in drier years (2005 and 2009, respectively) with no obvious up or down trend. Water regimes indicating high flow events such as annual maximum water level, flooded days at water level 19 m, and annual average water level were found to be more important for predicting aquatic vegetation. High-flow events appear to be essential for understanding aquatic vegetation dynamics in pit lakes, yet overall the influences of water level fluctuation on aquatic vegetation varied among wetland units of Poyang Lake. This study helps to understand the hydroecological dynamics in connected lakes further and provide a reference for the lake management and protection. 相似文献
18.
Small inland valley wetlands contribute substantially to the livelihoods of rural communities in East Africa. Their conversion into farmland is driven by water availability. We quantified spatial-temporal dynamics of water availability in a headwater wetland in the humid zone of Kenya. Climatic conditions, soil moisture contents, groundwater levels and discharge data were monitored. A land-use map and a digital elevation model of the valley bottom were created to relate variations in soil moisture to dominant land uses and valley morphology.Upland crops occupied about a third of the wetland area, while approximately a quarter of the wet, central part of the valley bottom was designated for flood-tolerant taro, grown either by itself or in association or in rotation with upland crops. Finally, natural vegetation was found in 3% of the mapped area, mainly in sections with nearpermanent soil saturation.The HBV rainfall-runoff model's overestimation of stream discharge during the long dry season of the hydrological year 2010/2011 can be explained by the strong seasonal impact of water abstraction on the wetland's water balance.Our study vividly demonstrates the necessity of multi-method approaches for assessing the impact of management practices on water availability in valley bottom wetlands in East Africa. 相似文献
19.
Groundwater in the wetlands of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, and its contribution to the structure and function of the ecosystem 总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5
The Okavango Delta of northern Botswana is a large (40,000 km2) alluvial fan located at the terminus of the Okavango River. The river discharges about 10 km3 of water onto the fan each year, augmented by about 6 km3 of rainfall, which sustains about 2500 km2 of permanent wetland and up to 8000 km2 of seasonal wetland. Interaction between this surface water and the groundwater strongly influences the structure and function of the wetland ecosystem. The climate is semi-arid, and only 2% of the water leaves as surface flow and probably very little as groundwater flow. The bulk of the water is lost to the atmosphere. The Okavango River also delivers about 170,000 tonnes of bedload sediment and about 360,000 tonnes of solutes to the Delta each year, most of which are deposited on the fan. Bedload is deposited in the proximal, permanent wetland, whilst much of the solute load is deposited in the seasonal wetland. Notwithstanding the high evapotranspirational loss, saline surface water is rare. Between 80 and 90% of the seasonal flood water infiltrates the ground, recharging the groundwater beneath the flood plains and the many islands on the flood plains. The remainder is lost by evaporation. This groundwater reservoir is transpired into the atmosphere by both aquatic vegetation on the flood plains and terrestrial vegetation on the islands, and the water table is steadily lowered following passage of the seasonal flood. Trees, which are almost exclusively confined to islands, are particularly important, as they lower the water table beneath islands relative to the surrounding wetlands. There is therefore a net flow of groundwater towards islands. Accumulation of dissolved salts in this groundwater leads to precipitation of solutes (mainly of silica and calcite) in the soils beneath island fringes and the islands grow by vertical expansion. Islands are thus an expression of the chemical sedimentation taking place on the fan. Sodium bicarbonate accumulates in the groundwater beneath island centres, and this impacts on the vegetation, leading ultimately to barren island interiors. Dense saline brine thus produced subsides under density-driven flow. This cycling of seasonal flood water through the groundwater reservoir thus plays a key role in creating and maintaining the biological and habitat diversity of the wetland, and inhibits the formation of saline surface water. 相似文献
20.
《Marine pollution bulletin》2011,62(7-12):399-412
In order to quantify the spatial and seasonal variations of sediment oxygen consumption and nutrient fluxes, we performed a spatial survey in the south west lagoon of New Caledonia during the two major seasons (dry and wet) based on a network of 11 sampling stations. Stations were selected along two barrier reef to land transects representing most types of sediments encountered in the lagoon. Fluxes were measured using ex-situ sediment incubations and compared to sediment characteristics. Sediment oxygen consumption (SOC) varied between 500 and 2000 μmol m−2 h−1, depending on season and stations. Nutrient effluxes from sediment were highly variable with highest fluxes measured in muddy sediments near the coast. Inter-sample variability was as high as seasonal differences so that no seasonally driven temperature effect could be observed on benthic nutrient fluxes in our temperature range. Nutrient fluxes, generally directed from the sediment to the water column, varied between −5.0 and 70.0 μmol m−2 h−1 for ammonia and between −2.5 and +12.5 μmol m−2 h−1 for PO4 and NO2+3. SOC and nutrient fluxes were compared to pelagic primary production rates in order to highlight the tight coupling existing between the benthic and pelagic compartments in this shallow tropical lagoon. Under specific occasions of low pelagic productivity, oxygen sediment consumption and related carbon and nutrient fluxes could balance nearly all net primary production in the lagoon. These biogeochemical estimates point to the functional importance of sediment biogeochemistry in the lagoon of New Caledonia. 相似文献