Despite extensive management efforts, global wetland loss continues. It is widely recognized that these losses are accompanied by diminished watershed-scale hydrological, biogeochemical, and biotic functions. These functional losses are influenced by associated increased or decreased hydrologic connectivity among wetlands and from wetlands to other surface waters. Within this context, a challenge remains: the scientific and management communities have historically lacked clear evidence on why and how decreases in watershed functions resulting from wetland losses are linked to modified wetland hydrologic connectivity, particularly for wetlands outside of floodplains, i.e., geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) or non-floodplain wetlands (NFWs). In this presentation, we synthesize emerging research that asks how the hydrologic connectivity of GIWs/NFWs imparts watershed-scale effects – on surface waters, groundwater, biogeochemistry, and ecology. We further discuss a recent case study focused on how wetland loss, based on size distributions and distances to the stream, affects watershed-scale hydrologic connectivity and water-mediated biogeochemical and biotic functions.
Results/Conclusions
Our overall conclusions support that optimizing management of wetlands for a particular function (e.g., maintaining baseflow conditions) may compromise another watershed function (e.g., protecting biodiversity). Therefore, via this study we (1) advance scientific evidence on how GIWs/NFWs, and their connectivity, affect watershed-scale functions and (2) confirm that considering a portfolio of wetland functions for management may minimize the future vulnerability of these systems and the watershed-scale benefits they provide.