Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2010MS111B

Water quality and other ecosystem services performed in wetlands managed for waterfowl in Mississippi

Institute: Mississippi
Year Established: 2010 Start Date: 2010-03-01 End Date: 2011-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $12,206 Total Non-Federal Funds: $24,479

Principal Investigators: Richard Kaminski, Amy Spencer

Project Summary: A successful and increasingly applied conservation practice in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) to mitigate loss of wetland wildlife habitat and improve water quality has been development and management of “moist-soil wetlands.” Whereas a primary goal of moist-soil management is to provide abundant food resources for waterfowl and waterbirds in the MAV and elsewhere on the wintering and migrational grounds, this conservation practice has the potential to provide ecosystem services critical to restoring ecosystem functions in the MAV. Within agricultural landscapes, such as common in the MAV, strategic location of moist-soil wetlands amid farmed lands can reduce dispersal of sediments and other nutrients into surrounding watersheds and thus enhance water and environmental qualities. Moreover, a significant potential exists for native crayfish production and harvest as a provisionary ecosystem service in moist-soil wetlands in the MAV. Our proposed research is designed to quantify nitrogen management, sediment abatement, and aquatic invertebrate production, with focus on crayfish, as ancillary ecosystem services provided by moist-soil wetland management in the Mississippi portion of the MAV. Specifically, our project will: (1) provide a baseline for water quality benefits accrued by retaining winter and spring waters in managed wetlands, (2) estimate the capacity of moist-soil wetlands to provide nutrient and sediment retention (kg/ha/yr) as an ecosystem service, and (3) develop a sustainable crayfish-harvest model for managed moist-soil wetlands that will provide provisionary ecosystem services to landowners. Evaluation of additional economical benefits such as a crayfish harvest may encourage landowners to establish and managed moist-soil wetlands thereby increasing environmental qualities throughout the MAV.