Abstract
Excerpt: Modelling of forested wetlands depends on an understanding of the effects of hydrology and nutrient conditions on the primary productivity of the wetland ecosystem. Several studies, done over a decade and a half in the eastern half of the United States, suggest that flow-through forested wetlands are most productive and sluggish forested wetlands the least. Some investigators have attempted to translate these general findings into mathematical statements or other quantitative relationships. These quantifications include statistical relationships of primary productivity as a function of hydrology and for nutrient inflow, and parabolic curves depicting productivity as a function of a hydrologic variable (i.e. water depth, depth to water table, or flow-through conditions). A more detailed summary is given on a several-year project in western Kentucky, U.S., where determination of effects of wetland hydrodynamics and nutrient conditions on forested wetland productivity was a primary research goal. A preliminary forested wetland model, which simulates the influence of hydrology and nutrient conditions on wetland productivity, illustrates highest productivity with pulsing hydrology and least with sluggish, low nutrient conditions.