Barbara Bedford

Many wetland environmental gradients structure plant community composition, yet controls of plant... more Many wetland environmental gradients structure plant community composition, yet controls of plant community composition within rich fens, botanically diverse groundwater-fed wetlands, are still incompletely understood. Porewater chemistry and plant community composition were recorded for eight calcareous rich fens encompassing both calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate geological inputs in the Central New York State region. As expected, porewater sulfate and sulfide concentrations were, on average, higher for wetlands overlying calcium sulfate than for wetlands overlying calcium carbonate. However, within-wetland heterogeneity in porewater chemistry was high. Moss species density, moss cover, and total plant cover decreased with increased sulfide. Moss, dicot, and total cover also had a negative relationship with calcium. There were a number of species-level responses to calcium, sulfide, phosphorus, and ferrous iron. Plant height had a positive relationship with nitrogen. The strength and relative importance of some plant responses to sulfide and calcium in the current regional study differed from a previous sub-hectare scale study. The observed decrease in some metrics of site-level plant diversity with increased sulfide variability across fens highlighted the need to characterize species-environment relationships across spatial scales.

Conserving Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function through Limited Development: an Empirical Evaluation

Conservation Biology, 2007

Suburban, exurban, and rural development in the United States consumes nearly 1 million hectares ... more Suburban, exurban, and rural development in the United States consumes nearly 1 million hectares of land per year and is a leading threat to biodiversity. In response to this threat, conservation development has been advanced as a way to combine land development and land conservation while providing functional protection for natural resources. Yet, although conservation development techniques have been in use for decades, there have been few critical evaluations of their conservation effectiveness. We addressed this deficiency by assessing the conservation outcomes of one type of conservation development project: conservation and limited development projects (CLDPs). Conducted by land trusts, landowners, and developers, CLDPs use revenue from limited development to finance the protection of land and natural resources. We compared a sample of 10 CLDPs from the eastern United States with their respective baseline scenarios (conventional development) and with a sample of conservation subdivisions-a different conservation development technique characterized by higher-density development. To measure conservation success, we created an evaluation method containing eight indicators that quantify project impacts to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at the site and in the surrounding landscape. The CLDPs protected and managed threatened natural resources including rare species and ecological communities. In terms of conservation benefits, the CLDPs significantly outperformed their respective baseline scenarios and the conservation subdivisions. These results imply that CLDPs can offer a low-impact alternative to conventional development and a low-cost method for protecting land when conventional conservation techniques are too expensive. In addition, our evaluation method demonstrates how planners and developers can incorporate appropriate ecological considerations when designing, reviewing, and evaluating conservation development projects.

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Riparian Rifts in the Space-Time Continuum

... 1995, 2002; Hill 1996; Jordan et al. 1997; Devito et al. 2000; Puckett 2004, Vidon and Hill 2... more

Acknowledgment of referees, 1995

Wetlands, 1995

Games has received help from many individuals since its inaugural issue in 2009. We are especiall... more

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GIS-based nonpoint source pollution modeling: Considerations for wetlands

Over the past several years, a coupled model-GIS approach has been used extensively to identify a... more Over the past several years, a coupled model-GIS approach has been used extensively to identify areas with a high pollution potential and to estimate loading rates for a variety of pollutants (Table 1). Studies have assessed surface water movement of sediments and nutrients (e.g., DeRoo et al. 1989; Sivertun et al. 1988; Walker et al. 1992; Levine et al. 1993) and subsurface leaching of pesticides and nitrogen (e.g., Halliday and Wolfe 1991; Petach et al. 1991; Wylie et al. 1994). Various aquatic systems have been examined including lakes, streams, reservoirs, and groundwater aquifers (Table 1). Wetland ecosystems often occupy transition zones in a landscape, frequently occurring between terrestrial land uses and surface water bodies such as streams and lakes (Brinson 1993). Because of their intermediate position and their dependence on water originating from upland areas, these systems are highly vulnerable to inputs of nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants. Wetlands located in human-do...

Ecological effects of extreme hydrological events on the Greater Evereglades

President's Message: Hurricane Katrina and Wetland Science

Wetland Science and Practice

This past Thursday, September 1, 2005, four days after Hurricane Katrina hit the United States Gu... more This past Thursday, September 1, 2005, four days after Hurricane Katrina hit the United States Gulf Coast, I found myself lecturing to Cornell undergraduates about the relationship between wetland loss in Louisiana and the severity of the hurricane’s effects on the coast. I also found myself decrying the disconnect between what scientists know and the legitimate use of science in policy decisions. The likelihood of the devastation the Nation is now witnessing, as well as how to mitigate it, has been known by wetland scientists, coastal engineers, and scientists studying the physics of hurricanes for decades. That knowledge is based, not on opinion, but on data and fundamental scientific concepts acquired and tested against the rigorous standards that the scientific community exerts on its members. To ignore such knowledge, and worse, to relegate all science to the category of just another interest group, and decrease federal funding for it, is to court the disaster we have now before us.