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"HIP" new software: The Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process

Managing rivers and streams to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems is a challenge for resource managers across the country. Demand for competing uses of water resources grows with escalating development, increasing recreational use, and the vagaries of climate and weather. For many species of concern, instream flow and associated water quality are critical for survival. Balancing ecosystem needs with proposed changes in flow regimes requires a process managers can use to determine the ecological and hydrological effects of changes in streamflow. Center (FORT) have developed the Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process (HIP) and a suite of software tools for conducting a hydrologic classification of streams, addressing instream flow needs, and assessing past and proposed hydrologic alterations on streamflow and other ecosystem components. The HIP recognizes that streamflow is strongly related to many critical physiochemical components of rivers, such as dissolved oxygen, channel geomorphology, and habitats. Streamflow is considered a “master variable” that limits the distribution, abundance, and diversity of many aquatic plant and animal species.

Fact Sheet↗

Comparison of mineral weathering and biomass nutrient uptake in two small forested watersheds underlain by quartzite bedrock, Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA

To quantify chemical weathering and biological uptake, mass-balance calculations were performed on two small forested watersheds located in the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province in north-central Maryland, USA. Both watersheds, Bear Branch (BB) and Fishing Creek Tributary (FCT), are underlain by relatively unreactive quartzite bedrock. Such unreactive bedrock and associated low chemical-weathering rates offer the opportunity to quantify biological processes operating within the watershed. Hydrologic and stream-water chemistry data were collected from the two watersheds for the 9-year period from June 1, 1990 to May 31, 1999. Of the two watersheds, FCT exhibited both higher chemical-weathering rates and biomass nutrient uptake rates, suggesting that forest biomass aggradation was limited by the rate of chemical weathering of the bedrock. Although the chemical-weathering rate in the FCT watershed was low relative to the global average, it masked the influence of biomass base-cation uptake on stream-water chemistry. Any differences in bedrock mineralogy between the two watersheds did not exert a significant influence on the overall weathering stoichiometry. The difference in chemical-weathering rates between the two watersheds is best explained by a larger proportion of reactive phyllitic layers within the bedrock of the FCT watershed. Although the stream gradient of BB is about two-times greater than that of FCT, its influence on chemical weathering appears to be negligible. The findings of this study support the biomass nutrient uptake stoichiometry of K 1.0 Mg 1.1 Ca 0.97 previously determined for the study site. Investigations of the chemical weathering of relatively unreactive quartzite bedrock may provide insight into critical zone processes.

Maryland↗

Origins and bioavailability of dissolved organic matter in groundwater

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in groundwater influences water quality and fuels microbial metabolism, but its origins, bioavailability and chemical composition are poorly understood. The origins and concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and bioavailable DOM were monitored during a long-term (2-year) study of groundwater in a fractured-rock aquifer in the Carolina slate belt. Surface precipitation was significantly correlated with groundwater concentrations of DOC, bioavailable DOM and chromophoric DOM, indicating strong hydrological connections between surface and ground waters. The physicochemical and biological processes shaping the concentrations and compositions of DOM during its passage through the soil column to the saturated zone are conceptualized in the regional chromatography model. The model provides a framework for linking hydrology with the processes affecting the transformation, remineralization and microbial production of DOM during passage through the soil column. Lignin-derived phenols were relatively depleted in groundwater DOM indicating substantial removal in the unsaturated zone, and optical properties of chromophoric DOM indicated lower molecular weight DOM in groundwater relative to surface water. The prevalence of glycine, γ -aminobutyric acid, and d -enantiomers of amino acids indicated the DOM was highly diagenetically altered. Bioassay experiments were used to establish DOC-normalized yields of amino acids as molecular indicators of DOM bioavailability in groundwater. A relatively small fraction (8 ± 4 %) of DOC in groundwater was bioavailable. The relatively high yields of specific d -enantiomers of amino acids indicated a substantial fraction (15–34 %) of groundwater DOC was of bacterial origin.

Biogeochemistry↗

Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated ground water: The perspectives of history and hydrology

Bioremediation, the use of microbial degradation processes to detoxify environmental contamination, was first applied to petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated ground water systems in the early 1970s. Since that time, these technologies have evolved in some ways that were clearly anticipated early investigators, and in other ways that were not foreseen. The expectation that adding oxidants and nutrients to contaminated aquifers would enhance biodegradation, for example, has been born out subsequent experience. Many of the technologies now in common use such as air sparging, hydrogen peroxide addition, nitrate addition, and bioslurping, are conceptually similar to the first bioremediation systems put into operation. More unexpected, however, were the considerable technical problems associated with delivering oxidants and nutrients to heterogeneous ground water systems. Experience has shown that the success of engineered bioremediation systems depends largely on how effectively directions and rates of ground water flow can be controlled, and thus how efficiently oxidants and nutrients can be delivered to contaminated aquifer sediments. The early expectation that injecting laboratory-selected or genetically engineered cultures of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria into aquifers would be a useful bioremediation technology has not been born out subsequent experience. Rather, it appears that petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria are ubiquitous in ground water systems and that bacterial addition is usually unnecessary. Perhaps the technology that was least anticipated early investigators was the development of intrinsic bioremediation. Experience has shown that natural attenuation mechanisms - biodegradation, dilution, and sorption - limit the migration of contaminants to some degree in all ground water systems. Intrinsic bioremediation is the deliberate use of natural attenuation processes to treat contaminated ground water to specified concentration levels at predetermined points in the aquifer. In current practice, intrinsic bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons requires a systematic assessment to show that ambient natural attenuation mechanisms are efficient enough to meet regulatory requirements and a monitoring program to verify that performance requirements are met in the future.

Ground Water↗

Spatially explicit modeling of 1992-2100 land cover and forest stand age for the conterminous United States

Information on future land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is needed to analyze the impact of LULC change on ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced spatially explicit, thematically detailed LULC projections for the conterminous United States. Four qualitative and quantitative scenarios of LULC change were developed, with characteristics consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on 5 Emission Scenarios (SRES). The four quantified scenarios (A1B, A2, B1, and B2) served as input to the Forecasting Scenarios of Land-use Change (FORE-SCE) model. Four spatially explicit datasets consistent with scenario storylines were produced for the conterminous United States, with annual LULC maps from 1992 through 2100. The future projections are characterized by a loss of natural land covers in most scenarios, with corresponding expansion of 10 anthropogenic land uses. Along with the loss of natural land covers, remaining natural land covers experience increased fragmentation under most scenarios, with only the B2 scenario remaining relatively stable in both proportion of remaining natural land covers and basic fragmentation measures. Forest stand age was also modeled. By 2100, scenarios and ecoregions with heavy forest cutting have relatively lower mean stand ages compared to those with less 15 forest cutting. Stand ages differ substantially between unprotected and protected forest lands, as well as between different forest classes. The modeled data were compared to the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and other data sources to assess model characteristics. The consistent, spatially explicit, and thematically detailed LULC projections and the associated forest stand age data layers have been used to analyze LULC impacts on carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes, 20 biodiversity, climate and weather variability, hydrologic change, and other ecological processes.

Ecological Applications↗

Mississippi river sediment diversions and coastal wetland sustainability: Synthesis of responses to freshwater, sediment, and nutrient inputs

Management and restoration of coastal wetlands require insight into how inundation, salinity, and the availability of mineral sediment and nutrients interact to influence ecosystem functions that control sustainability. The Mississippi River Delta, which ranks among the world's largest and most productive coastal wetland complexes, has experienced extensive deterioration over the last century due, in large part, to enhanced vulnerability to relative sea-level rise and lateral erosion caused by a combination of natural processes and anthropogenic modifications of hydrology. This land loss crisis has prompted the State of Louisiana to develop a comprehensive restoration plan that includes constructing and implementing a series of large-scale sediment diversions that will reconnect sediment- and nutrient-rich Mississippi River water to adjacent bays, estuaries, and wetlands. Sediment loading through diversions is predicted to enhance the long-term sustainability of coastal wetlands; however, the additive effects of increased inundation, abrubt changes in the salinity regime, and high nutrient loads on wetland plant growth and organic matter (SOM) decomposition rates, which help regulate accretion and elevation change, is uncertain. Therefore, this review attempts to synthesize existing information to inform predictions of the interactive effects of diversions on these drivers of coastal wetland sustainability. The data suggest that sediment deposition within an optimal elevation range will increase the overall productivity of existing wetlands where prolonged flooding does not counter this effect by limiting plant growth. A reduction in salinity may increase plant productivity and cause vegetation shifts to less salt tolerant species, but seasonal swings in salinity may have unforeseen consequences. Nutrient-loading is predicted to lead to greater aboveground productivity, which, in turn, can facilitate additional sediment trapping; however, belowground productivity may decline, particularly in areas where sediment deposition is limited. In areas experiencing net deposition, nutrient-enrichment is predicted to enhance belowground growth into new sediment and contribute to positive effects on soil organic matter accumulation, accretion, and elevation change. Thus, we contend that sediment input is essential for limiting the negative effects of flooding and nutrient-enrichment on wetland processes. These conclusions are generally supported by the biophysical feedbacks occurring in existing prograding deltas of the Mississippi River Delta complex.

Louisiana↗

Simulation of Runoff and Reservoir Inflow for Use in a Flood-Analysis Model for the Delaware River, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, 2004-2006

A model was developed to simulate inflow to reservoirs and watershed runoff to streams during three high-flow events between September 2004 and June 2006 for the main-stem subbasin of the Delaware River draining to Trenton, N.J. The model software is a modified version of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), a modular, physically based, distributed-parameter modeling system developed to evaluate the impacts of various combinations of precipitation, climate, and land use on surface-water runoff and general basin hydrology. The PRMS model simulates time periods associated with main-stem flooding that occurred in September 2004, April 2005, and June 2006 and uses both daily and hourly time steps. Output from the PRMS model was formatted for use as inflows to a separately documented reservoir and riverrouting model, the HEC-ResSim model, developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center to evaluate flooding. The models were integrated through a graphical user interface. The study area is the 6,780 square-mile watershed of the Delaware River in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York that drains to Trenton, N.J. A geospatial database was created for use with a geographic information system to assist model discretization, determine land-surface characterization, and estimate model parameters. The USGS National Elevation Dataset at 100-meter resolution, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), was used for model discretization into streams and hydrologic response units. In addition, geospatial processing was used to estimate initial model parameters from the DEM and other data layers, including land use. The model discretization represents the study area using 869 hydrologic response units and 452 stream segments. The model climate data for point stations were obtained from multiple sources. These sources included daily data for 22 National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative Climate Station network stations, hourly data for 15 stations from the National Climatic Data Center, hourly data for 1 station from the NWS Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center records, and daily and hourly data for 7 stations operated by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. The NWS Multisensor Precipitation Estimate data set for 2001-2007 was used for computing daily precipitation for the model and for computing hourly precipitation for storm simulation periods. Calibration of the PRMS model included regression and optimization algorithms, as well as manual adjustments of model parameters. The general goal of the calibration procedure was to minimize the difference between discharge measured at USGS streamgages and the corresponding discharge simulated by the model. Daily streamflow data from 35 USGS streamgages were used in model calibration. The streamflow data represent areas draining from 20.2 to 6,780 square miles. The PRMS model simulates reservoir inflow and watershed runoff for use as input into HECResSim for the purpose of evaluating and comparing the effects of different watershed conditions on main-stem flooding in the Delaware River watershed draining to Trenton, N.J. The PRMS model is useful as a planning tool to simulate the effects of land-use changes and different antecedent conditions on local runoff and reservoir inflow and, as input to the HEC-ResSim model, on flood flows in the main stem of the Delaware River.

Open-File Report↗

Finite-element modelling of physics-based hillslope hydrology, Keith Beven, and beyond

Keith Beven is a voice of reason on the intelligent use of models and the subsequent acknowledgement/assessment of the uncertainties associated with environmental simula-tion. With several books and hundreds of papers, Keith’s work is widespread, well known, and highly referenced. Four of Keith’s most notable contributions are the iconic TOPMODEL (Beven and Kirkby, 1979), classic papers on macropores and preferential flow (Beven and Germann, 1982, 2013), two editions of the rainfall-runoff modelling bible (Beven, 2000a, 2012), and the selection/commentary for the first volume from the Benchmark Papers in Hydrology series (Beven, 2006b). Remarkably, the thirty-one papers in his benchmark volume, entitled Streamflow Generation Processes, are not tales of modelling wizardry but describe measurements designed to better understand the dynamics of near-surface systems (quintessential Keith). The impetus for this commentary is Keith’sPhD research (Beven, 1975), where he developed a new finite-element model and conducted concept-development simu-lations based upon the processes identified by, for example, Richards (1931), Horton (1933), Hubbert (1940), Hewlett and Hibbert (1963), and Dunne and Black (1970a,b). Readers not familiar with the different mechanisms of streamflow generation are referred to Dunne (1978).

Hydrological Processes↗

Climate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age based on ostracod faunas and shell geochemistry from Biscayne Bay, Florida

An 800-year-long environmental history of Biscayne Bay, Florida, is reconstructed from ostracod faunal and shell geochemical (oxygen, carbon isotopes, Mg/Ca ratios) studies of sediment cores from three mudbanks in the central and southern parts of the bay. Using calibrations derived from analyses of modern Biscayne and Florida Bay ostracods, palaeosalinity oscillations associated with changes in precipitation were identified. These oscillations reflect multidecadal- and centennial-scale climate variability associated with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation during the late Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Evidence suggests wetter regional climate during the MCA and drier conditions during the LIA. In addition, twentieth century anthropogenic modifications to Everglades hydrology influenced bay circulation and/or processes controlling carbon isotopic composition.

Florida↗

Quantifying the effects of wildfire on changes in soil properties by surface burning of soils from the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory

Study region This study used intact soil cores collected at the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory near Boulder, Colorado, USA to explore fire impacts on soil properties. Study focus Three soil scenarios were considered: unburned control soils, and low- and high-temperature burned soils. We explored simulated fire impacts on field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, dry bulk density, total organic carbon, and infiltration processes during rainfall simulations. New hydrological insights for the region Soils burned to high temperatures became more homogeneous with depth with respect to total organic carbon and bulk density, suggesting reductions in near-surface porosity. Organic matter decreased significantly with increasing soil temperature. Tension infiltration experiments suggested a decrease in infiltration rates from unburned to low-temperature burned soils, and an increase in infiltration rates in high-temperature burned soils. Non-parametric statistical tests showed that field-saturated hydraulic conductivity similarly decreased from unburned to low-temperature burned soils, and then increased with high-temperature burned soils. We interpret these changes result from the combustion of surface and near-surface organic materials, enabling water to infiltrate directly into soil instead of being stored in the litter and duff layer at the surface. Together, these results indicate that fire-induced changes in soil properties from low temperatures were not as drastic as high temperatures, but that reductions in surface soil water repellency in high temperatures may increase infiltration relative to low temperatures.

Colorado↗

Seventy-five years of vegetation treatments on public rangelands in the Great Basin of North America

On the Ground Land treatments occurring over millions of hectares of public rangelands in the Great Basin over the last 75 years represent one of the largest vegetation manipulation and restoration efforts in the world. The ability to use legacy data from land treatments in adaptive management and ecological research has improved with the creation of the Land Treatment Digital Library (LTDL), a spatially explicit database of land treatments conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The LTDL contains information on over 9,000 confirmed land treatments in the Great Basin, composed of seedings (58%), vegetation control treatments (24%), and other types of vegetation or soil manipulations (18%). The potential application of land treatment legacy data for adaptive management or as natural experiments for retrospective analyses of effects of land management actions on physical, hydrologic, and ecologic patterns and processes is considerable and just beginning to be realized.

California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah↗

Large shift in source of fine sediment in the upper Mississippi River

Although sediment is a natural constituent of rivers, excess loading to rivers and streams is a leading cause of impairment and biodiversity loss. Remedial actions require identification of the sources and mechanisms of sediment supply. This task is complicated by the scale and complexity of large watersheds as well as changes in climate and land use that alter the drivers of sediment supply. Previous studies in Lake Pepin, a natural lake on the Mississippi River, indicate that sediment supply to the lake has increased 10-fold over the past 150 years. Herein we combine geochemical fingerprinting and a suite of geomorphic change detection techniques with a sediment mass balance for a tributary watershed to demonstrate that, although the sediment loading remains very large, the dominant source of sediment has shifted from agricultural soil erosion to accelerated erosion of stream banks and bluffs, driven by increased river discharge. Such hydrologic amplification of natural erosion processes calls for a new approach to watershed sediment modeling that explicitly accounts for channel and floodplain dynamics that amplify or dampen landscape processes. Further, this finding illustrates a new challenge in remediating nonpoint sediment pollution and indicates that management efforts must expand from soil erosion to factors contributing to increased water runoff.

Environmental Science & Technology↗

Dissolved organic carbon export and internal cycling in small, headwater lakes

Carbon (C) cycling in freshwater lakes is intense but poorly integrated into our current understanding of overall C transport from the land to the oceans. We quantified dissolved organic carbon export (DOC X ) and compared it with modeled gross DOC mineralization (DOC R ) to determine whether hydrologic or within-lake processes dominated DOC cycling in a small headwaters watershed in Minnesota, USA. We also used DOC optical properties to gather information about DOC sources. We then compared our results to a data set of approximately 1500 lakes in the Eastern USA (Eastern Lake Survey, ELS, data set) to place our results in context of lakes more broadly. In the open-basin lakes in our watershed ( n = 5), DOC X ranged from 60 to 183 g C m −2 lake area yr −1 , whereas DOC R ranged from 15 to 21 g C m −2 lake area yr −1 , emphasizing that lateral DOC fluxes dominated. DOC X calculated in our study watershed clustered near the 75th percentile of open-basin lakes in the ELS data set, suggesting that these results were not unusual. In contrast, DOC X in closed-basin lakes ( n = 2) was approximately 5 g C m −2 lake area yr −1 , whereas DOC R was 37 to 42 g C m −2 lake area yr −1 , suggesting that internal C cycling dominated. In the ELS data set, median DOC X was 32 and 12 g C m −2 yr −1 in open-basin and closed-basin lakes, respectively. Although not as high as what was observed in our study watershed, DOC X is an important component of lake C flux more generally, particularly in open-basin lakes.

Global Biogeochemical Cycles↗

Factors controlling nitrate fluxes in groundwater in agricultural areas

The impact of agricultural chemicals on groundwater quality depends on the interactions of biogeochemical and hydrologic factors. To identify key processes affecting distribution of agricultural nitrate in groundwater, a parsimonious transport model was applied at 14 sites across the U.S. Simulated vertical profiles of NO 3 - , N 2 from denitrification, O 2 , Cl - , and environmental tracers of groundwater age were matched to observations by adjusting the parameters for recharge rate, unsaturated zone travel time, fractions of N and Cl - inputs leached to groundwater, O 2 reduction rate, O 2 threshold for denitrification, and denitrification rate. Model results revealed important interactions among biogeochemical and physical factors. Chloride fluxes decreased between the land surface and water table possibly because of Cl - exports in harvested crops (averaging 22% of land-surface Cl - inputs). Modeled zero-order rates of O 2 reduction and denitrification were correlated. Denitrification rates at depth commonly exceeded overlying O 2 reduction rates, likely because shallow geologic sources of reactive electron donors had been depleted. Projections indicated continued downward migration of NO 3 - fronts at sites with denitrification rates <0.25 mg-N L -1 yr -1 . The steady state depth of NO 3 - depended to a similar degree on application rate, leaching fraction, recharge, and NO 3 - and O 2 reaction rates. Steady state total mass in each aquifer depended primarily on the N application rate. In addition to managing application rates at land surface, efficient water use may reduce the depth and mass of N in groundwater because lower recharge was associated with lower N fraction leached. Management actions to reduce N leaching could be targeted over aquifers with high-recharge and low-denitrification rates.

Water Resources Research↗

Reactive solute transport in streams: 2. Simulation of a pH modification experiment

We present an application of an equilibrium-based solute transport model to a p H-modification experiment conducted on the Snake River, an acidic, metal-rich stream located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. During the experiment, instream p H decreased from 4.2 to 3.2, causing a marked increase in dissolved iron concentrations. Model application requires specification of several parameters that are estimated using tracer techniques, mass balance calculations, and geochemical data. Two basic questions are addressed through model application: (1) What are the processes responsible for the observed increase in dissolved iron concentrations? (2) Can the identified processes be represented within the equilibrium-based transport model? Simulation results indicate that the increase in iron was due to the dissolution of hydrous iron oxides and the photoreduction of ferric iron. Dissolution from the streambed is represented by considering a trace compartment consisting of freshly precipitated hydrous iron oxide and an abundant compartment consisting of aged precipitates that are less soluble. Spatial variability in the solubility of hydrous iron oxide is attributed to heterogeneity in the streambed sediments, temperature effects, and/or variability in the effects of photoreduction. Solubility products estimated via simulation fall within a narrow range ( pK sp from 40.2 to 40.8) relative to the 6 order of magnitude variation reported for laboratory experiments ( pK sp from 37.3 to 43.3). Results also support the use of an equilibrium-based transport model as the predominate features of the iron and p H profiles are reproduced. The model provides a valuable tool for quantifying the nature and extent of p H-dependent processes within the context of hydrologic transport.

Water Resources Research↗

Extensive glacier loss in the coterminous United States

Glaciers populate the mountain ranges of the western conterminous United States and despite their importance to alpine hydrology, their area and volume change have never been comprehensively evaluated. Since the mid-Twentieth Century about one-quarter of the glaciers have disappeared and the overall area and volume are reduced by one-third. The pattern of glacier shrinkage suggests most glaciers in the Conterminous US are largely maintained by local topographic influences due to their small size. These results are critical to understanding evolving high alpine hydrology and important to ecosystem processes.

conterminous United States↗

Use of a watershed model to characterize the fate and transport of fluometuron, a soil-applied cotton herbicide, in surface water

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to characterize the fate and transport of fluometuron (a herbicide used on cotton) in the Bogue Phalia Basin in northwestern Mississippi, USA. SWAT is a basin-scale watershed model, able to simulate hydrological, chemical, and sediment transport processes. After adjustments to a few parameters (specifically the SURLAG variable, the runoff curve number, Manning's N for overland flow, soil available water capacity, and the base-flow alpha factor) the SWAT model fit the observed streamflow well (the Coefficient of Efficiency and R2 were greater than 60). The results from comparing observed fluometuron concentrations with simulated concentrations were reasonable. The simulated concentrations (which were daily averages) followed the pattern of observed concentrations (instantaneous values) closely, but could be off in magnitude at times. Further calibration might have improved the fit, but given the uncertainties in the input data, it was not clear that any improvement would be due to a better understanding of the input variables. ?? 2007 Taylor & Francis.

International Journal of Environmental Analytical ↗

Interaction of flooding and salinity stress on baldcypress ( Taxodium distichum )

Coastal wetlands of the southeastern United States are threatened by increases in flooding and salinity as a result of both natural processes and man-induced hydrologic alterations. Furthermore, global climate change scenarios suggest that, as a consequence of rising sea levels, much larger areas of coastal wetlands may be affected by flooding and salinity in the next 50 to 100 years. In this paper, we review studies designed to improve our ability to predict and ameliorate the impacts of increased flooding and salinity stress on baldcypress ( Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.), which is a dominant species of many coastal forested wetlands. Specifically, we review studies on species-level responses to flooding and salinity stress, alone and in combination, we summarize two studies on intraspecific variation in response to flooding and salinity stress, we analyze the physiological mechanisms thought to be responsible for the interaction between flooding and salinity stress, and we discuss the implications for coastal wetland loss and the prospects for developing salt-tolerant lines of baldcypress.

Louisiana↗