Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2004, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

The project objective was to evaluate a proposal for a wetland at the Oxbow Stream site on the Ohio University campus. To determine the feasibility of a constructed wetland, the site was thoroughly evaluated, which involved analyzing: 1) soil morphology and sediment metal content; 2) hydrology and site flooding potential; 3) various water quality indicators; and 4) quantity and quality of aquatic life. The Udorthents soil type of Oxbow Stream was qualitatively determined as sandy loam having 10-15% pebble sized gravel. Based on these characteristics, the site soil is not expected to support the desired study objectives. The sediment metal analysis indicated possible lead and copper toxicity and water toxicity if the pH fell below two. The site flooding potential was determined to be the same as the surrounding landscape: it is within the 100-year floodplain. Water flow was estimated as 0.043-0.047 cfs, representing low flow while average annual flow was estimated as 0.36 cfs. Based on the sediment mass loading, a minimum of 9.92 tons of sediment is expected to accumulate within five years in the proposed wetland. In order for sedimentation to have minimal impact on the design detention period, volume lost to accumulation of sediment should be kept minimal. A three-foot deep wetland would require an area of 11,920 ft 2 in order to treat the sediment, assuming a 20-year accumulation and 5% loss to volume. The summed concentration of nitrite and nitrate were the only chemical parameters exceeding benchmark values. Conductivity, averaging 805 μs, exceeded the typical fresh water range, which may be explained by the high sodium concentration. Bioassessment results provided evidence that some impairment is occurring. Of the eighty macro invertebrates collected, none were the pollutant sensitive EPT taxa and 81% were tolerant species. Using the Modified Virginia Save Our Streams (SOS) method, Oxbow Stream was determined as unacceptable ecological condition. Based on the re (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2022, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

There is a gap in access to sanitation in the US, particularly in rural areas such as Central Appalachia. The use of constructed wetlands as an alternative to onsite domestic wastewater treatment is one was to alleviate wastewater management challenges in small rural communities and work to close the sanitation gap. This study aimed to determine if year-round onsite wastewater treatment performance of constructed wetlands could be enhanced with the use of substrate and specialized operational modifications. Three constructed wetlands, with distinct substrates, organic, mineral, and combination, were used as treatment systems for a 4-month period, half above 15°C and half below 15°C. Results indicated a statistical difference between substrates in cold temperatures for TP and TKN and removal of many parameters in line with traditional wastewater treatment methods. This research supports the use of year-round wetlands to perform in the Central Appalachian region.

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2011, Biological Sciences

One factor used to determine wetland mitigation success is the establishment of native wetland plant species. Although mycorrhizal associations are known to be present in 70 to 95% of all plant species and have been linked to seedling establishment as well as nutrient and carbon flux within plant communities, the presence or absence of mycorrhizal fungi are not assessed or addressed during wetland mitigation work. Three experiments were devised to examine the effects of mycorrhizal fungi on the germination and growth of native wetland plant species in soils and field sites from natural, restored, and created wetlands. Greenhouse experiment I was a small scale greenhouse experiment in which soil from Siebenthaler Fen (SF), a high quality wetland, was used to inoculate plants with mycorrhizal fungi to determine its effect on germination and growth. Inoculation significantly affected shoot height of 30% of plant species and fresh weight of 100% of plant species. Field soils significantly affected both fresh and dry weight of 70% of plant species independent of inoculation. Greenhouse experiment II was a large-scale greenhouse experiment in which a produced soil inoculum was used to infect plants with mycorrhizal fungi to determine its effect on the growth of four native wetland plants. Inoculation significantly affected shoot height, dry weight, and arbuscular colonization of Mimulus ringens L. The overall affect of field soils were few and highly varied. In the field experiment, native wetland plants were inoculated with MycoGrow Soluble in the greenhouse prior to transplantation into natural, restored, and created wetlands to determine the effect of soil inoculation containing mycorrhizal fungi on plant growth and establishment. Soil inoculation significantly decreased shoot dry weight of M. ringens but did not impact the shoot height, leaf count, or shoot count of any species. Field site location significantly affected shoot height of M. ringens, C. vulpinoidea, an (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Environment and Natural Resources

Wetland ecosystems are significant carbon sinks. Their high productivity and presence of water gives them the ability to efficiently sequester carbon in the soil, serving as a potential tool to mitigate the net greenhouse effect of carbon emissions to the atmosphere and abate climate change. We explored the efficiency of freshwater wetlands sequestering carbon under different climates, wetland types, and vegetation communities, in order to assess the conditions that favor carbon accumulation. We also studied the ability of created freshwater wetlands to sequester carbon and the effect of their vegetation communities on this task. We found significant differences on carbon sequestration between wetland types in temperate and tropical regions, being consistently higher in the studied forested wetlands (260 ± 58 gC m-2 y-1) than the riverine ones (113 ± 27 gC m-2 y-1), indicating the importance of wetland productivity and the type of organic matter entering the system. Our temperate wetlands were also consistently more efficient in sequestering carbon than similar tropical ones (233 ± 89 and 151 ± 57 gC m-2 y-1, respectively), suggesting that higher temperatures in tropical climates may hinder carbon sequestration by intensifying organic matter decomposition rates. Within the tropical climates, we found that the tropical humid wetland sites had significantly higher carbon sequestration rates (306 ± 77 gC m-2 y-1) than those located in the tropical dry regions, were there is a marked wet and dry season (63 ± 10 gC m-2 y-1 on average). Our comparison between vegetation communities show that wetland productivity and permanent anaerobic conditions are key in enhancing soil carbon sequestration, being 214 ± 54 gC m-2 y-1 in the open water sites (with prolonged anaerobic conditions) and 184 ± 72 gC m-2 y-1 in the edges (typically more productive due to their fluctuating water levels). In the tropics, where temperature might to be a limiting factor for carbon sequestration (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2009, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis examines wetland regulation and wetland mitigation banking as it relates to the future home of a Cleveland Clinic facility in Twinsburg, Ohio. The factors that contribute to how the case study site will be shaped are examined. The results show that the Cleveland Clinic Foundation has the money, power, resources, and reputation that presented challenges to Ohio Environmental Protection Agency during their Section 401 Water Quality Certification process. The results also show that the Cleveland Clinic was dedicated enough to the use of this particular site to risk a project completion date delay, and to increase the cost of the project. It seems that the placement of this facility helps promote the Cleveland Clinic brand due to its visibility from the two major routes it faces, and due to its adjacent placement to the competing University Hospital branch. Cleveland Clinic‚s persistence evidences the difference in power between previous developers and their attempts, compared the success of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.Alternately, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was able to require Cleveland Clinic to revise their development plans multiple times, while preventing development for the 363 days the Section 401 application was reviewed. Ohio EPA also disallowed any impacts to category 3 wetlands on the case study site, whereas Cleveland Clinic initially planed to impact 3.14 acres of category 3 wetlands. Additionally, Ohio EPA did not find the Clinic‚s preservation-only mitigation plan suitable, and required the addition of an offsite mitigation project. By not allowing the preservation-only mitigation plan to suffice in this case, Ohio EPA has set precedence for future developers who propose a similar preservation-only plan. Mitigation banking became a key to compromise between Cleveland Clinic, their environmental consultants, and Ohio EPA. Without the addition of this provision to the mitigation plans, its doubtful Ohio EPA and Cleveland Clinic cou (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2012, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Constructed wetlands are an efficient and cost effective means for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon remediation, and will therefore continue to gain momentum as an accepted treatment by the US EPA (U.S. EPA, 1995; Amarante, 2000; Lien, 2001; WETPOL, 2009). The treatment options for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs), including wetlands, capitalize on aerobic/anaerobic interfaces in which bacterially mediated reduction-oxidation reactions degrade pollutants (Li, 1997; Bradley, 1998; Lorah and Voytek, 2004; Amon, 2007; Imfeld, 2008). In August 2000, researchers at Wright State University (WSU) combined efforts with the United States Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to construct a pilot-scale upward-flow treatment wetland on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with parameters that could remediate perchloroethene (PCE) found in a nearby aquifer (Amon et al., 2007). Eleven studies of short duration have since documented the existance of anerobic and aerobic interfaces by measuring various terminal electron acceptors (sulfate, nitrate, methane, iron) and numerous other parameters. The studies evaluated PCE degradation rates, geochemical profiles, hydraulic conductivity and chlorinated ethene concentrations. (Bugg, 2002; Opperman, 2002; Clemmer, 2003; Kovacic, 2003; BonDurant, 2004; Sobolewski, 2004; Lach, 2004; Schlater, 2006; Mohamud, 2007; Waldron, 2007, Corbin, 2008). The present research has attempted to compile, organize, and re-analyze the data collected by AFIT and WSU researchers during 2001-2006. Data was analyzed using Jenks Optimization (goodness of variance fit) method to identify and remove outliers. Meta analysis of CAH concentrations and redox parameters was performed by creating data subsets of individual piezometer and depths, influent to effluent transect data and ArcGIS maps. The present analysis concludes that a fully functioning wetland with strongly reducing geochemical conditions and flow patterns capable of PCE destruction (open full item for complete abstract)

BS, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences

Wetlands act as a filter between the terrestrial land and a body of water, regulating the flux of nutrients between these. An overabundance of nutrients, such as phosphate, can lead to a harmful algal bloom (HAB), which is known to deplete oxygen from aquatic ecosystems and produce harmful toxins. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of different vegetation patches on the amount of bioavailable phosphorus, measured as soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), in both the surface water and sediment. We sampled surface water and sediment from Turtle Creek Bay located in Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, where we identified four distinct vegetation patches: grasses, hardwoods, Typha spp. (cattail), and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Results of this study showed that the SAV patch exhibited significantly less SRP than the other patches (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in SRP concentrations for the rest of the patches. Additionally, we experimentally incubated intact sediment cores sampled from a diagonal transect across Magee Marsh. The cores were incubated with four different SRP concentration treatments based on in situ SRP measurements. We found that at ambient SRP concentrations (4 ug/L), sediments released 455.2 ± 518.3 ug SRP/m2/d into surface waters, but when SRP concentrations in the surface water increased (to 18, 39, and 60 ug SRP/L), sediments removed SRP at increasing rates (-919.9 ± 278.7, -2062.3 ± 1001.61, -7378.5 ± 4267.1 ug SRP/m2/d, respectively).The increasingly negative mean flux rates suggest that these coastal wetland sediments can sequester increasing amounts of SRP as surface water concentrations increase.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Civil Engineering

Estuarine marshes occur at the interface of terrestrial riverine flows and oceans or lakes. As such, they play a crucial role in the movement, storage, and fluxes to the atmosphere, of carbon. We monitored CH4 fluxes, and the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Old Woman Creek (OWC) estuary, Ohio. Gas exchange chamber measurements and sampling of surface water for DOC concentration were conducted simultaneously at three locations with distinct hydraulic characteristics: the outflow, mid-flow, and backflow areas, and at three different relative depths (deep, intermediate, and shallow) within each location. Samples were conducted monthly, over the summer and autumn of 2023 (i.e., month 1 to month last). We investigated the temporal and spatial correlation between DOC and CH4 fluxes in OWC, with a focus on the inflow dynamics from nearby rivers and the wetland's hydrological regime. We hypothesized that the high CH4 flux levels observed in OWC are driven by the wetland's intake of DOC, and short-term depth changes (due to barrier opening and closing) and long-term depth changes (due to changes in water levels and inundation) influences methane emissions. We found that DOC in the wetland's inflow positively correlates with the river stage, but contrary to our initial hypothesis, elevated DOC levels within the wetland did not significantly contribute to methane emissions. However, we found that DOC concentrations varied by depth, but not temporally when other factors (temperature, depth, river stage) were considered. Spatially, the outflow area had the highest DOC concentration, with deep depths in each hydrological location exhibiting higher DOC concentrations. CH4 fluxes varied spatially, with the outflow area recording the least methane emissions, while the mid-flow area exhibited higher methane concentrations. Intermediate depths in each hydrological location recorded higher methane emissions. Interestingly, we found that long-term trends of CH4 fl (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Biological Sciences

Fertilizers rich in nitrogen and phosphorus have been implicated in toxic algal blooms and the eutrophication of Lake Erie. One method for mitigating nutrient runoff is the use of wetlands. Wetlands sequester and process nutrients via biogeochemical processes, decreasing the concentrations of nutrients that eventually reach a large body of water. Research on nutrient cycling in aquatic systems has mainly focused on the sediment, the plants, and the water. Few consider the potential impacts of animals in the system despite the evidence that animals play an important role in nutrient cycling in freshwater systems. Animals can directly move nutrients in and out of aquatic systems, as well as indirectly affect the nutrient budget by altering the ecosystem. The combined direct and indirect effects of animal-mediated nutrient cycling in a wetland system have not been adequately assessed. A few wetland mesocosm experiments have examined the influence of animals on wetland nutrient cycling, but most focus on one functional feeding group. In this study, I evaluated the role of aquatic macroinvertebrates from two functional feeding groups in wetland nutrient sequestration using in-field mesocosms containing macrophytes, in the recently constructed H2Ohio wetland at Oakwoods Nature Preserve (Findlay, OH, USA). Nitrogen and phosphorus content of the water column was measured over six days in response to the presence of each invertebrate. Six replicates of three treatments (snails, crayfish, or control) were installed for a total of 18 mesocosms. A nutrient pulse was added to mesocosms at the end of the experiment to mimic natural nutrient dynamics in an agricultural-adjacent wetland system and nutrient uptake was measured. The results suggest that the crayfish treatment altered nutrient cycling, increasing total nitrogen and total phosphorus iv levels and a decreasing light transmission. These changes could be attributed to bioturbation as the crayfish cre (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2018, Biological Sciences

In the contiguous US, an estimated 50% of original wetland areas have been lost since the late 1700s. In growing recognition of the importance of preserving wetland ecosystem function, federal and state agencies have developed proxy-based functional-assessment procedures to manage and preserve remaining wetland areas. Ohio uses the Ohio Rapid Assessment Method (ORAM) to score wetland quality based on six metrics: wetland size, buffer width and surrounding land use, hydrology, habitat alteration and development, special wetland communities, and vegetation. Currently, the ORAM, and many other wetland scoring systems, do not consider microorganisms when determining wetland quality. This is particularly notable, because fungi are considered the primary decomposers of organic material in many wetlands making them important players in nutrient cycling. In this thesis I aim to (1) quantify differences in fungal diversity, community composition, and function between freshwater marshes of different quality ratings, (2) quantify differences in soil physicochemical properties (e.g. nutrient availability, bulk density) between freshwater marshes of different quality ratings and determine the role of soil physicochemical properties in structuring fungal communities in freshwater marshes, and (3) quantify differences in plant community composition between freshwater marshes of different quality ratings and determine the role of vegetation in structuring fungal communities in freshwater marshes. To achieve these three aims I identified six depressional emergent marshes in the state of Ohio belonging to each of the three ORAM quality categories, and surveyed the vegetation at each to identify sampling stations. Using a stratified random sampling design, I then sampled soil from each wetland for soil physicochemical properties and DNA. Soil physicochemical properties measured include soil bulk density (BD), pH, soil organic matter (SOM), gravimetric water content (soil moisture), P (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2018, Biological Sciences

Over 90 percent of the historical wetlands in the Ohio portion of Lake Erie drainage have been lost, and of those that remain many are diked wetlands that have no surface water connection to Lake Erie. Recent restoration efforts have been made to reconnect these wetlands with the focus of allowing fish species to access these productive wetland habitats. In order to quantify and model the timing of fish movement into one of these reconnected wetlands, a high frequency sonar system (DIDSON) was used during spring of 2017. While all fish entering and leaving the wetland were ensonified, analysis was focused on the highly sought after native Northern Pike and invasive Common Carp to investigate if there are temporal differences in spring spawning migrations between the two species. Additionally, to investigate how fish communities respond when given time after wetland reconnection occurs, an additional study was conducted by sampling fish communities using seine hauls in a variety of coastal Lake Erie wetlands. Wetlands selection was based on encompassing a gradient of time since they were connected to Lake Erie. Wetlands that were only periodically connected to Lake Erie or were very recently reconnected were found to have lower fish diversity.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1990, Graduate School

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2016, Geological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

Constructed wetlands are one of the effective wastewater treatment systems which have been utilized since 1950s. Characterizing landfill leachate and monitoring the treatment system are important for operation and development of the system. The objectives of this study were to delineate hydrologic and chemical processes occurring in the constructed wetland which has been treating landfill leachate from Athens 691 Landfill in Ohio since 1996. The treatment system consisted of six wetland cells. The leachate has high levels of BOD5, COD, ammonia, and metals, and low pH and low DO. Field parameters, inflow and outflow rates between wetland cells, and water isotopes were measured monthly to monitor water quality, flow, and storage change. The storage change in each month was corresponded to inflow and outflow rates. Seasonal water samples were collected from the wetland cells and analyzed for water chemistry and water isotopes to evaluate removal efficiencies. The results indicate that the average removal efficiencies of iron, manganese, ammonia, and sulfate were 99 %, 94 %, 84 %, and 69 %, respectively. The results from PHREEQCI indicated that iron and sulfide minerals were precipitating. The modeled data were in keeping with the observed metal concentrations which were decreasing as the water flows through the treatment cells. The removal efficiencies of ammonia, nitrate, BOD5, and COD were influenced by the seasonal variations of water temperature which constrains biological processes. Results of this study suggest that the constructed wetland could provide efficient and long-term option for treating landfill leachate in cost effective manner.

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2014, Environmental Sciences

Through the Master of Environmental Science program with the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES) and my time as an intern with the environmental consulting firm, Parsons Corporation, I have gained a significant amount of knowledge and experience for work within the environmental consulting field. I now have a clear understanding of the environmental laws and regulations that are relevant to the permitting process for pipeline construction projects. I am capable of conducting low-flow groundwater sampling projects. I have gained experience with wetland mitigation and wetland delineation, and I have found a niche within this industry. Through the courses offered in the IES program, I was able to gain the skills necessary to be successful in the consulting field. This program taught me the importance of stakeholder input, clear communication and teamwork, and has led me to a bright future in the consulting industry.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Environmental Science

For more than three decades the practice of creating and restoring wetlands has focused on offsetting lost habitat and ecosystem function, and on water quality improvement. For the past decade wetland research has shifted to the role of wetlands in climate change with most studies dealing with one component of the carbon cycle. This dissertation developed a detailed carbon budget of the two flow-through experimental wetlands at The Ohio State University's Olentangy River Wetland Research Park (ORWRP) in Columbus, Ohio, USA. The two 1-ha flow-through riverine wetlands were created in 1994 (one planted and the other naturally colonized) adjacent to a third-order stream in central Ohio. The dissertation also investigated previous methods used for estimating methane emissions at the experimental wetlands to better permit comparison of data for almost a decade, and estimated the influence the autochthonous productivity had on carbon exported from these two wetlands. Detailed carbon budgets from 2008 to 2010 were created for the two wetlands. Measurements were taken of dissolved non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), fine particulate organic carbon (FPOM), and coarse particulate organic carbon (CPOM). Methane emissions, soil sequestration, aquatic primary productivity, and macrophyte above-ground net primary productivity were also included in the carbon budget based on other studies. The carbon budget successfully balanced inputs (1,838 ± 41 g C m-2 year-1) and export/sequestration (1,846 ± 59 g C m-2 year-1) with only a 0.5 % over estimation of export in relation to input and 12.8 % of the input carbon from both hydrologic and biologic inputs accumulating into the wetland soil. FPOM and CPOM concentrations and exports were positively correlated with hydrologic flow under most circumstances; NPOC and DIC concentrations were usually negatively or poorly correlated with hydrologic flow. In all seasons, except winter, the change of total carbo (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2013, Integrated Bioscience

Climate change threatens to alter the current distribution, productivity, and community composition of wetlands in the Midwestern United States. Increasing rainfall variability and rising temperatures will yield unique stresses for wetland vegetation, including an increase in flooding severity and a higher frequency of potentially harmful heat events. This dissertation explores the interactions and impacts of climate warming and hydrologic variability on productivity, morphological plasticity, reproduction, and functional composition within wetland communities, followed by an evaluation of the connection between wetland distribution and climate on a regional scale. Climate warming led to depressions in productivity during the warmest months while hydrologic variation consistent with climate projections yielded decreases in spring production and peak biomass. Reproductive allocation and other functional trait differences suggested that the future climate will limit productivity in many wetland ecosystems in the Midwest. A distribution model based on Artificial Neural Networks projected significant increases in flooding leading to wetland expansion concentrated in the Midwestern Corn Belt and potential declines in wetland area in Minnesota and northern Michigan. These results suggest that, though wetland area is projected to increase for the Midwest, without hydrologic management, many wetland systems are at risk of community turnover and degradation resulting from a shifting climate.

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2013, Environmental Sciences

Through an environmental science internship with EMH&T, a private consulting firm, I conducted various environmental consulting projects. The four main projects that I worked on included a Nationwide Permit application, Level II Isolated Wetland Permit application, Level II Ecological Survey Report, and a monitoring report. For each of these projects, I conducted the field work, entered and analyzed the data, as well as wrote and submitted the final document for the appropriate regulatory agency. All of these projects involved the same stream and wetland assessments; however, each one of them was regulated very differently. Therefore, although similar field methods were used for various projects, the rules and regulations and ultimately the final document behind a particular project can vary greatly. Every project had a different scenario with varied requirements and client needs. Regardless of the project, coordination and communication with clients, agencies, and within EMH&T were crucial.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Soil Science

Methane (CH4) is a critical greenhouse gas with ~ 25 times greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide. As the largest natural source of CH4, wetlands have faced a setback in the global warming scenario. Manipulation of wetland hydrology can be a potential management strategy to enhance CH4 consumption (by microbial oxidation) from constructed and managed wetlands. Although work in pure cultures have shown the importance of methane oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) in regulating net CH4 flux, few field based studies have been done on the microbial ecology of these CH4 oxidizing communities and how they respond to differing land management systems. For example, there is considerable interest in enabling current wetlands and creating wetlands that have hydrologic pulsing that is driven by seasonal rainfall and watershed dynamics. However, little is known about the ecology of methanotrophs in the “pulsing fringe” - the oxic sediment-water interface of wetlands. The objective of this study was to characterize the functionally active methanotroph communities and link them to potential methane oxidation rates in response to pulsing wetland hydrology and seasonally induced changes in redox conditions. 13C-CH4 stable isotope probing of biomarker Phospholipid Fatty Acids (PLFAs) was successfully used to track the 13C flow into the methanotroph community. Identification and quantification of methanotrophs was effectively achieved to link bacterial structure and function. The results show that, in addition to methanotrophy being controlled by environmental factors such as soil water content, oxygen and methane availability, the physiology of the microorganisms themselves can be uniquely adapted to extant conditions and potentially influence process rates. Results from this study demonstrate that seasonally pulsed wetlands have greater diversity of methanotrophs under elevated methane concentrations. In comparison, methane oxidation in the permanently flooded site (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2010, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Constructed wetlands are becoming an increasingly common best management practice for reducing pollutants. Processes like rhizofiltration, settling of suspended particles, and degradation are all time dependent. These treatment mechanisms can be limited by hydraulic inefficiencies like short-circuiting in treatment wetlands. It is not known exactly what role such inefficiencies play in treatment, but when expected water quality gains are not realized the adoption of treatment wetlands as a best management practice can be slowed. One reason the effects on treatment are not well understood is that hydraulic inefficiencies are difficult to quantify. The aim of this work was to develop a universally applicable hydraulic index to quantify the hydraulic performance of treatment wetlands. An index demonstrating strong correlation to pollutant reduction is needed to identify the optimal wetland configuration for maximizing residence time. Such an index should be related to the various wetland parameters that influence the RTD. The index would not only be useful in quantifying the effects of vegetation, bathymetry, and wetland shape on residence time; it could then be used to supply the bounds for anticipated pollutant reduction. Three existing hydraulic indices were evaluated for their suitability both as a measure of hydraulic performance and as a predictor of treatment. Of the three existing hydraulic indices evaluated, only one demonstrated strong correlation to the effluent pollutant fraction. However, that index could not detect variations among residence time distributions that had a common centroid implying the index could not detect attenuation of a residence time distribution. Other indices are needed to better quantify the influence that various wetland parameters have on residence time and develop predictive models for treatment. Three new indices were proposed. The moment index was derived using residence time distribution theory. This approach quantifies hydr (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, Natural Resources

Throughout the American Midwest, headwater streams flowing through agricultural fields have been extensively modified to accommodate subsurface drainage systems, normally resulting in deepened, straightened, and widened headwater streams. Some of the most dense drainage and riparian ecosystem alteration in the world have occurred there. This dissertation includes three studies that investigate the design and analyses of stream restoration in the Midwest, USA. A segment of Grave Creek on The Ohio State University's Marion campus in Ohio, USA, with its lack of riparian ecosystems, illustrates the transformation of a natural fluvial ecosystem to an unstable and “simplified” aquatic environment that requires continued maintenance and provides little value to the surrounding landscape or to the university. To restore the natural ecological stability of OSU Marion's “back yard” and to provide habitat improvement to Grave Creek and its surrounding landscape on the OSU Marion campus, we designed a restoration of 1.1 km of Grave Creek meandering to the east of an existing sewer line, using a two-stage channel technique, and about 0.6–0.8 ha of adjacent wetland. We estimate that restoration on this scale would cost about US$ 200,000–300,000, not including monitoring of the results. To evaluate the feasibility of connecting streams and rivers to a riparian diversion wetland, a small-scale bioreserve pond/wetland (0.07 ha) created in 2002 at the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park was connected at its inflow to an adjacent stream. This research investigated the biological and water quality connection of the diversion wetland and adjacent stream. Before the flow-through conditions were established in 2009, we demonstrated with mark-recapture techniques that the wetland already was a biorefuge for fish under extreme conditions; two species (Centrarchidae) captured in the stream before a total drawdown of the stream were found in the wetland a year later. In addition, the 4 °C (open full item for complete abstract)