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Faculty Advisor

Christie Klimas

Abstract

The soil in the Midwest is fertile for agriculture use and therefore a lot of the wetlands have been turned into farmland. Wetlands can act as a sink for excess nutrients such as phosphorus. In part due to their value for nutrient storage, restoration of wetlands has become more frequent, including restoration of wetlands on former farmland. I am interested in phosphorus and the potential of wetlands to either store or release phosphorus. I compared differences in soil reactive phosphorus of restored and reference wetlands. This study compares Prairie Wolf Slough (PWS), a restored wetland, to two reference wetlands, both located less than 10 miles from Prairie Wolf Slough with similar hydrology, soils, and vegetation. I measured soil reactive phosphorus (SRP) in soil cores (to a depth of 0.15 meters). ANOVA analysis found no significant difference in SRP in the restored wetland compared to the reference wetlands. Although the hypothesis was not supported, the findings can be used as preliminary data for further investigation of phosphorus in wetlands.

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