Abstract
 Northern Prairie Wetlands and Climate Change Track: Ecology and Conservation Author(s): Bruce Millett, Richard Voldseth, W. Johnson The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America contains millions of wetlands that provide abundant ecological services that are highly sensitive to climate change. We explored the broad spatial and temporal patterns across the PPR between climate and wetland water levels and vegetation by "moving" a wetland model (WETSIM) among 18 stations with 95-year weather records. A critical component to WETSIM was an accurate digital elevation model (DEM) for the wetland basin. Ecoregions were used as the spatial framework to select weather stations and to compare and contrast model outputs. Spatial analysis was performed on model outputs in ArcGIS. Simulations suggest that optimum wetland conditions would shift under a drier climate from the center of the PPR (Dakotas and southeastern Saskatchewan) to the wetter eastern and northern fringes, areas currently less productive or where most wetlands have been drained. Bruce Millett South Dakota State University Geography Box 504 SDSU Geography Dept. Brookings , SD 57007 US Phone: 605-688-4833 Fax: 605-688-4030 E-mail: bruce.millett@sdstate.edu Richard Voldseth USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station Forest Sciences Labratory 1831 East Highway 169 Grand Rapids , MN 55744-3399 US Phone: 218-326-7110 E-mail: rvoldseth@fs.fed.us W. Johnson South Dakota State University Horticulture Forestry Landscape and Parks NPB 201 Brookings , SD 57007 US Phone: 605-688-4729 E-mail: Carter.Johnson@sdstate.edu |
|||||
