Hydric Soil Indicators for Identifying Replicate Wetlands In the Prairie Pothole Region.

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is host to millions of small, ephemeral wetlands and plays several roles in the global greenhouse gas (GHG) balance, most concerning the release and consumption of N₂O and CH₄.  Numerous GHG studies have taken place within the region in the past decades as a means of closing GHG emission knowledge gaps however the common method for differentiating wetland replicates still deals with their pristine vegetation, despite particular agrarian land uses altering them.  The main goal of this study is to determine if hydric soil indicators can be used as indices for replicate standardization among differing land uses.  Over the 2011 growing season, hydric indicators of the PPR wetlands will be examined for their intensity, distribution and frequency.  Furthermore, the wetlands will be compared on a basis of their land use classes, specifying for restored wetlands, annually cultivated wetlands, and biennium or triennium cultivated wetlands.  The soil indicators will include those developing under saturated conditions, such as mottling, soil organic matter accumulation, oxidized pore linings, gleyed horizons, and reduced S.  The field study will yield valuable data pertaining to the ability of soil hydric indicators’ use as taxa differentiates for wetland classification.