Research Areas > Wetlands > Wetland Ecology and Biogeochemistry > Urban Wetlands
Project Group: Habitat and Water Quality Functions of Urban Wetlands
SCCWRP Research
Wetlands are known to possess a number of physical, chemical and biological properties that, in addition to providing fundamental support to plant and animal populations, are highly valued by humans. Wetland services include: enhancement of surface water quality, water storage and flood attenuation, and aesthetic, commercial, recreational, and educational uses. With the increasing urbanization of coastal areas over the past century, wetlands have been rapidly disappearing from the landscape, and those that remain are often highly degraded. These losses have created a demand for restoring, enhancing, and creating natural or constructed wetlands to meet multiple objectives. Effective, low-cost solutions that improve surface water quality, support habitat, treat nonpoint source pollution, provide recreation opportunities, and attenuate storm flows and flooding are of increasing interest.
SCCWRP research focuses on studies that:
• Identifiy causes of ecological stress and their biological impacts in urban wetlands;
• Assess the tradeoffs between habitat and water quality benefits of multi-purpose wetlands;
• Establish appropriate designs;
• Assess treatment wetlands effectiveness as best management practices to enhance the quality of urban runoff; and
• Develop models to capture the effect of BMP implementation and wetland restoration on watershed health.
A historic freshwater wetland (Madrona Marsh) in heavily urbanized Torrance (left). Aerial image showing the landscape context for Madrona Marsh (right).
Projects investigating habitat and water quality function of urban wetlands include:
This page was last updated on: 1/21/2010