As one of my goals was simply to ask the above question, I've summarized the results below based on the highest mean:
Total Conductivity: Stormwater Influenced Natural Wetland Total Heavy Metals: Wetland (though Constructed Wetland had the greatest spread of values) Dissolved Heavy Metals: Stormwater Influenced Natural Wetland pH: Wetland (though pH was within the expected normal range among all Pond Type) Suspended Solids: Stormwater Influenced Natural Wetland Non-anthropogenic wetlands contained the highest levels of water chemistry parameters.
Return to HypothesesHypothesis 1: I hypothesize that there will be fewer suspended sediments in natural or naturalized pond types as these ponds contain greater biomass of vegetation to intercept sediment. But I do not expect there to be any significant differences between pond type and other water chemistry parameters as land use is highly variable between ponds and thus, I expect water chemistry to look different depending on the nearby human infrastructure.
Finding: While there was a significant difference between Pond Types and the sediment content, this difference was dominated by Stormwater Influenced Natural Wetlands which had significantly more suspended sediments. Likely the result of low water levels during water sampling. Therefore, I found my hypothesis to be false in this regard. But correct in that there were no significant differences between pond type and other water chemistry parameters. Hypothesis 2: I hypothesize that with increasing age, ponds will have higher amounts of total heavy metal content, as some heavy metals may build up over time. I also hypothesize that suspended solids will decrease with increasing pond age as older ponds tend to have a greater amount of vegetation that could intercept sediment. Finding: I found that ponds saw a non-significant decrease in the amount of total and dissolved heavy metal content as they aged. Suspended sediments remained nearly stable as a pond aged. Takeaways for future research1) Constructed Wetlands and Wet Ponds display opposing levels of water chemistry parameters over time.
2) Pond Type is not a good predictor of water chemistry parameters. Takeaway 1 is interesting from a wetland management lens as it indicates that if a management goal is to promote a variety of wildlife habitats for diverse species, perhaps a combination of both types of pond in the landscape would be beneficial. As each pond processes water contaminants differently over time. Takeaway 2 is useful for my project as it indicates that it is less likely that pond type will be strongly linked to my water chemistry parameters as I begin to analyze these habitat variables concerning invertebrate communities. |
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