Christina L.M. Hargiss

The Use of Sediment Removal to Reduce Phosphorus Levels in Wetland Soils

The Use of Sediment Removal to Reduce Phosphorus Levels in Wetland Soils Skye Fasching (School Natural Resources Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108), Jack Norland (corresponding author: School Natural Resources Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108, Jack.Norland@NDSU.edu), Tom DeSutter (School Natural Resources Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108), Edward DeKeyser (School Natural Resources Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108), Francis Casey (School Natural Resources Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108), Christina Hargiss (School Natural Resources Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108).

Understanding How Large Metropolitan/Inner City, Urban Cluster, and Rural Students Perceive Food Systems

Students generally understood where food comes from, less clear on what is local Urban and rural students did not differ on food system knowledge Low interest in local food and gardening, but higher use by rural students More use of farmers markets in large metro/inner city compared to rural

A Comparison of Five Wetland Communities in a North Dakota Fen Complex

ABSTRACT: Fens are rare and not well-studied within the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota. PPR wetlands (including fens) are vulnerable to land use alterations, particularly conversion to agricultural production. In this study, we described a 48-ha natural fen complex with five distinct wetland plant communities (denoted cattail [Typha L. spp.], floating mat [areas at higher elevation with an upward groundwater gradient], herbaceous, tree, and wet meadow). Our goal was to describe the wetland plant communities and determine possible factors driving the formation of several distinct wetland plant communities in close proximity to one another. We identified 148 plant species, six of which are considered priorities for conservation by the North Dakota Natural Heritage Program. We compared the composition of wetland plant communities using multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP) and examined individual attributes (e.g., species richness, evenness, diversity, Floristic Quality Index, percent introduced species, percent soil organic matter, pH, and electrical conductivity) of the wetland plant communities using ANOVA and Tukeys (HSD) test. We found the highest species richness, evenness, and diversity in herbaceous and tree communities and the lowest percent introduced species in floating mat communities. There were no significant differences in the soil properties tested among the five plant communities.

Comparing tiers of a multi-tiered wetland assessment in the Prairie Pothole Region

Wetland assessment has been shown to be an important tool in understanding the condition and function of the world’s wetlands, and use of muli-tiered assessment strategy has been recommended. In order to evaluate the performance of each tier of a multi-tiered wetland assessment strategy, we sampled 255 seasonally-ponded wetlands in the Missouri Coteau, the most wetland dense ecoregion in the Prairie Pothole Region. We assessed the condition of each study wetland using four sampling methods and models (tiers) of increasing levels of effort and complexity: (1) a level 1 assessment using the geographic information system-based Landscape Wetland Condition Analysis Model (LWCAM); (2) a level 2 assessment using the North Dakota Rapid Assessment Method (NDRAM); (3) a level 3- assessment using the vegetative-based Floristic Quality Index (FQI) and (4) a level 3 assessment consisting of a Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Model functional assessment. We compared assessment tiers to determine how similar the different levels of assessment ranked sites either by condition or function. Both the NDRAM and FQI assessments, though very different in wetland characteristics assessed, provided similar condition rankings as the more intensive level 3 HGM assessment (89 and 90% similar, respectively). Additionally, the FQI was 86% similar to the level 2 NDRAM, indicating that these two assessment methods have utility in assessing wetlands similar to a HGM assessment. Information from this study can be used as a tool for determining need specific, financial, and time appropriate wetland sampling methods.