Development/ripening of ecosystems services in the first two growing seasons of a regional-scale constructed stormwater wetland on the coast of North Carolina

Abstract

A well-functioning constructed stormwater wetland (CSW) will provide many ecosystem services. However, there has not been an effort to monitor and evaluate these services as a CSW develops in the first years after construction – the ‘ripening’ period. In this study, ecosystem services development was assessed during the first two growing seasons of a CSW located on the coast of North Carolina. The CSW research site was a regional-scale stormwater project with two different flow regimes: event and base flow. The full potential of some ecosystem services of this CSW were realized immediately such as volume reduction, TSS and NO2,3 treatment. Others were fully developed after the 1st growing season, e.g. TAN, ON, TN, and TP treatment. Mostly, ripening of the CSW was complete, as areal C densities exceeded median C densities observed in other stormwater wetlands, and vegetation biodiversity measurements aligned with other stormwater wetlands in North Carolina, just one year after construction. The establishment of vegetation was deemed the most important design goal during this vital period, as vegetation is interlinked with other services: evapotranspiration, water quality improvement, and C input to the soil.