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#           Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021      

      October 17, 2022    

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Depressional wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America have a long history of investigation owing to their importance in maintaining migratory-bird populations, especially waterfowl. One area of particularly intensive study is the Cottonwood Lake study area in Stutsman County, North Dakota. Studies at the Cottonwood Lake study area began in 1967 and continue through the present (2022). During this period of scientific discovery, meteorological conditions at the Cottonwood Lake study area varied greatly and included one of the most severe droughts of the 20th century and one of the wettest periods in the past 500 years.

Persistent wet conditions that began in 1993 have contributed to state changes in many of the study area’s larger wetlands to lake-like conditions, whereas the smaller wetlands returned to seasonally ponded conditions during relatively dry years interspersed within the longer-term wet period. Additionally, some nonwetland areas of the study area developed wetland plant, hydrology, and soil characteristics during the 1993-to-present (2022) wet period. The persistently high stages of water in the larger wetlands since 1993 contributed to a buildup of dissolved solids and increases in salinity with time following an initial decrease in salinity caused by the dilution of dissolved solids within a larger volume of water. During 2021, drought conditions similar to the 1988 to 1992 period may develop if conditions persist. However, meteorological changes during the past 30 years have persisted long enough to be considered a change in climate conditions at the study area and, if such wet conditions continue, would represent a change from conditions that occurred in the past two millennia.

During the period of study covered in this report (1967–2021), biotic communities responded in a variety of ways to subtle and marked changes in ponded-water depths, permanence, and salinity among the different wetland types in the study area. This report provides background information on the Cottonwood Lake study area and its context within the Prairie Pothole Region, documents techniques used to quantify environmental conditions and biotic communities, describes major trends that have been observed, presents significant findings as “lessons learned,” discusses recent modeling advances, and highlights key messages to managers. The Wetland Continuum concept was used as a framework to place research findings within an ecological context and to highlight the dynamic nature of prairie-pothole wetland ecosystems.

## Citation Information

## Related Content

                  -              Data           
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April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Surface Elevations (ver. 2.0)              

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####                 Diurnal patterns of methane flux from a depressional, seasonal wetland              

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February 27, 2018

####                 Soil properties and greenhouse gas fluxes of Prairie Pothole Region wetlands: a comprehensive data release              

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October 30, 2017

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#### Pagination

-                Current page            1 
-                Page            2 
-  Next page›› 
-  Last pageLast » 

####             David Mushet, PhD (Former Employee)          

##### Chief - Climate and Land-use Branch

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

####             Donald O Rosenberry (Former Employee)          

##### Research Hydrologist

Water Resources Mission Area

#### Sheel Bansal, PhD

##### Research Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

sbansal@usgs.gov

701-368-0222

#### Zeno Levy, Ph.D.

##### Research Geologist

California Water Science Center

zlevy@usgs.gov

916-278-3005

#### Owen McKenna, PhD

##### Research Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

omckenna@usgs.gov

701-253-5527

#### Kyle I McLean, PhD

##### Research Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

kmclean@usgs.gov

701-253-5539

#### Christopher Mills

##### Research Chemist

Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

cmills@usgs.gov

303-236-5529

#### Matthew Solensky

##### Wildlife Biologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

msolensky@usgs.gov

701-253-5503

#### Brian Tangen

##### Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

btangen@usgs.gov

402-328-4134

## Related Content

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Surface Elevations (ver. 2.0)              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Specific Conductance (ver. 2.0)              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations (ver. 2.0)              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Breeding Birds (ver. 2.0)              

Species Management Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Amphibians (ver. 2.0)              

Species Management Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Invertebrate Counts (ver. 2.0)              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 15, 2022

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Invertebrate Weights (ver. 2.0)              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

April 12, 2018

####                 Diurnal patterns of methane flux from a depressional, seasonal wetland              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

February 27, 2018

####                 Soil properties and greenhouse gas fluxes of Prairie Pothole Region wetlands: a comprehensive data release              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

October 30, 2017

####                 Hydraulic Conductivity Data for Piezometers Near Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota (1978-2017)              

Water Resources Mission Area

June 19, 2017

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Digital Elevation Model with Topobathy              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

June 19, 2017

####                 Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Wetland Vegetation Zone Spatial Data              

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

#### Pagination

-                Current page            1 
-                Page            2 
-  Next page›› 
-  Last pageLast » 

####             David Mushet, PhD (Former Employee)          

##### Chief - Climate and Land-use Branch

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

####             Donald O Rosenberry (Former Employee)          

##### Research Hydrologist

Water Resources Mission Area

#### Sheel Bansal, PhD

##### Research Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

sbansal@usgs.gov

701-368-0222

#### Zeno Levy, Ph.D.

##### Research Geologist

California Water Science Center

zlevy@usgs.gov

916-278-3005

#### Owen McKenna, PhD

##### Research Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

omckenna@usgs.gov

701-253-5527

#### Kyle I McLean, PhD

##### Research Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

kmclean@usgs.gov

701-253-5539

#### Christopher Mills

##### Research Chemist

Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

cmills@usgs.gov

303-236-5529

#### Matthew Solensky

##### Wildlife Biologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

msolensky@usgs.gov

701-253-5503

#### Brian Tangen

##### Ecologist

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

btangen@usgs.gov

402-328-4134

### Study Area

### Contact

####               Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center          

8711 37th Street SoutheastJamestown, ND58401-7317United States

701-253-5500

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