Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Wetlands are the kidneys of the landscape, removing pollutants and ensuring the provision of clean water across Canada. The ability of wetlands to remove pollutants are underpinned by hydrological and biogeochemical processes operating in the organic wetland soils. Unlike mineral soils, organic soils can naturally undergo relatively rapid irreversible, and in some cases reversable, structural and chemical changes that can be enhanced and accelerated due to climate and environmental change. This evolution of organic soils is dependent on not only the parent material (e.g., dead and decaying vegetation of varying decomposability, mineral content) but the processes that allow for the timely supply of biogeochemical reaction inputs and removal of outputs. However, how the organic soils interact and feedback with biogeochemical properties, thus altering the transformation and sequestration of pollutants (and carbon), remains poorly understood. The purpose of this proposed research is to mechanistically understand the co-evolution of ecohydrological and biogeochemical properties in organic wetland soils. The proposed research will use a series of laboratory experiments on different organic wetland and adjacent upland soils, along with characterization of hydrophysical, hydrochemical, and biogeochemical properties to understand the evolution of pollutant removal processes under changing environmental and climatic conditions. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the change in solute transport, soil water dynamics, and biogeochemical reactions due to the change in organic soil structure will be determined. Students and research associates working on this research will gain skills that are relevant to Canadian society and industries, such as water quality, ecohydrology, laboratory experimentation, trace metal sampling and analytical techniques. This novel interdisciplinary approach will develop the linkages between the soil physical, chemical, and ecohydrological processes in a unified theory. This remains one of the critical knowledge gaps for soil scientists in general but particularly for the much less studied organic soils. The proposed research aims to make these linkages in organic soils, while providing new knowledge on how organic soils evolve in an era of accelerating climate and environmental change. This novel knowledge will lead to a more thorough understand of how wetlands transform and sequester contaminants, allowing humanity to better protect wetland ecosystem services for future generations.