Wetland Ecology & Engineering Lab

Research ongoing in the Wetland Ecology and Engineering Laboratory focuses on the plant ecology of natural, restored, and treatment wetlands. Studies in the lab are generally framed in a community ecology approach involving the quantification of variables influencing vegetation structure and function such as hydroperiod, salinity regime, nutrient loading, sedimentation, disturbance processes, and soil characteristics.

The Wetland Ecology and Engineering Lab is fully equipped wetland field research. Equipment includes this 20-ft Sea Ark research vessel, Li-COR digital canopy meters and quantum sensors, a Walz PAM-2100 chlorophyll fluorescence machine, liquid nitrogen coring system, Surface Elevation Table (SET) instruments, and portable meters for electrical conductivity (salinity), pH, and dissolved oxygen, as well as drying ovens, muffle furnaces, balances, and other general laboratory equipment and supplies.