Abstract
Big Meadows, a 63-ha fen in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), was ditched for agricultural purposes in the early part of this century. Although use of the ditch ceased after the establishment of RMNP in 1915, it continued to intercept sheet flows in the central and southern portions of the fen, causing the ground-water level to decrease and aerobic soil conditions to develop in the mid- to late-summer of most years. In 1990, the ditch was blocked in an attempt to restore the hydrologic regime in the central and southern portions of the fen. Water-level data from three years prior to restoration and four years after restoration show that blocking the ditch successfully restored surface sheet flow, high late-summer watertable levels, and anaerobic soil conditions in much of the central and southern portions of the fen. Conditions in these areas are now similar to those in the northern portion of the fen. The long-term data from this site also indicate that summer rainfall has a greater influence on the magnitude of late-summer drying than the size of the winter snowpack. In a post-restoration year with extremely low rainfall in July and August, water levels throughout the fen decreased to levels similar to those observed throughout most of the pre-restoration period. The study suggests that this and other fens in the southern Rocky Mountains are extremely sensitive to summer precipitation and the hydrologic changes created by even small ditches or water diversions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Boelter, D. H. 1972. Water table drawdown around an open ditch in organic soils. Journal of Hydrology 15:329–340.
Bradof, K. L. 1992. Ditching of Red Lake Peatland during the homestead era. p. 263–284.In H. E. Wright, B. A. Coffin, and N. E. Aaseng (eds.) The Patterned Peatlands of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Cooper, D. J. 1990. Ecology of wetlands in Big Meadows, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA. Biological Report 90(15).
Cooper, D. J. 1996. Water and soil chemistry, floristics and phytosociology of the extreme rich High Creek Fen, South Park, Colorado. Canadian Journal of Botany 74:1801–1811.
Cooper, D. J. and R. D. Andrus. 1994. Patterns of vegetation and water chemistry in peatlands of the west-central Wind River Range, Wyoming, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Botany 72:1586–1597.
Coulson, J. C., J. E. L. Butterfield, and E. Henderson. 1990. The effect of open drainage ditch on the plant and invertebrate communities of moorland and on the decomposition of peat. Journal of Applied Ecology 27:549–561.
Dang, Q. L. and V. J. Lieffers. 1989. Assessment of patterns of response of tree ring growth of black spruce following peatland drainage. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 19:924–929.
DeLaune, R. D., C. J. Smith, and W. H. Patrick, Jr. 1983. Relationship of marsh elevation, redox potential, and sulfide toSpartina alterniflora productivity. Soil Science Society of America Journal 47:930–935.
Faulkner, S. P., W. H. Patrick, Jr., and R. P. Gambrell. 1989. Field techniques for measuring wetland soil parameters. Soil Science Society of America Journal 53:883–890.
Glazer, P. H. 1987. The ecology of patterned boreal peatlands of northern Minnesota: a community profile. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Biological Report 85(7.14).
Glazer, P. H., G. A. Wheeler, E. Gorham, and H. E. Wright, Jr. 1981. The patterned mires of the Red Lake Peatland, Northern Minnesota: vegetation, water chemistry and landforms. Journal of Ecology 69:575–599.
Göttlich, K., R., K. Richard, H. Kuntze, R. Eggelsmann, J. Günther, D. Eichelsdörfer, and G. Briemle. 1993. Mire utilisation. p. 325–416.In A. L. Heathwhite and K. Göttlich (eds.) Mires; Process, Exploitation and Conservation. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA.
Garfi, A. and K. N. Brooks. 1990. Hydraulic characteristics of four peatlands in Minnesota. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 70:239–253.
Heathwaite, A. L., R. Eggelsmann, and K. Göttlich. 1993. Ecohydrology, mire drainage, and mire conservation. p. 417–484.In A. L. Heathwhite and K. Göttlich (eds.) Mires; Process, Exploitation and Conservation. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA.
Hillman, G. R. 1992. Some hydrological effects of peatland drainage in Alberta’s boreal forest. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 22:1588–1596.
Jongman, R. J. G., C. J. F. ter Braak, and O. F. R. van Tongeren. 1995. Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Keirstead, M. E. 1992. Management of Minnesota’s peatlands and their economic uses. p. 285–300.In H. E. Wright, B. A. Coffin, and N. E. Aaseng (eds.) The Patterned Peatlands of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Kovach, W. 1993. MVSP Plus, version 2.1. Kovach Computing Services. Wales, UK.
Mitsch, W. J. and J. G. Gosselink. 1993. Wetlands, 2nd Edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold. New York, NY, USA.
Moore, P. D. and D. J. Bellamy. 1974. Peatlands. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, USA.
Rubec, C. D. A., P. Lynch-Stewart, G. M. Wickware, and I. Kessel-Taylor. 1988. Wetland utilization in Canada. p. 381–412.In Wetlands of Canada, National Wetlands Working Group. Polyscience Publications. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Rutter, A. J. 1955. The composition of wet-heath vegetation in relation to the water-table. Journal of Ecology 43:507–543.
Sanger, L. J., M. F. Billett, and M. S. Cresser. 1996. The effect of precipitation chemistry upon anion and cation fluxes from the surface layer of ombrotrophic mires in the UK. Journal of Applied Ecology 33:754–772.
Schuter, K. 1988. Surface and subsurface hydrologic processes in Big Meadows, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. MS. Thesis, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA.
Sikora, L. J. and D. R. Keeney. 1983. Further aspects of soil chemistry under anaerobic conditions. p. 246–256.In A. J. P. Gore (ed.) Mires: Swamp, Bog, Fen, and Moor. Ecosystems of the World. 4A. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Stewart, A. J. A. and A. N. Lance. 1983. Moor draining: a review of impacts on land use. Journal of Environmental Management 4: 251–274.
UNESCO. 1975. Hydrology of marsh-ridden areas. Proceedings of the Minsk Symposium. The UNESCO Press, Paris, France.
Weber, W. A. and R. Wittmann. 1996. Colorado Flora: Western Slope. Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, CO, USA.
Wright, H. E., B. A. Coffin, and N. E. Aaseng (eds.). 1992. The Patterned Peatlands of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Zuidema, F. C. 1975. The transformation of the hydrological regime of marsh-ridden areas by land reclamation, and forecasting its influence on hydrometecrological conditions, with reference to The Netherlands. p. 387–412.In Hydrology of Marsh-Ridden Areas, Proceedings of the Minsk Symposium. Unesco Press, Paris, France.
Zar, H. H. 1984. Biostatistical Analysis. 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, NJ, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cooper, D.J., MacDonald, L.H., Wenger, S.K. et al. Hydrologic restoration of a fen in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. Wetlands 18, 335–345 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161529
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161529