Hydrologic Monitoring of a Hardwood Encroached, Isolated Depressional Wetland, Southwest Georgia

Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 27-29, 2007, Athens, Georgia.Hardwood encroachment into isolated depressional wetlands may change their hydrologic function. To gain a better understanding of this process we installed 12 shallow wells (5-12 ft. deep), in December 2005, on 2 transects crossing a 2.2 acre wetland in southwest Georgia. From March to October 2006, we collected hourly data in the wells and the wetland. Soil boring data showed that soil permeability increased close to the wetland and decreases up-gradient in the catchment. The deeper sandy soils in the ecotone store water which may be hydraulically connected to the wetland. Daily diurnal fluctuations in the water-level of the shallow wells in the ecotone suggests that the vegetation may have an effect on the shallow groundwater.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397) or the other conference sponsors