Wetlands save the economy billions of dollars by controlling floods, improving water quality and storing carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere, says Brock University hydrologist Kelly Biagi.
Ontario is among jurisdictions around the world striving to reclaim wetlands lost to agricultural development and expanding cities. But largely missing from bylaws and plans guiding that process are ways to determine whether restoration efforts have been effective, she says.
"The current metrics are mostly based on the net gain of a wetland area rather than how the wetlands are functioning and providing ecosystem services," says the Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences.
With her Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Biagi is studying biogeochemical and hydrological systems in pristine and human-impacted wetlands.
Biagi is one of 16 Brock University faculty researchers awarded NSERC funding, totalling $1.9 million, that was announced Wednesday, July 9 by Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister Responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.
"Advancing science and technology in Canada and beyond is a key priority of the Canadian government," says Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines. "I'm pleased to see this funding support the vibrant contributions Brock University researchers are making in the fields of mathematics, earth sciences, chemistry, psychology, health and biology."
Biagi and her team are examining how reclaimed wetlands in southern Ontario store, transport and release water and nutrients, which provides insight into the ability to perform wetland services.
Climate change complicates this issue, as warmer temperatures with more intense rain and snowmelt events "are undoubtedly impacting the hydrology and biogeochemistry within these reclaimed wetlands," she says.
Biogeochemistry refers to how nitrogen, phosphorous and other elements essential to supporting life circulate throughout the ecosystem.
"The need for effective wetland reclamation that can mimic the function of undisturbed wetlands is crucial to preserving the ecological integrity of the Canadian landscape," says Biagi. "Understanding how the hydrology in reclaimed wetlands differs from undisturbed wetlands will help establish scientific metrics to evaluate reclamation success and will highlight how remedial effects need to be changed, which can also impact current provincial policies regarding standards for wetlands reclamation."
Acting Vice-President Research Michelle McGinn says Biagi's work is one of many Brock projects making a big impact.
"Brock researchers will continue to make outstanding contributions, from fundamental science to applied problem solving while supporting and mentoring the next generation of experts in their fields," she says. "We truly appreciate the support from NSERC in advancing research and research careers."
Leads for this year's NSERC Discovery Grants are:
- Stephen Anco, Professor of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Symmetries conserved integrals, integrability, and nonlinear evolution equations"
- Kelly Biagi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Building metrics of success for reclaimed wetlands by investigating the hydrological and biogeochemical behaviour among different reclamation strategies"
- Travis Dudding, Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Discovery of novel hydrogen-halogen bond catalysts and receptors"
- Dustin Duncan, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Development of methodologies for the synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial compounds"
- Stephen Emrich, Professor of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences: "Representation in visual working memory and visual imagery"
- Paul LeBlanc, Professor of Health Sciences, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: "Characterizing the physiological role of cardiolipin, and its synthesis and remodeling, in murine skeletal muscle structure and function"
- Aleksandar Necakov, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Investigation of the molecular and genetic mechanisms involved in regulation of the Notch signalling pathway"
Recipients of this year's NSERC Discovery Development Grants are:
- Allan Adkin, Professor of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: "Emotional and cognitive contributions to balance control"
- Jeffrey Atkinson, Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Bolalipids as probes and disrupters of biological membranes"
- Glaucio Silva de Carvalho, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "AI-empowered cybersecurity for 6G"
- Robson De Grande, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Learning-based connectivity modelling in highly dynamic ultra-dense vehicular edge networks"
- Henryk Fuks, Professor of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Development and applications of methods for characterizing orbits of Bernoulli measures in spatially extended discrete dynamical systems"
- Alexandre Odesski, Professor of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Algebraic and geometric structures in mathematical physics"
- Gary Pickering, Professor of Biological Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Mathematics and Science and Faculty of Social Sciences: "Characterization and implications of the thermal tasting phenotype"
Recipients of this year's NSERC Research Tools and Instruments grants are:
- Kiyoko Gotanda, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: "Urgently needed flow-through fish racks to assess the ecological consequences of introduced domestic and wild guppies"
- Wendy Ward, Professor of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: "X-ray source for a microcomputed tomography system"
