Gatekeeper wetlands govern nutrient pathways in a continental basin. Dallosch, M. A. & Creed, I. F. Communications Earth & Environment, April, 2026. Publisher: Nature Publishing Group![Gatekeeper wetlands govern nutrient pathways in a continental basin [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper doi abstract bibtex Headwater non-floodplain wetlands are often overlooked in nutrient-management strategies despite their potential to regulate downstream water quality. Here we test whether headwater non-floodplain wetlands act as nutrient gatekeepers in the Lake Winnipeg Watershed. We define wetlands as seasonally-to-persistently inundated surface-water areas mapped from satellite imagery, and combine multi-decadal observations of wetland inundation and wetland–stream connectivity (1984–2020) with observed annual total nitrogen and total phosphorus loads (1994–2020) and random forest models. Nutrient export is lowest when headwater non-floodplain wetlands remain hydrologically disconnected and increases during episodic reconnection, indicating a threshold-like shift from nutrient storage to export. The ratio of disconnected non-floodplain wetland area is the strongest negative predictor of nutrient delivery, whereas mid/high-order reaches are weaker and less consistent. These results identify intermittently connected headwater non-floodplain wetlands as basin-scale regulators of nutrient pathways and highlight protecting them as a scalable strategy to reduce eutrophication risk in climate-sensitive watersheds.
@article{dallosch_gatekeeper_2026,
title = {Gatekeeper wetlands govern nutrient pathways in a continental basin},
copyright = {2026 The Author(s)},
issn = {2662-4435},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03535-7},
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-03535-7},
abstract = {Headwater non-floodplain wetlands are often overlooked in nutrient-management strategies despite their potential to regulate downstream water quality. Here we test whether headwater non-floodplain wetlands act as nutrient gatekeepers in the Lake Winnipeg Watershed. We define wetlands as seasonally-to-persistently inundated surface-water areas mapped from satellite imagery, and combine multi-decadal observations of wetland inundation and wetland–stream connectivity (1984–2020) with observed annual total nitrogen and total phosphorus loads (1994–2020) and random forest models. Nutrient export is lowest when headwater non-floodplain wetlands remain hydrologically disconnected and increases during episodic reconnection, indicating a threshold-like shift from nutrient storage to export. The ratio of disconnected non-floodplain wetland area is the strongest negative predictor of nutrient delivery, whereas mid/high-order reaches are weaker and less consistent. These results identify intermittently connected headwater non-floodplain wetlands as basin-scale regulators of nutrient pathways and highlight protecting them as a scalable strategy to reduce eutrophication risk in climate-sensitive watersheds.},
language = {en},
urldate = {2026-05-22},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
author = {Dallosch, Michael A. and Creed, Irena F.},
month = apr,
year = {2026},
note = {Publisher: Nature Publishing Group},
keywords = {Watersheds},
}
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