CARBONDALE (Ill.) -A group composed of students and professors from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU), is exploring how the Mississippi River wetlands can benefit human life and the environment.
Jonathon Remo, Associate Professor at SIU School of Earth Systems and Sustainability, said that more help is needed than just students and professors in this study.
Federal agencies, NGO communities, and non-governmental organization communities. Remo stated that they were working with the USDA, NRCS and other agencies of the federal government, as well as the nature conservancy.
The university also has several departments that make up the SIU research team. This includes: hydrologist; microbiologist; zoologist; and geologist.
Remo stated that this is important because we were trying to determine what the value of these wetlands or floodplains for nutrient processing.
Remo says he has been studying rivers almost twenty years.
Students and professors are working together to reduce nitrogen pollution in wetlands near the Mississippi River.
Liliana Lefticariu (SIUs Assistant Professor of School of Earth Systems and Sustainability) says that seasons play an important role in our lives.
This is why it is so important to capture natural variability and how it affects the way nutrients are processed within these floodplains. Lefticariu said that temperature is another important factor. Different seasons can mean different things.
Researchers are also interested in understanding how fertilizers affect wetlands.
Lefticariu said that flooding is one example.
Lefticariu claims that it is a complex system. She also said that some nitrogen species could be harmful to our health.
The main chemical element that is necessary for life is nitrogen. This includes all life forms, including animals and humans. Lefticariu said that because we use so many nitrogen to increase agricultural production, a lot of this nitrogen could end up in our drinking waters.
Salukis has formed a team to study how nutrients are processed.
Remo stated that there is a better balance between human needs on the landscape and rivers and the natural process that mitigates or controls how we live our lives.
According to university researchers, wetlands are up to five times more effective in reducing nitrate contamination than the best land-based nitrogen mitigation strategy.
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