[PCA] NSF News Release: Study shows wetlands provide landscape-scale reduction in nitrogen pollution:

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Kind of interesting that the word "plant" is not mentioned in the entire
article.

News Release 18-007
January 29, 2018

In agricultural regions such as the U.S. Midwest, excess nitrate from crop
fertilizer makes its way into rivers and streams through subsurface
drainage channels and agricultural ditches. High nitrate concentrations in
waterways can be harmful to ecosystems and human health, contaminating
drinking water and eventually flowing downstream far enough to increase the
size of the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone." A study published today in the
journal Nature Geoscience by National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded
researchers offers new insights into this problem: Multiple wetlands, or
"wetland complexes" in a watershed, are extremely effective at reducing
nitrate levels in rivers and streams.

"Our work shows that wetland restoration could be one of the most effective
methods for improving water quality in the face of climate change and the
increasing global demand for food," says paper co-author Jacques Finlay, an
ecologist at the University of Minnesota.

Full article: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244250

Find related stories on NSF's Environmental Research and Education (ERE)
programs:
https://www.nsf.gov/news/newsmedia/ENV-discoveries/ERE-discovery-series.jsp.
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