Data Package Summary    View Full Metadata

The Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve is located in Huron, Ohio (USA), along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Old Woman Creek is a fourth order stream that flows through a 0.6 km² wetland complex during its last 2 stream km, and surface connectivity between the stream and lake is mediated by a barrier sand beach that can open and close depending on flow, wind, waves, and precipitation. The Reserve has been measuring water quality in Old Woman Creek since 1980. Data presented in this package represent a small part of this long-term monitoring used in the study by Anderson et al. (2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4947733) titled "We know less about phosphorus retention in constructed wetlands than we think we do: A quantitative literature synthesis". This study aims to identify gaps in our collective understanding of structural wetland features, monitoring methods, and long-term trajectories in restored and constructed wetlands. It uses the Old Woman Creek data presented in this data package to test different sampling frequencies to determine how sampling approach affects observed trends in total phosphorus loading.

The data in this package include total phosphorus concentrations collected at the Inlet and Outlet of Old Woman Creek between 2015 and 2023. Total phosphorus concentrations were collected between 1 and 3 times per day at the Inlet and once per day to once per week at the Outlet, depending on streamflow. Additionally, flow data measured at 15-minute intervals at the stream Outlet between 2020 and 2023 are also included. This Outlet flow data corresponds well with flow measurements made by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) at the stream Inlet. While the Inlet flow data is not included in this package, it was used in the study by Anderson et al. (2024) and can be obtained from USGS's website by searching for gauge number 04199155. Additional data from the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve long-term water quality monitoring program is available by contacting the Reserve's Research Coordinator.