Northern Sedge Meadow is moderate to highly vulnerable to climate change. Potential changes in hydrology may have the greatest impacts, due to either consistently lower or higher water levels that may result in large shifts in species composition.

Submitted by dshannon on

Potential changes in hydrology are anticipated to have the greatest impacts to Northern Sedge Meadows, with either consistently lower or higher water levels leading to large changes in species composition. Exactly how precipitation, evaporation, groundwater infiltration, and other factors that influence water levels will change, however, is uncertain. On the positive side, many of the dominant plant species of Northern Sedge Meadows are widespread in Wisconsin, also occur well to the south and are adapted to fluctuating water levels. Northern Sedge Meadows also often occur high in the watershed, potentially making some sites less vulnerable to secondary stressors associated with flooding from extreme storms, such as nutrient loading, sedimentation, and the spread of invasive species propagules.