Water Dynamics in a Coastal Wetland in the “Parque Costero del Sur” Biosphere Reserve, Argentina

Abstract

Interactions and exchanges between surface water, groundwater and theatmosphere are some of the most relevant functions that regulate environmentalcharacteristics in wetlands. These functions depend on environment attributes such astopography, geological-geomorphological setting and, in the case of coastal wetlands,the relationship with tidal flows. The aim of this work is to analyse the water flows indifferent landscape units of the wetland in the coastal plain of the Río de la Plata estuarywithin the Parque Costero del Sur biosphere reserve. For this purpose, monthly waterbalances and groundwater level measurements were compared with daily precipitationand tidal height data from the Río de la Plata estuary. The results show how waterdynamics in the wetland responds to different geological-geomorphological andclimatic controls. The main inlets and outlets of water, as well as the flow exchanges,vary according to the different landscape units, forming a complex system on which themain ecological features depend.