Loren Smith and Scott McMurry of OSU working with Ted LaGrange of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Robert Gleason of the U.S. Geological Survey were awarded a $350,000 grant to study conservation effects on greenhouse gas release from wetlands. The study is primarily funded by the Environmental Protection Agency with matching funds from collaborators. The project will specifically study playa wetlands across southern Nebraska and how conservation and restoration of these wetlands affects gases that have been related to climate change. Results will be used with several other OSU Zoology studies to simultaneously evaluate the effects of land use change and conservation programs on the large suite of ecosystem services provided by wetlands across the entire Great Plains.