Constructing Simple Wetland Sampling Devices

Wetland soils and sediments are commonly monitored for nutrient or contaminant cycling. Oftentimes, sample collection and subsequent transport to the laboratory proves to be difficult. We detail the construction and use of three inexpensive devices for sampling and transporting sediment and solution in wetlands: dialysis cells (peepers) for solution measurements, a piston coring device for sediment sampling, and a portable vacuum‐chamber sample transporter. Peepers were fabricated using either 5‐ or 20‐mL filter tubes placed at 2‐ or 5‐cm intervals into slotted polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubes. On the basis of a laboratory investigation, trace elements reached a steady state in our peepers within 10 d. The piston coring device was constructed from 1.9‐cm diam. PVC tubing and was used to remove intact sediment (≈20‐cm) cores. The transporter was constructed from 25‐cm diam. PVC pipe and was designed to carry field‐collected materials back to the laboratory while minimizing sample alteration caused by exposure to O 2 Our results indicate that four purges at 0.05 MPa, followed by filling with N 2 , resulted in negligible O 2 levels in this transporter.