DescriptionWetland processes are highly spatially and temporally heterogeneous, and managers lack models relating important wetland processes to specific combinations of biological communities, flooding, and soils. Wetlands in urban settings, while having the potential to deliver ecosystem services (nutrient removal) to urban areas, pose a particular challenge in linking ecosystem processes with their environmental drivers, because urban wetlands have been little studied, and each urban system has its own unique set of altered conditions. These issues are especially true of wetlands that develop on brownfield sites, on highly modified soil materials. My research questions were the following: (1) Where and when do the highest rates of NO3- removal occur in urban brownfield wetlands, and what are the spatial and temporal dimensions of these high rates?; (2) What are the environmental drivers of denitrification rates in urban brownfield wetlands?; and (3) How can the spatial and temporal dimensions of high NO3- removal rates be modeled and predicted to aid in restoration and management at the watershed scale? I utilized a combination of lab- and field-based studies to construct models designed to isolate and explain the relationship between environmental variables and soil denitrification rates in urban wetland environments. Whole-wetland denitrification potential was estimated through spatial interpolation of the variables mediating the highest rates of denitrification at the scale of a couple square meters. I also measured components of the nitrogen and hydrologic cycle in semi-permanently flooded wetlands to construct ecosystem budgets to estimate the role of denitrification in removing NO3- in these systems. My research shows that brownfield wetlands in northern New Jersey support active populations of denitrifying bacteria and are potential sinks for NO3- in urban landscapes. Rates of NO3- consumption in the soils equaled or exceeded the rate of NO3- loading, at least from the atmosphere. Soil structure and texture, water table levels, and landscape position appeared to be primary determinants of whether a brownfield soils have this ability. Modifications to hydrology that promote (1) endogenous NO3- production, particularly in low-oxygen waterlogged areas, and (2) contact between stormwater and soils with high macroporosity may augment levels of NO3- removal from soil.