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Integrated modeling to assess the ecological and air quality trade-offs of agricultural burning in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas
Citation:
Barnhart, B., Bob Mckane, A. Brookes, N. Schumaker, M. Papenfus, P. Pettus, J. Halama, B. Powers, K. Djang, B. Groskinsky, G. Grier, A. Hawkins, J. Tapp, D. Watson, T. Gross, D. Goodin, AND R. Mohler. Integrated modeling to assess the ecological and air quality trade-offs of agricultural burning in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. Presented at American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, December 14 - 18, 2015.
Impact/Purpose:
This abstract will be submitted for an oral presentation at the 2015 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA, December 14-18. The conference will host thousands of scientists from around the world that are interested in all aspects of geophysical science. In particular, this presentation will focus conceptually on an integrated model framework that can be used to model the effects of rangeland burning in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. We emphasize the importance of modeling the trade-offs between economic and ecological benefits and air quality and health concerns associated with rangeland burning. Therefore, the results of this presentation will be directly beneficial to multiple stakeholders in the Flint Hills region, including land managers, air quality regulators, modelers, and the urban and rural communities of eastern Kansas. The conference will be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how EPA-WED is engaged with EPA-R7, Kansas Department of Health & Environment, and Kansas State University to encourage sustainable burning practices within the Flint Hills.
Description:
The Flint Hills of eastern Kansas and northern Oklahoma is home to the largest remaining contiguous grassland prairie in the United States. Throughout the prairie, burning is a common practice used to preserve the prairie from encroachment of woody species such as eastern Red Cedar, and to enhance the quantity and quality of the grass grown for cattle grazing in the region. However, widespread annual burning in early spring has led to air quality exceedances and pollution impacts in urban areas such as Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. Our research effort focuses on developing a modelling environment that simulates the effects of burning in the Flint Hills using an integrated modeling system, including an eco-hydrological model, an air quality and dispersion model, an economic and health effects model, and a terrestrial-species model. Using this integrated system, we can model historical burning practices as well as hypothetical variations in timing and quantity of burns. Then, we can investigate the relative trade-offs between farm productivity, ecological effects, urban health effects, and habitat diversity for terrestrial species given different burning scenarios. The results from this systems approach will provide land managers with information about the relative trade-offs associated with burning considering multiple elements of sustainability throughout the Flint Hills.