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SAVANNAH RIVER BASIN LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS
Citation:
Chaloud, D J., C M. Edmonds, AND D T. Heggem. SAVANNAH RIVER BASIN LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-01/069 (NTIS PB2002-102155), 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary objectives of this research are to:
Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;
Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;
Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;
Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;
Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.
This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.
Description:
Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4, Science and Ecosystem Support Division, enlisted the assistance of the landscape ecology group of U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Exposure Research Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division (ESD), in conducting a landscape assessment of the Savannah River Basin as part of their ongoing Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (REMAP) demonstration project In the Scope of Work provided by Region 4, the goal was stated as "provide technical/scientific questions. These were
Are both the proportions of land uses and the spatial pattern of land uses important for characterizing and modeling stream condition in watersheds/ecoregions of different areas? Does the size of the watershed/ecoregion influence statistical relationships between landscape characteristics and ecological condition? In addition,, an assessment of landscape change was to be conducted as part of continuing ESD research in application of change detection techniques. The data analysis plan developed to address the objectives given above called for calculation of a specific suite of landscape metrics for all nine United States Geological Survey (USGS) 8-digit hydrological unit codes (HUC; USGS, 1982), a selected subset of the 94 Georgia and South Carolina subbasins, and the riparian corridors in the HUCs and selected subbasins. The subbasins, shown in Figure 1, are generally equivalent in area to USGS I 1 -digit HUCS.