Grantee Research Project Results
2002 Progress Report: Integrated Assessment of Watersheds
EPA Grant Number: R828684C003Subproject: this is subproject number 003 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R828684
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Center for Integrated Multi‐scale Nutrient Pollution Solutions
Center Director: Shortle, James S.
Title: Integrated Assessment of Watersheds
Investigators: Brooks, Robert P. , Rheinhardt, Rick D. , Weller, Donald E. , Jordan, Thomas E. , Whigham, Dennis F. , Wardrop, Denice Heller , O'Connell, Timothy J. , Brinson, Mark M. , Hershner, Carl
Current Investigators: Brooks, Robert P. , Weller, Donald E. , Havens, Kirk , Brinson, Mark M. , Rheinhardt, Rick D. , Hite, Jeremy T. , King, Ryan , Easterling, Mary M. , Bishop, Joseph A. , Rubbo, Jennifer , Armstrong, Brian K. , Baker, Matthew , O'Brien, David
Institution: Pennsylvania State University , Virginia Institute of Marine Science , Smithsonian Environmental Research Center , East Carolina University
Current Institution: Pennsylvania State University , Smithsonian Environmental Research Center , East Carolina University , Virginia Institute of Marine Science
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: March 1, 2001 through February 28, 2005 (Extended to February 28, 2006)
Project Period Covered by this Report: March 1, 2001 through February 28, 2002
RFA: Environmental Indicators in the Estuarine Environment Research Program (2000) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Water , Aquatic Ecosystems
Objective:
This is one of four subprojects under the Atlantic Slope Consortium (ASC) center. The objective of this project is to: (1) develop and test indicators of the biogeochemical health and integrity of watersheds; (2) relate those indicators to environmental conditions; (3) assess the predictability of landscape characteristics to indicator responses; and (4) use those predictions to characterize the effects of watershed discharges on downstream riverine and estuarine health.
Progress Summary:
Several interactive teams are working on this multi-institutional project. Their activities are discussed below.
Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Watershed Team
Compilation of Existing Biological Data Sets. To enhance our ability to make cross comparisons among site-specific biological, chemical, and physical habitat data, and landscape-level geographic information systems (GIS) data as predictors of ecological condition, we identified and compiled information on existing biological data sets in the Atlantic Slope region. These mostly consisted of benthic macroinvertebrate and fish data, but algae, mollusks, birds, amphibians, and other taxa were sometimes sampled. The availability of corresponding habitat and water chemistry data also was determined. Data sources included federal and state programs, river basin commissions, and miscellaneous sources (e.g., universities and local studies).
Geographic coordinates were obtained for all sample sites. Information on site-selection criteria, sampling methods, and parameters measured also were noted. Data sets then were generally grouped according to their quantity and quality of data. This information was used in the watershed selection process (described below) to target watersheds with an abundance of existing high-quality data points.
Watershed Selection. A watershed classification completed near the end of Year 1 was used as a starting point for selecting a subset of watersheds in the ASC study region for intensive study. The classification was developed using cluster analysis to group together watersheds with similar influences on their aquatic resources (in this case, land cover and slope characteristics). The clusters were further partitioned by physiographic province to reflect natural variation in aquatic systems due to edaphic, geologic, and climatic characteristics. The objective was to select approximately 20 representative watersheds of the 3,000+ in the study region for intensive study and additional field data collection. GIS was used as a tool to overlay the geographic locations of existing biological sample points with watershed cluster membership and physiographic province boundaries. Candidate watersheds then were selected visually, with consideration given to factors such as the quantity, quality, and location (e.g., headwaters versus downstream) of existing data points, the geographic dispersion of watersheds, stream size, and known impacts. Where multiple candidate watersheds existed of roughly equal quality, we selected randomly among them.
The PSU watershed group was asked by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) to apply its watershed classification system at a larger (HUC-8) watershed unit. Analyses were rerun using a watershed delineation supplied by the CBP. The results of this classification are expected to appear on the CBP Web Site, and to be used in future analyses. PSU plans to compare the results of the two analyses to examine the effect of scale on the outcome.
Hotspot Analysis. We continue to pursue unique statistical methodologies to explore the relationships between landscape and site-specific data, and how these relationships change across a variety of spatial scales. Collaboration between PSU statisticians and ecologists occurred in a series of documented weekly meetings during the winter, spring, and summer of 2002. One product of this effort was the use of SATScan software (downloaded from the National Institutes of Health) to recognize critical areas, or hot spots, of human disturbance and watershed vulnerability. The scan statistic originally was developed for geographical surveillance of disease, and has performed well during a robust testing effort. The scan statistic was adapted for use in regional environmental and ecological settings by PSU/ASC investigators. The result was a map of statistically derived first-level and second-level critical areas (i.e., hotspots within hotspots), which then can be compared to existing biological data. Refinement of this tool is continuing, and it appears to hold great promise in future indicator testing efforts.
Bird Community Index (BCI). A recently completed BCI for the Mid-Atlantic Highlands is being calibrated for use in the Piedmont and Coastal Plains with data collected for 83 sites during 2001. The BCI will be used as an indicator of condition across broad landscapes for these two ecoregions.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) Watershed and Spatial Analysis Team
As part of the overall objective to develop and verify geographical indicators to predict water, sediment, and nutrient losses from watersheds, this team's objective is to improve existing statistical models predicting nutrient and sediment losses from geographic data. A secondary objective is to quantify the impact of wetlands and riparian conditions on watershed discharges.
Our approach involves:
Research activities in Year 2 included:
East Carolina University (ECU) Watershed Team
In addition to our involvement with identifying appropriate indicators and developing and field testing data sheets, we contributed to developing a hierarchical classification framework for all wetlands in the Atlantic Slope. Geomorphic position and hydrologic regime provided the foundation of the classification's hierarchy. This was a joint effort among all ASC-member institutions and working groups.
Graduate student Chris Bason has been characterizing beaver ponds as a subclass of headwater riverine wetlands in the Neuse and Tar River watersheds for his thesis project. Because of the extent of beaver alteration of both natural and altered headwater streams and wetlands, this subclass is an important component of our study area. His field work is nearly complete, and data are being analyzed.
GIS Team
During the past year, geographic datasets covering the Atlantic Slope region were acquired from ASC partner organizations, federal agencies, and other sources. These data sets were updated, edited, and reprojected when necessary, and made available to the ASC team members for download. Currently, the data reside on a password-protected file transfer protocol (ftp) server at: http://www.asc.psu.edu/data.html Exit , but all ASC project members and partners are provided access to the data, both interim and final.
Datasets currently available on the ASC Web Site include, but are not limited to, boundary layers of physiographic provinces, geologic formations, watershed ecoregions, and soils; rasters of land-use/land-cover distributions (NLCD) and digital elevation models (DEMs), demographic and socioeconomic data information (2000 Census), and hydrology (stream layers). The Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA) at PSU has been working with the Chesapeake Information Management System (CIMS) committee to provide an integrated access point for all data within the Bay region. PASDA provided information to CIMS regarding ASC activities and will be working to acquire relevant data to support the ASC project objectives.
Multi-Institutional Activities
In a collaborative effort, PSU, SERC, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS), and ECU developed and pilot tested a protocol for sampling stream, wetland, and riparian (SWR) areas. The information collected will give an on-the-ground, rapid assessment of watershed condition, which will be used to verify and calibrate assessments performed using remote sensing. The three main components were: (1) classification of the aquatic resources along a specific reach of stream; (2) vegetative and hydrologic characterization of these areas; and (3) identification of site stressors.
Development of the SWR protocol included a series of meetings and field visits involving representatives of each core group of the ASC project. A pilot study was performed in the late summer/fall of 2002, where 2 to 38 sites were sampled in each of 5 watersheds located in different parts of the study region. A stratified random sampling approach was used to select sample sites. Following the pilot study, the protocol was evaluated and revised.
Work continued on developing a hierarchical classification framework for all wetlands in the Atlantic Slope, following the conceptual model used in wetland hydrogeomorphic classifications. A draft classification and accompanying manuscript have been prepared, and are being finalized and reviewed by the co-authors. This paper will be submitted for publication, and was a joint effort among all ASC member institutions and working groups.
We also are working toward integrating three main areas of our analyses. These are: (1) integration of upstream watersheds with downstream estuaries; and (2) integration across geographic scales. Several activities are underway in this area. The SERC nutrient discharge model described above will be used to provide expectations for the estuarine study. In addition, the SERC wetland/stream team anticipates integrating with the PSU GIS team to explore the relationship between their Level 1 spatial assessments and the SERC stream assessments. This integration will be one of the key pieces of information that will link PSU's data from nonestuarine small watersheds to SERC's estuarine segment data. Additional examples of this type of integration can be found in other project reports on this grant.
A third important area of integration is in evaluating indicators. We plan to apply the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approach described in Methods for Evaluating Ecological Indicators for this purpose. Testing of this method is planned for April 2003. Information produced by the Human Dimensions group also will be applied to indicator evaluation.
Future Activities:
Additional field sampling using the revised SWR protocol will take place during spring/summer 2003, in approximately 20 watersheds. Integrated analysis of existing biological, chemical, and habitat data, and new data collected as part of the SWR sampling will be conducted. These analyses will be coordinated with those of SERC's watershed team and with those of the Estuarine Working Group to examine linkages between upstream and downstream conditions. The relationship between site-level and landscape-level indicators also will be explored.
The analyses begun in Year 2 by the SERC Watershed and Spatial Analysis Team will be continued in Year 3. In addition, plans include the: (1) development of topographically based predictions of wetlands, wetland type, hydrologic character, and spatial arrangement, and comparison with National Wetland Inventory (NWI) maps in predictions of nutrient discharges; (2) utilization of wetland predictions and groundwater flux predictions to improve the identification of active riparian buffers; (3) comparison of summaries of active buffers with existing riparian summaries techniques; and (4) testing of the effect of additional watershed descriptors such as impervious surface, septic density, and population density. The resulting improved statistical models will be used to provide expectations for the estuarine component of this study.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other subproject views: | All 45 publications | 6 publications in selected types | All 6 journal articles |
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Other center views: | All 166 publications | 51 publications in selected types | All 44 journal articles |
Type | Citation | ||
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Patil GP, Brooks RP, Myers WL, Rapport DJ, Taillie C. Ecosystem health and its measurement at landscape scale: toward the next generation of quantitative assessments. Ecosystem Health 2001;7(4):307-316. |
R828684 (2002) R828684 (Final) R828684C003 (2002) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
ecological indicator, integrated assessment, aquatic ecosystem, wetland, stream, riparian, watershed, biological integrity, landscape ecology, scaling, geographic information systems, GIS, Mid-Atlantic., RFA, Scientific Discipline, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Geographic Area, Water, ECOSYSTEMS, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, estuarine research, Hydrology, Water & Watershed, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, Economics, Aquatic Ecosystems, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Ecological Monitoring, Mid-Atlantic, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecology and Ecosystems, Biology, Watersheds, Ecological Indicators, Risk Assessment, ecological exposure, bioindicator, coastal ecosystem, degradation, biogeochemical study, remote sensing, water sheds, aquatic biota , ecosystem assessment, estuaries, optical indicators, nutrients, aquatic habitat, socioeconomics, submerged aquatic vegetation, biomonitoring, ecological assessment, ecosystem indicators, estuarine ecosystems, integrated assessment, Atlantic Slope Consortium, environmental stress, coastal ecosystems, integrative indicators, environmental indicators, water quality, ecology assessment models, watershed assessment, Chesapeake BayRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractMain Center Abstract and Reports:
R828684 Center for Integrated Multi‐scale Nutrient Pollution Solutions Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R828684C001 Integrated Assessment of Estuarine Ecosystems
R828684C002 Development of an Optical Indicator of Habitat Suitability for Submersed Aquatic Vegetation
R828684C003 Integrated Assessment of Watersheds
R828684C004 Socioeconomic and Institutional Research
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
6 journal articles for this subproject
Main Center: R828684
166 publications for this center
44 journal articles for this center