Grantee Research Project Results
2006 Progress Report: Ecosystem Thresholds and Alternate States In Great Plains Rivers and Streams: Cascading Effects of Anthropogenic Hydrologic Disturbance
EPA Grant Number: R832446Title: Ecosystem Thresholds and Alternate States In Great Plains Rivers and Streams: Cascading Effects of Anthropogenic Hydrologic Disturbance
Investigators: Dodds, Walter , With, Kimberly A. , Koelliker, James , Gido, Keith
Institution: Kansas State University
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: April 1, 2005 through July 10, 2008
Project Period Covered by this Report: April 1, 2005 through July 10, 2006
Project Amount: $299,566
RFA: Exploratory Research: Understanding Ecological Thresholds In Aquatic Systems Through Retrospective Analysis (2004) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Aquatic Ecosystems , Water
Objective:
The objective of this research project is to document how a dramatic shift in the hydrologic state of Great Plains rivers and streams has produced a biotic state change in this system. This hydrologic change results from human alteration of surface water flow through agricultural diversion, groundwater pumping, construction of small impoundments, and changing cultivation techniques.
Progress Summary:
We advertised and hired a postdoctoral research associate, Dr. Deb Walks, who started April 15, 2006. She will use a georeferenced database of fish and mussel collections in Kansas to document critical periods that lead to fundamental and potentially irreversible alterations in the Great Plains river ecosystems. Initial progress was made in identifying watersheds to research. We continue to refine the hydrologic layers of the data base and are starting to link to the historical records of discharge from U.S. Geological Survey data.
Dr. Koelliker continues to work on hydrologic simulation modeling of the effects of land use and agricultural conservation practices on streamflow in the Great Plains. He hired a graduate student who will start work on the project this fall.
Future Activities:
We will analyze and explore the biological effects of reduced discharge and drying of formally permanent rivers and further fragmentation of stream networks. Crossing this hydrologic threshold will be linked to changes in aquatic communities to identify scenarios that lead to fundamental state changes to the system. We will verify that anthropogenic activities trigger essential state changes causing streams and rivers to be more likely to be disconnected under a given precipitation regime. We will link the decreases in hydrologic connectivity to interruption of natural colonization processes of invertebrates and fishes, leading to lowered abundance, extirpations or extinctions of these groups, and alteration of biotic integrity. We will take a life-history approach to predict species most vulnerable to the hydrologic state changes. We will place particular emphasis on species with life histories that are expected to be most strongly influenced by the hydrologic changes or those that have altered distributional patterns indicative of negative impacts resulting from reduced discharge and connectivity.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 20 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
midwest, watersheds, sensitive populations, assessment, habitat, regionalization,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Aquatic Ecosystem, Environmental Monitoring, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecology and Ecosystems, anthropogenic stress, estuarine research, species interaction, ecological thresholds, biodiversity, biotic complexity, anthropogenic impact, ecosystem indicators, modeling ecosystem change, aquatic ecosystems, water quality, Great Plains Rivers, ecosystem stress, riverine ecosystems, trophic interactions, ecosystem responseRelevant Websites:
http://www.k-state.edu/doddslab/ Exit
http://www.k-state.edu/fishecology/ Exit
http://www.k-state.edu/withlab/ Exit
http://www.k-state.edu/ksaquaticgap/ Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe 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.