Grantee Research Project Results
1999 Progress Report: Impact of Social Systems on Ecology and Hydrology in Urban-Rural Watersheds: Integration for Restoration
EPA Grant Number: R825792Title: Impact of Social Systems on Ecology and Hydrology in Urban-Rural Watersheds: Integration for Restoration
Investigators: Pickett, S.T.A. , Zipperer, W. C. , Grove, J. M. , Carerra, J. M. , Band, L. R. , Burch, W. R. , Pouyat, R. V. , Foresman, Timothy W.
Institution: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies , University of Maryland - Baltimore County , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Current Institution: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies , USDA , University of Maryland - Baltimore County , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Yale University
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: June 1, 1998 through May 31, 2001 (Extended to September 30, 2001)
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 1, 1999 through May 31, 2000
Project Amount: $999,932
RFA: Water and Watersheds Research (1997) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Water
Objective:
To provide decision makers with options to ameliorate water quality, this research integrates social, ecological, and hydrological processes. First, we will develop a new hydro-ecological model that integrates key social drivers at various scales. The model will incorporate spatial heterogeneity, land uses, and ecological structure of watersheds in urban areas. We will test whether social processes affect watershed dynamics and water quality, and whether such effects act directly through pollution or indirectly through the ecological features of the watershed. Second, the model will be developed into a decision-making tool by interacting with urban communities and institutions. Such interactions will ensure that the model can be used by decision makers to evaluate the hydrological and ecological effects of different scenarios of social and land use change that they propose.Progress Summary:
This project focuses on the Gwynns Falls watershed and complements the Baltimore Long-Term Ecological Research program; these two efforts constitute the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES). During the second year of this program, we have continued progress in analyzing social, ecological, and hydrological processes and integrating them for use in policy and education.Stream Monitoring Network. In collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Baltimore City and County agencies, we have monitored flow and pollution loadings in four small watersheds exhibiting different degrees of urbanization. Stream morphology and biota have been assessed. The first meteorological stations have been installed to augment the hydrological data.
Hydrological Model Implementation. Elements of existing models with complementary strengths have been merged to link urban hydrology and social and ecological processes. The new model has been tested in a subcatchment of the Gwynns Falls watershed, and it generates realistic water, nitrogen, and carbon fluxes. Cross-catchment flows resulting from road networks, storm sewers, and human use have been assessed based on demographic and social data.
Development of Social Process Components for Hydrological Models. Progress has been made in unifying the new BES model with the Patuxent Landscape model and enhancing the ability of both models to account for social capital. Institutional networks have been analyzed and a household survey was conducted for assessing the social causes of water and materials fluxes.
Characterization of Cover and Ecological Processes Affecting Watershed Function. Field work for the high resolution survey of the soils of the Gwynns Falls watershed, including both urban and rural locations, has been completed. Process studies, including leaching of nutrients and nutrient processing in soils, have continued in four sets of permanent plots ranging from rural to medium density urban sites. Studies of vegetation patchiness have been extended to new habitat types in the city. Ecological assessment of physical heterogeneity of contrasting neighborhoods and studies of indicator biota in the soil have begun. The structure and function of incised riparian zones in heavily urbanized areas have been compared with reference sites to assess impact on nutrient and sediment flow. The influence of invasive exotic species on soil nitrogen processing has been determined.
Assessment of Social Processes Affecting Watershed Function. We have extended the synthesis of demographic variables and indicators of social structure from various sources for the Gwynns Falls watershed. The cluster or "market" analysis has been completed. Analyses are underway to evaluate how resource use differs among neighborhoods and subcatchments of the Gwynns Falls watershed, and how they relate to hydrological and ecological processes.
Interaction with Communities and Agencies. Periodic meetings have been held with the Maryland Department of Planning; the Baltimore City Department of Public Works; the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management; the Gwynns Falls, Jones Falls, and Herring Run Watershed Associations; the Maryland Department of Natural Resources; the Maryland Department of the Environment; the Patapsco/Back River Tributary Strategy Team; the Baltimore Metropolitan Council; and other organizations. The Revitalizing Baltimore Partnership acts as the primary means of information exchange to ensure that our model output is relevant to communities and decision leaders. In addition, we have developed the School Partnership Program and our newly designed Neighborhood Science Program.
Action plans for incorporating integrated watershed-based ecosystem approaches in classroom and field activities have been designed in collaboration with teachers in the Baltimore City and Baltimore County schools, and several private schools. BES collaborated with the Parks and People Foundation in the preparation of "A Forest Gap Analysis for the Dead Run Sub-Watershed: Improving Baltimore's Urban Forest." The annual meeting?open to researchers as well as invited community members, policy makers, and teachers?summarized scientific progress for approximately 125 members of the various constituencies in attendance.
Future Activities:
In the upcoming final year of the project, integrated ecological-social- hydrological models are anticipated to extend throughout the Gwynns Falls watershed. Planned workshops and meetings with policymakers and managers will refine the model to generate a user-friendly interface. New, high-resolution imagery will be analyzed to improve the land use based models and interactions with the public and planners. This will be combined with both digitized historical maps and images to test past models and improve their forecasting ability. Productivity measurements and a carbon budget for the metropolitan area will be generated. Work on a Web page is ongoing to ensure a more usable product. We will begin to address the significance of exotic species in watershed function and capture the spatial heterogeneity of the system in theoretical and practical models.Journal Articles on this Report : 12 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 237 publications | 51 publications in selected types | All 29 journal articles |
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Belt KT, Gresens SE, Gwinn DC, Banks P, Tang JA. The effects of urban impervious watershed cover on benthic macroinvertebrate populations in streams with particular reference to disturbance from storm event frequency and magnitude. Bulletin of the North American Benthological Society 1998;16(l):208. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Brun SE, Band LE. Simulating runoff behavior in an urbanizing watershed. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 2000;24(1):5-22. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Costanza R, Voinov A, Boumans R, Maxwell T, Villa F, Wainger L, Voinov H. Integrated ecological economic modeling of the Patuxent River watershed, Maryland. Ecological Monographs 2002;72(2):203-231. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) R824766 (1998) R824766 (Final) R827169 (Final) |
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Foresman TW, Adams D, Walker S, Daniel C, Defries V, Hennesee L. Entrenchment of GIS technology for enterprise solutions in Maryland's state and local government. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 1999, Volume: 65, Number: 11 (NOV), Page: 1277-1286. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) |
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Gresens SE, Belt KT, Gwinn DC, Banks P, Tang JA. Level of taxonomic resolution and the response of lotic invertebrate communities to increased watershed imperviousness. Bulletin of the North American Benthological Society 1999;16(l):215. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Grimm NB, Grove JM, Pickett STA, Redman CL. Integrated approaches to long-term studies of urban ecological systems. Bioscience 2000;50(7):571-584. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Pasternack GB, Brush GS. Sedimentation cycles in a river-mouth tidal freshwater marsh. Estuaries and Coasts 1998;21(3):407-415. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Pickett STA, Burch Jr WR, Grove JM. Interdisciplinary research: maintaining the constructive impulse in a culture of criticism. Ecosystems 1999;2(4):302-307. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Pickett STA. The culture of synthesis: habits of mind in novel ecological integration. Oikos 1999;87(3):479-487. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) |
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Thompson HC. Exotic plant species in urban and suburban forest gaps as a management criterion. Ecological Restoration. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) |
not available |
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Villa F, Boumans RMJ, Costanza R. Design and use of a Model Performance Index (MPI) for the calibration of ecological simulation models. Journal of Environmental Modeling Software. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) |
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Voinov A, Costanza R, Wainger L, Boumans R, Villa F, Maxwell T, Voinov H. Patuxent landscape model: integrated ecological economic modeling of a watershed. Environmental Modelling & Software 1999;14(5):473-491. |
R825792 (1999) R825792 (2000) R825792 (Final) R824766 (1998) R824766 (Final) R827169 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
patch dynamics, invasive species, erosion, storm water, ecosystem management, multiscale imagery analysis, policy, community, modeling, Maryland, MD., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Hydrology, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, Restoration, Ecological Risk Assessment, Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration, ecological effects, ecological exposure, rural watersheds, impact of social system, biodiversity, community involvement, watersheds, decision making, urban watersheds, restoration strategies, ecological recovery, aquatic ecosystems, social resistance, water quality, ecological impact, public policy, spatial analysis, ecosystem response , land use, watershed restorationProgress 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.