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Land Use and Climate Variability Amplify Contaminant Pulses
Citation:
Kaushal, S. S., M. L. Pace, P. M. Groffman, L. E. Band, K. T. Belt, P. M. MAYER, AND C. Welty. Land Use and Climate Variability Amplify Contaminant Pulses. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 91(25):221-228, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
Accurate contaminant monitoring and forecasting will be particularly critical for protecting drinking water supplies, preserving aquatic habitat, protecting human health, and promoting coastal water quality.
Description:
Converting land to human-dominated uses has increased contaminant loads in streams and rivers and vastly transformed hydrological cycles (Vitousek et al. 1997). More recently, climate change has further altered hydrologic cycles and variability of precipitation (IPCC 2007). Together, regional land-use and climate change may interact in unexpected ways to alter the amplitude, frequency, and duration of contaminant “pulses” in streams and rivers. For example, large contaminant loads may be transported over relatively short time scales. Research and monitoring will be critical for detecting long-term changes in variability in contaminant trends which, in some cases, could indicate regime shifts in water quality and signify substantial, long-lasting reorganization of aquatic ecosystems (Carpenter and Brock 2006). Accurate contaminant monitoring and forecasting also will be particularly critical for protecting drinking water supplies, preserving aquatic habitat, protecting human health, and promoting coastal water quality.
