You are here:
CHARACTERIZATION OF LAND USE IN RIPARIAN AREAS WITHIN THE CONTENTNEA WATERSHED OF NORTH CAROLINA
Citation:
Wright, C J. AND S. W. Alberty. CHARACTERIZATION OF LAND USE IN RIPARIAN AREAS WITHIN THE CONTENTNEA WATERSHED OF NORTH CAROLINA. Presented at Ecological Society of America Meeting, Madison, WI, August 5-10, 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
This research project sets out to design and conduct an assessment of the long-term ecological consequences of alternative management choices. As the first project to be done at this scale using predictive ecological endpoints, we will seek to identify the appropriate components of such an analysis. We will use experience gained in the conduct of this BASE analysis to identify key research and data needs for address, to estimate timing, resource needs, etc., for future analyses. We will extend this analysis beyond previous and ongoing studies in two ways: by incorporating biological endpoints, primarily properties of fish communities, and by introducing the concept of sustainability of ecological state under future scenarios contrasted with the present state of those same ecological resources. Requirements that are identified during the course of this study will permit the recommendation of specific capabilities that should be incorporated in a general modeling system currently under development to support BASE and other environmental assessments. Finally, the analysis is intended to be of value for establishing environmental management choices that will be beneficial and those that would be detrimental to the sustainability of ecological resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico Basin.
Description:
Characterization of land use in riparian areas within the Contentnea watershed of North Carolina.
Wright, C.J.,1 and S.W. Alberty.2 1U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA 30605 USA; 2OAO Corporation, Athens, GA 30605 USA.
Legislation mandating riparian buffers for the improvement of surface water quality has become widespread throughout the United States. However, availability of data describing the current condition of riparian areas, particularly at a regional scale, is minimal. In response to this lack of data, many studies of riparian buffer systems rely upon regional databases to determine land use within legislated distances from local stream channels, with variable degrees of accuracy. To assess the accuracy of using regional databases for relatively small land areas, land use in riparian areas was characterized from the Multi Resolution Land Characterization (MRLC) database and from digital orthophotographs within a geographic information systems (GIS) framework. The stream network within the Contentnea watershed was taken from US-EPA Reach File 3 database. Analysis of land use/land cover within a standardized 30 meter riparian buffer and the MRLC database indicates the following land use categories: water (2.30%), commercial/residential (1.17%), bare ground (0.14%), forested/forested wetland (84.43%), and agricultural (11.96%). A riparian cover analysis tool was developed for digital orthophotograph analysis. Transects were established perpendicular to the Reach File 3 stream network at intervals of 200 m. Land use was recorded at points located 15 and 30 meters distant from the stream. Preliminary analyses of digital orthophotographs indicate the following land use categories: water (0.30%), commercial/residential (2.20%), bare ground (2.30%), forest/forested wetland (91.5%), and agricultural (3.70%).