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USE OF LANDSCAPE METRICS TO PRIORITIZE WATERSHEDS FOR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION IN ARKANSAS WHITE RIVER BASIN
Citation:
Lopez, R D., D T. Heggem, C M. Edmonds, K B. Jones, C L. Cross, AND D W. Ebert. USE OF LANDSCAPE METRICS TO PRIORITIZE WATERSHEDS FOR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION IN ARKANSAS WHITE RIVER BASIN. Presented at 19th Annual Symposium of the United States Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology, Las Vegas, NV, March 30-April 4, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary objectives of this research are to:
Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;
Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;
Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;
Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;
Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.
This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.
Description:
Techniques for the broad-scale identification of wetland restoration sites are increasingly being sought for the purposes of improving the functions of wetlands that influence watershed hydrology,e.g., groundwater recharge potential of watersheds and reduction of nutrient and sediment loads to the watersheds particularly in heavily agricultural landscapes. We utilized landscape metrics, publicly available geospatial data, geographic information systems (GIS), and existing national water quality data to prioritize watershed for riparian wetland restoration in Arkansas 101,533 square kilometer White River Basin. The White River Basin includes the southern portion of the heavily forested Ozark Mountains and the heavily agricultural Mississippi Alluvial Valley, permitting gradient analyses among watersheds. Results of the combined GIS and surface water sampling models for carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment suggest that the following seven landscape metrics are practical for targeting sub-watershed and riparian areas for restoration: (1) percent cover of forest, (2) mean forest patch area (3) largest forest patch area (4) percent row-crop agriculture, (5) percent total agriculture (6) percent cover of nonagricultural vegetated land cover, and (7) percent agriculture on steep slopes. We demonstrate the efficacy of using landscape metrics as indicators of ecological condition and as a cost-effective technique to proved supplenentary information about the ecological functions of wetlands, otherwise unavailable at finer scales. We suggest a methodology for developing landscape indicators and using them to guide detailed field-based investigations, and to inform the decision-making processes for wetland restoration in the White River Basin.