Implications of Climate Change for Wetland-Dependent Birds in the Prairie Pothole Region

Wetlands ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (S2) ◽  
pp. 445-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie A. Steen ◽  
Susan K. Skagen ◽  
Cynthia P. Melcher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Prairie Pothole

Evident cooling effects of surface wetlands to mitigate climate change - a study of the Prairie Pothole Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Michael Barlage ◽  
Lauren E Bortolotti ◽  
James Famiglietti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Cooling Effects ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

scholarly journals Modeling groundwater responses to climate change in the Prairie Pothole Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 655-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Yanping Li ◽  
Michael Barlage ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Gonzalo Miguez-Macho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Soil Freezing ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Recharge Rates

Abstract. Shallow groundwater in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is predominantly recharged by snowmelt in the spring and supplies water for evapotranspiration through the summer and fall. This two-way exchange is underrepresented in current land surface models. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change on the groundwater recharge rates are uncertain. In this paper, we use a coupled land–groundwater model to investigate the hydrological cycle of shallow groundwater in the PPR and study its response to climate change at the end of the 21st century. The results show that the model does a reasonably good job of simulating the timing of recharge. The mean water table depth (WTD) is well simulated, except for the fact that the model predicts a deep WTD in northwestern Alberta. The most significant change under future climate conditions occurs in the winter, when warmer temperatures change the rain/snow partitioning, delaying the time for snow accumulation/soil freezing while advancing early melting/thawing. Such changes lead to an earlier start to a longer recharge season but with lower recharge rates. Different signals are shown in the eastern and western PPR in the future summer, with reduced precipitation and drier soils in the east but little change in the west. The annual recharge increased by 25 % and 50 % in the eastern and western PPR, respectively. Additionally, we found that the mean and seasonal variation of the simulated WTD are sensitive to soil properties; thus, fine-scale soil information is needed to improve groundwater simulation on the regional scale.

scholarly journals Waterfowl Conservation in the US Prairie Pothole Region: Confronting the Complexities of Climate Change

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e100034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal D. Niemuth ◽  
Kathleen K. Fleming ◽  
Ronald E. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
The Us

scholarly journals Consolidation Drainage and Climate Change May Reduce Piping Plover Habitat in the Great Plains

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. McCauley ◽  
Michael J. Anteau ◽  
Max Post van der Burg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Piping Plover ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Prairie Wetlands ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
Consolidation Drainage

Abstract Many waterbird species utilize a diversity of aquatic habitats; however, with increasing anthropogenic needs to manage water regimes there is global concern over impacts to waterbird populations. The federally threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus; hereafter plovers) is a shorebird that breeds in three habitat types in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Canada: riverine sandbars; reservoir shorelines; and prairie wetlands. Water surface areas of these habitats fluctuate in response to wet–dry periods; decreasing water surface areas expose shorelines that plovers utilize for nesting. Climate varies across the region so when other habitats are unavailable for plover nesting because of flooding, prairie wetlands may periodically provide habitat. Over the last century, many of the wetlands used by plovers in the Prairie Pothole Region have been modified to receive water from consolidation drainage (drainage of smaller wetlands into another wetland), which could eliminate shoreline nesting habitat. We evaluated whether consolidation drainage and fuller wetlands have decreased plover presence in 32 wetlands historically used by plovers. We found that wetlands with more consolidation drainage in their catchment and wetlands that were fuller had a lower probability of plover presence. These results suggest that plovers could have historically used prairie wetlands during the breeding season but consolidation drainage, climate change, or both have reduced available shoreline habitat for plovers through increased water levels. Prairie wetlands, outside of some alkali wetlands in the western portion of the region, are less studied as habitat for plovers when compared with river and reservoir shorelines. Our study suggests that these wetlands may have played a larger role in plover ecology than previously thought. Wetland restoration and conservation, through the restoration of natural hydrology, may be required to ensure that adequate habitat exists among the three habitat types in the face of existing or changing climate and to ensure long-term plover conservation.

scholarly journals Vulnerability of Breeding Waterbirds to Climate Change in the Prairie Pothole Region, U.S.A

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e96747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Steen ◽  
Susan K. Skagen ◽  
Barry R. Noon
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Prairie Pothole

Evident cooling effects of surface wetlands to mitigate climate change - a study of the Prairie Pothole Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Michael Barlage ◽  
Lauren E Bortolotti ◽  
James Famiglietti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Cooling Effects ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

scholarly journals Modeling groundwater responses to climate change in the Prairie Pothole Region

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Yanping Li ◽  
Michael Barlage ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Gonzalo Miguez-Macho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Soil Freezing ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Most Significant Change

Abstract. Shallow groundwater in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is recharged predominantly by snowmelt in the spring and may supply water for evapotranspiration through the summer/fall. This two-way exchange is underrepresented in land-surface models. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change on the groundwater recharge are uncertain. In this paper, we use a coupled land and groundwater model to investigate the hydrologic cycle of shallow groundwater in the PPR and study its response to climate change at the end of the 21st century. The results show that the model reasonably simulates the water table depth (WTD) and the timing of recharge processes, but underestimates the seasonal variation of WTD, due to mismatches of the soil types between observations and the model. The most significant change under future climate occurs in the winter, when the warmer temperature changes the rain/snow partitioning, delay the time for snow accumulation/soil freezing while bringing forward early melting/thawing. Such changes lead to an earlier start to a longer recharge season, but with lower recharge rates. Different signals are shown in the eastern and western PPR in the future summer, with reduced precipitation and drier soils in the east but little change in the west. The annual recharge increased by 25% and 50% in the eastern and western PPR, respectively. Additionally, we found the mean and seasonal variation of the simulated WTD are sensitive to soil properties and fine-scale soil information is needed to improve groundwater simulation on a regional scale.

scholarly journals Assessing the Importance of Potholes in the Canadian Prairie Region under Future Climate Change Scenarios

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ameer Muhammad ◽  
Grey Evenson ◽  
Tricia Stadnyk ◽  
Alaba Boluwade ◽  
Sanjeev Jha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Prairie Pothole Region ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Isolated Wetlands ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Canadian Prairie ◽  
Study Region

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of Canada contains millions of small isolated wetlands and is unique to North America. The goods and services of these isolated wetlands are highly sensitive to variations in precipitation and temperature. We evaluated the flood proofing of isolated wetlands (pothole wetlands) under various climate change scenarios in the Upper Assiniboine River Basin (UARB) at Kamsack, a headwater catchment of the Lake of the Prairies in the Canadian portion of the PPR. A modified version of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was utilized to simulate projected streamflow under the potential impacts of climate change, along with changes to the distribution of pothole wetlands. Significant increases in winter streamflow (~200%) and decreases (~11%) in summer flow, driven by changes in future climates, were simulated. Simulated changes in streamflow resulting from pothole removal were between 55% for winter and 15% for summer, suggesting that climate will be the primary driver in the future hydrologic regime of the study region. This research serves as an important guide to the various stakeholder organizations involved in quantifying the aggregate impacts of pothole wetlands in the hydrology of the Canadian Prairie Region.

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