Examining patterns and drivers of variability in playa water status on the High Plains of western Kansas, 2016–2019

Playa wetlands are widely distributed across the High Plains of the central United States, providing a range of ecosystem services, such as groundwater recharge, surface water storage, and wetland habitat. Although playas are essential resources, few studies have examined the variability and controls on playa water storage. The purpose of this project is to determine how playa and watershed morphology, watershed land cover, and precipitation patterns affect timing and duration of water storage in playas. This project focuses on 92 playas distributed throughout a 10-county region in western Kansas. Playa and watershed morphology were calculated in a GIS environment and classified into quartiles based on playa and watershed surface area. Watershed tilled index (i.e., percent cropland versus grassland) was determined using 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Cropland Data Layers available from the National Agricultural Statistics Service and classified as either cropland (more than 75% cropland), grassland (more than 75% grassland), or mixed. Monthly precipitation data for 2016–2019 were compiled from the Oakley 22S High Plains Regional Climate Center weather station. Playa water status for 2016–2019 was classified monthly as either standing water or dry (i.e., no visible standing water) by visually examining four-band satellite imagery with 3.7 m resolution available from Planet Explorer (www.planet.com). Playa water status is influenced by a combination of factors, including playa and watershed morphology, watershed land cover, and precipitation patterns. Larger playas have larger watersheds and standing water more frequently and for longer periods than smaller playas. Playas in cropland watersheds store water more frequently and for longer periods than playas in grassland watersheds, though differences are not statistically significant. Standing water within playas is positively correlated with monthly precipitation and reflects a short-term response to precipitation patterns, regardless of playa size or watershed land cover. The strongest controls on playa water status are playa area, monthly precipitation, and watershed area. Playas are critical resources for the High Plains, providing a range of ecosystem services that are dependent upon the playa’s ability to store water. Playa functions are under continued threat from cropland expansion, climate change, and playa and watershed modifications. To sustain playa functions in Kansas, efforts should focus on conserving larger grassland playas and reducing sediment inputs to playas in cropland watersheds.

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The Effect of Land Cover/Land Use Changes on the Regional Climate of the USA High Plains

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli2030153 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 153-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Denis Mutiibwa ◽

Ayse Kilic ◽

Suat Irmak

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

High Plains ◽

The Usa

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The Methow Beaver Project: the Challenges of an Ecosystem Services Experiment

Case Studies in the Environment ◽

10.1525/cse.2017.001057 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Philip Brick ◽

Kent Woodruff

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Castor Canadensis ◽

Water Storage ◽

Climate Projections ◽

High Mountain ◽

Natural Resource Policy ◽

Watershed Scale ◽

Positive Role ◽

Climate Conditions

This case explores the Methow Beaver Project (MBP), an ambitious experiment to restore beaver (Castor canadensis) to a high mountain watershed in Washington State, USA. The Pacific Northwest is already experiencing weather regimes consistent with longer term climate projections, which predict longer and drier summers and stronger and wetter winter storms. Ironically, this combination makes imperative more water storage in one of the most heavily dammed regions in the nation. Although the positive role that beaver can play in watershed enhancement has been well known for decades, no project has previously attempted to re-introduce beaver on a watershed scale with a rigorous monitoring protocol designed to document improved water storage and temperature conditions needed for human uses and aquatic species. While the MBP has demonstrated that beaver can be re-introduced on a watershed scale, it has been much more difficult to scientifically demonstrate positive changes in water retention and stream temperature, given hydrologic complexity, unprecedented fire and floods, and the fact that beaver are highly mobile. This case study can help environmental studies students and natural resource policy professionals think about the broader challenges of diffuse, ecosystem services approaches to climate adaptation. Beaver-produced watershed improvements will remain difficult to quantify and verify, and thus will likely remain less attractive to water planners than conventional storage dams. But as climate conditions put additional pressure on such infrastructure, it is worth considering how beaver might be employed to augment watershed storage capacity, even if this capacity is likely to remain at least in part inscrutable.

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The impacts of land use/land cover changes on the supply-demand budget of urban ecosystem services

Arabian Journal of Geosciences ◽

10.1007/s12517-021-07504-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (14) ◽

Author(s):

Syed Atif Bokhari ◽

Zafeer Saqib ◽

Amjad Ali ◽

Arif Mahmud ◽

Nadia Akhtar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Cover ◽

Urban Ecosystem ◽

Land Cover Changes ◽

Land Use Land Cover ◽

Urban Ecosystem Services

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The effect of wildfire and land-cover changes on the economic value of ecosystem services in Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve, Israel

Ecosystem Services ◽

10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101291 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 101291

Author(s):

Raviv Orna ◽

Zemah-Shamir Shiri ◽

Izhaki Ido ◽

Lotan Alon

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Cover ◽

Economic Value ◽

Biosphere Reserve ◽

Land Cover Changes

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Cool season precipitation projections for California and the Western United States in NA-CORDEX models

Climate Dynamics ◽

10.1007/s00382-021-05632-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kelly Mahoney ◽

James D. Scott ◽

Michael Alexander ◽

Rachel McCrary ◽

Mimi Hughes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Climate Models ◽

Snow Water Equivalent ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Regional Climate Models ◽

Western United States ◽

Monthly Precipitation ◽

Wet Season ◽

Cool Season ◽

Projected Change

AbstractUnderstanding future precipitation changes is critical for water supply and flood risk applications in the western United States. The North American COordinated Regional Downscaling EXperiment (NA-CORDEX) matrix of global and regional climate models at multiple resolutions (~ 50-km and 25-km grid spacings) is used to evaluate mean monthly precipitation, extreme daily precipitation, and snow water equivalent (SWE) over the western United States, with a sub-regional focus on California. Results indicate significant model spread in mean monthly precipitation in several key water-sensitive areas in both historical and future projections, but suggest model agreement on increasing daily extreme precipitation magnitudes, decreasing seasonal snowpack, and a shortening of the wet season in California in particular. While the beginning and end of the California cool season are projected to dry according to most models, the core of the cool season (December, January, February) shows an overall wetter projected change pattern. Daily cool-season precipitation extremes generally increase for most models, particularly in California in the mid-winter months. Finally, a marked projected decrease in future seasonal SWE is found across all models, accompanied by earlier dates of maximum seasonal SWE, and thus a shortening of the period of snow cover as well. Results are discussed in the context of how the diverse model membership and variable resolutions offered by the NA-CORDEX ensemble can be best leveraged by stakeholders faced with future water planning challenges.

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Incorporating Ecosystem Services in the Assessment of Water Framework Directive Programmes of Measures

Environmental Management ◽

10.1007/s00267-021-01478-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ioannis Souliotis ◽

Nikolaos Voulvoulis

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Water Framework Directive ◽

Water Status ◽

Monitoring And Evaluation ◽

Well Being ◽

Ecological Condition ◽

Costs And Benefits ◽

Ecological Objectives ◽

The Eu

AbstractThe EU Water Framework Directive requires the development of management responses aimed towards improving water quality as a result of improving ecosystem health (system state). Ecosystems have potential to supply a range of services that are of fundamental importance to human well-being, health, livelihoods and survival, and their capacity to supply these services depends on the ecosystem condition (its structure and processes). According to the WFD, Programmes of Measures should be developed to improve overall water status by reducing anthropogenic catchment pressures to levels compatible with the achievement of the ecological objectives of the directive, and when designed and implemented properly should improve the ecological condition of aquatic ecosystems that the delivery of ecosystem services depends on. Monitoring and evaluation of implemented measures are crucial for assessing their effectiveness and creating the agenda for consecutive planning cycles. Considering the challenges of achieving water status improvements, and the difficulties of communicating these to the wider public, we develop a framework for the evaluation of measures cost-effectiveness that considers ecosystem services as the benefits from the reduction of pressures on water bodies. We demonstrate its application through a case study and discuss its potential to facilitate the economic analysis required by the directive, and that most European water authorities had problems with. Findings demonstrate the potential of the methodology to effectively incorporate ecosystem services in the assessment of costs and benefits of proposed actions, as well as its potential to engage stakeholders.

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Spatial Pattern Analysis of the Ecosystem Services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Imagery Based on Deep Learning Method

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13137044 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 7044

Author(s):

Dawei Wen ◽

Song Ma ◽

Anlu Zhang ◽

Xinli Ke

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Deep Learning ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Cover ◽

Spatial Pattern ◽

Sustainable Urban Development ◽

Spatial Pattern Analysis ◽

Bay Area ◽

Urban Rural ◽

Sentinel 2

Assessment of ecosystem services supply, demand, and budgets can help to achieve sustainable urban development. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as one of the most developed megacities in China, sets up a goal of high-quality development while fostering ecosystem services. Therefore, assessing the ecosystem services in this study area is very important to guide further development. However, the spatial pattern of ecosystem services, especially at local scales, is not well understood. Using the available 2017 land cover product, Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 optical images, a deep learning land cover mapping framework integrating deep change vector analysis and the ResUnet model was proposed. Based on the produced 10 m land cover map for the year 2020, recent spatial patterns of the ecosystem services at different scales (i.e., the GBA, 11 cities, urban–rural gradient, and pixel) were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) Forest was the primary land cover in Guangzhou, Huizhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, and Hong Kong, and an impervious surface was the main land cover in the other four cities. (2) Although ecosystem services in the GBA were sufficient to meet their demand, there was undersupply for all the three general services in Macao and for the provision services in Zhongshan, Dongguan, Shenzhen, and Foshan. (3) Along the urban–rural gradient in the GBA, supply and demand capacity showed an increasing and decreasing trend, respectively. As for the city-level analysis, Huizhou and Zhuhai showed a fluctuation pattern while Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, and Hong Kong presented a decreasing pattern along the gradient. (4) Inclusion of neighborhood landscape led to increased demand scores in a small proportion of impervious areas and oversupply for a very large percent of bare land.

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