Incorporating Variable Source Area Hydrology into a Spatially Distributed Direct Runoff Model1

Buchanan, Brian, Zachary M. Easton, Rebecca Schneider, and M. Todd Walter, 2011. Incorporating Variable Source Area Hydrology Into a Spatially Distributed Direct Runoff Model. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 43‐60. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00594.x Abstract: Few hydrologic models simulate both variable source area (VSA) hydrology, and runoff‐routing at high enough spatial resolutions to capture fine‐scale hydrologic pathways connecting VSA to the stream network. This paper describes a geographic information system‐based operational model that simulates the spatio‐temporal dynamics of VSA runoff generation and distributed runoff‐routing, including through complex artificial drainage networks. The model combines the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Curve Number (CN) equation for estimating storm runoff with the topographic index concept for predicting the locations of VSA and a runoff‐routing algorithm into a new spatially distributed direct hydrograph (SDDH) model (SDDH‐VSA). Using a small agricultural watershed in central New York, SDDH‐VSA results were compared to those from a SDDH model using the traditional land use assumptions for the CN (SDDH‐CN). The SDDH‐VSA model generally agreed better with observed discharge than the SDDH‐CN model (average, Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.69 vs. 0.58, respectively) and resulted in more realistic spatial patterns of runoff‐generating areas. The SDDH approach did not correctly capture the timing of runoff from small storms in dry periods. Despite this type of limitation, SDDH‐VSA extends the applicability of the SDDH technique to VSA conditions, providing a basis for new tools to help identify critical management areas and assess water quality risks due to landscape alterations.     

Occurrence and sources of selected phenolic endocrine disruptors in Ria de Aveiro,Portugal

Background, aim and scope  

Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) is a shallow coastal lagoon of high economic and ecological importance. Hardly any data on its chemical pollution by polar organic pollutants are available in literature. This study focused on the presence and sources of a series of phenolic endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in this area, including parabens, alkylphenolic compounds and bisphenol-A (BPA). A number of possible sources of pollution are present in the area, including the large harbours present in the lagoon, the city of Aveiro and the rivers discharging into the area. A recently constructed submarine wastewater outfall, located a few kilometres from the lagoon inlet has also been suggested as a possible source of pollution to Ria de Aveiro in several publications. The aim of the current field study was to investigate the occurrence and main sources of phenolic endocrine disruptors in Ria de Aveiro.     

Making habitat selection more “familiar”: a review

Behavioral ecologists generally agree that animals derive benefits from familiarity with spaces that they inhabit or visit, yet site familiarity is rudimentary or lacking in most models of habitat selection. In this review, I examine evidence for the occurrence of site familiarity and its fitness benefits, describe the difficulty of measuring site familiarity, note its omission from the influential ideal free and ideal despotic models, and use a literature search to test an assumption of the ideal models that has become widespread in habitat selection theory: that animals behave without regard for site familiarity. I find little support for such “familiarity blindness” in vertebrates. Next I discuss how the study of public information has drawn attention away from site familiarity and point out that both kinds of information are likely to be important in habitat selection. I proceed to examine current models of initial settlement (exploration and settlement of prebreeders on first territories) and optional resettlement (site fidelity or dispersal by established breeders following a period of prospecting) and find that the latter include only basic forms of site familiarity. Hence, I develop the concept that an inhabited space holds a unique “private value” to an animal based on its familiarity with the space and offer a simple model for optional resettlement based on private value that generates several novel predictions, including site fidelity based on cumulative breeding site familiarity and high site fidelity among species with complex territories.     

Extending large-scale forest inventories to assess urban forests

Urban areas are continuously expanding today, extending their influence on an increasingly large proportion of woods and trees located in or nearby urban and urbanizing areas, the so-called urban forests. Although these forests have the potential for significantly improving the quality the urban environment and the well-being of the urban population, data to quantify the extent and characteristics of urban forests are still lacking or fragmentary on a large scale. In this regard, an expansion of the domain of multipurpose forest inventories like National Forest Inventories (NFIs) towards urban forests would be required. To this end, it would be convenient to exploit the same sampling scheme applied in NFIs to assess the basic features of urban forests. This paper considers approximately unbiased estimators of abundance and coverage of urban forests, together with estimators of the corresponding variances, which can be achieved from the first phase of most large-scale forest inventories. A simulation study is carried out in order to check the performance of the considered estimators under various situations involving the spatial distribution of the urban forests over the study area. An application is worked out on the data from the Italian NFI.     

Analysing household decision-making on oil palm cultivation in Thailand

This paper analyses the dynamics of land use via the perspectives, motivations and behaviours of local landowners looking at land-use change (through the landowner’s eyes) in the way that the landowners would prefer to do and not to do in various situations. The dynamics are explored in the context of an oil-palm-based biodiesel development in Thailand where the advent of oil palm (OP) has caused the loss of paddy areas. A sequential mixed-method strategy, including 10 in-depth interviews and 180 responses to a questionnaire survey, indicates that the likelihood of a landowner switching traditional land for OP cultivation is affected by a number of factors including age and education of the head of household, number of household farming labourers, amount and source of income, land size and land right. Moreover, the results indicate that success of switching land to OP cultivation was determined by factors influencing willingness and capacity to change. Willingness-related factors are relevant to outcome expectation and social networks and connections while capacity-related factors are relevant to finance, labour, capital, land rights and transportation.     

Don’t get the blues: conspicuous nuptial colouration of male moor frogs (Rana arvalis) supports visual mate recognition during scramble competition in large breeding aggregations

Conspicuous male colouration is expected to have evolved primarily through selection by female choice. In what way conspicuous colours could be advantageous to males scrambling for mates remains largely unknown. The moor frog (Rana arvalis) belongs to the so-called explosive breeders in which spawning period is short; intrasexual competition is strong, and males actively search and scramble for females. During breeding, male body colouration changes from a dull brown (similar to females) to a conspicuous blue, and we wanted to test if male blueness influences mating success or facilitates male mate recognition. To do so, we first measured the colour of mated and non-mated males using a spectrophotometer. In an experiment, we then analysed interactions of actual male moor frogs in natural spawning aggregations with a brown (resembling a female or a non-breeding male) and a blue model frog. Mated and non-mated males did not differ in colouration, suggesting that female choice based on colour traits was unlikely. In our behavioural experiment, male moor frogs spent significantly more time in contact and in amplexus with the brown model than with the blue model. Our results suggest that the nuptial colouration in moor frogs can act as a new type of visual signal in anurans evolved to promote instantaneous mate recognition allowing males to quickly move between rivals while scrambling for females.     

An analysis of the problems of developing environmental education in Brazilian Federal protected areas

This paper describes the problems encountered in developing environmental education in Federal protected areas in Brazil. Results of a survey on the current status of environmental education in four categories of Federal protected areas; namely national parks, biological reserves, ecological stations and environmental protection areas, are described and discussed. The study suggests that the development of environmental education in protected areas in the country has several limitations: financial resources, lack of training, material resources and a lack of policy on environmental education. It also identifies that some of these problems seem to be inter-related with those of the National System of Conservation Units of the country which may result in a retarding of the development of environmental education in such areas.     

RECHARGE OF THE SNAKE RWER PLAIN AQUIFER: TRANSITIONING FROM INCIDENTAL TO MANAGED1

ABSTRACT: Declining ground-water levels and spring discharges have heightened water user concerns about the sustainability of the Snake River Plain aquifer in southern Idaho. Diminished recharge from surface water irrigation and increased irrigation pumping have been depleting the aquifer at a rate of about 350,000 acre-feet/year. Previously, aquifer conditions were treated as an uncontrollable consequence of weather and development activities. With increasing competition for available water, the State appears to be progressing through a three-stage process of recharge management. The first stage is that which has occurred historically, where recharge is largely an incidental effect of surface water irrigation. The second stage is the implementation of intentional recharge with little regard to identifying or maximizing benefits. Idaho has been at this stage for the past few years. The State is entering a third stage in which recharge sites will be located and designed to meet specific water user and environmental objectives. Preliminary estimates using numerical and analytical models demonstrate that managed recharge within a few miles of the river will result in short-term increases in spring discharge. More distant recharge sites are needed to provide longer-term benefits. The primary challenge facing implementation of the managed recharge program will be the balancing of economic and environmental costs and benefits and to whom they accrue.