Sensitivity of Thermal Habitat of a Trout Stream to Potential Climate Change,Wisconsin, United States1

Abstract: Airborne thermal remote sensing from four flights on a single day from a single‐engine airplane was used to collect thermal infrared data of a 10.47‐km reach of the upper East Branch Pecatonica River in southwest Wisconsin. The study uses a one‐dimensional stream temperature model calibrated with the longitudinal profiles of stream temperature created from the four thermal imaging flights and validated with three days of continuous stream temperature data from instream data loggers on the days surrounding the thermal remote‐sensing campaign. Model simulations were used to quantify the sensitivity of stream thermal habitat to increases in air and groundwater temperature and changes in base flow. The simulations indicate that stream temperatures may reach critical maximum thresholds for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) mortality, particularly if both air temperature increases and base flow declines. The approach demonstrates that thermal infrared data can greatly assist stream temperature model validation due to its high spatial resolution, and that this spatially continuous stream temperature data can be used to pinpoint spatial heterogeneity in groundwater inflow to streams. With this spatially distributed data on thermal heterogeneity and base‐flow accretion, stream temperature models considering various climate change scenarios are able to identify thermal refugia that will be critical for fisheries management under a changing climate.     

Streamflow Changes in the South Atlantic,United States During the Mid‐ and Late 20th Century1

Abstract: Repeated severe droughts over the last decade in the South Atlantic have raised concern that streamflow may be systematically decreasing, possibly due to climate variability. We examined the monthly and annual trends of streamflow, precipitation, and temperature in the South Atlantic for the time periods: 1934‐2005, 1934‐1969, and 1970‐2005. Streamflow and climate (temperature and precipitation) trends transitioned ca. 1970. From 1934 to 1969, streamflow and precipitation increased in southern regions and decreased in northern regions; temperature decreased throughout the South Atlantic. From 1970 to 2005, streamflow decreased, precipitation decreased, and temperature increased throughout the South Atlantic. It is unclear whether these will be continuing trends or simply part of a long‐term climatic oscillation. Whether these streamflow trends have been driven by climatic or anthropogenic changes, water resources management faces challenging prospects to adapt to decadal‐scale persistently wet and dry hydrologic conditions.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Best Management Practices Under Climate Change Scenarios1

Woznicki, Sean A. and A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, 2011. Sensitivity Analysis of Best Management Practices Under Climate Change Scenarios. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 90‐112. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00598.x Abstract: Understanding the sensitivity of best management practices (BMPs) implementation as climate changes will be important for water resources management. The objective of this study was to determine how the sensitivity of BMPs performance vary due to changes in precipitation, temperature, and CO₂ using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool. Sediment, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus loads on an annual and monthly basis were estimated before and after implementation of eight agricultural BMPs for different climate scenarios. Downscaled climate change data were obtained from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model for the Tuttle Creek Lake watershed in Kansas and Nebraska. Using a relative sensitivity index, native grass, grazing management, and filter strips were determined to be the most sensitive for all climate change scenarios, whereas porous gully plugs, no‐tillage, and conservation tillage were the least sensitive on an annual basis. The monthly sensitivity analysis revealed that BMP sensitivity varies largely on a seasonal basis for all climate change scenarios. The results of this research suggest that the majority of agricultural BMPs tested in this study are significantly sensitive to climate change. Therefore, caution should be exercised in the decision‐making processes.     

Agricultural vulnerability over the Chinese Loess Plateau in response to climate change: Exposure,sensitivity, and adaptive capacity

Understanding how the vulnerability of agricultural production to climate change can differ spatially has practical significance to sustainable management of agricultural systems worldwide. Accordingly, this study developed a conceptual framework to assess the agricultural vulnerability of 243 rural counties on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Indicators representing the climate/agriculture interface were selected to describe exposure and sensitivity, while stocks of certain capitals were used to describe adaptive capacity. A vulnerability index for each county was calculated and the spatial distribution was mapped. Results showed that exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity occur independently, with most contributing indicator values concentrated in a narrow range after normalization. Within the 49 most vulnerable counties, which together encompass 81 % of the vulnerability index range, 42 were characterized by high exposure and sensitivity but low adaptive capacity. The most vulnerable area was found to be located in the central northeast–southwest belt of Loess Plateau. Adaptation measures for both ecological restoration and economic development are needed and potential adaptation options need further investigation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0727-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

城郊农田土壤Pb、Cd的空间变异与评价研究

为了研究城郊区域农田土壤重金属的空间分布特征与质量状况,采用ArcGIS缓冲分析和地统计分析模型分析了长沙城郊农田土壤Pb、Cd的空间变异规律;运用单因子评价法对土壤Pb、Cd的质量状况进行了现状评价;采用Hakanson法对农田土壤Pb、Cd进行了潜在生态风险评价。结果表明,土壤Pb、Cd含量大部分处于Ⅰ级水平（背景状况）,但两种元素均存在不同程度的累积,尤其是Cd的累积程度更为突出。土壤Pb、Cd的平均含量在20km以内、20～40、40～60 km的缓冲区由近至远均呈下降趋势,表明城市人类活动在一定空间尺度内对城郊区农田土壤Pb、Cd含量有较大影响;通过半变异函数分析,土壤Pb、Cd在较大范围内存在空间相关性,Pb和Cd的空间变异均是由结构性因素和随机性因素共同作用引起的。Pb、Cd的单项累积指数和潜在生态危害系数均呈现出近郊>远郊>中郊的趋势,各区域土壤Cd的潜在生态危害趋势较土壤Pb更明显,城市近郊南北方向区域及远郊局部工矿聚集区是农田土壤Pb、Cd的累积程度和污染风险较高的区域     

Hydroclimatic changes and drivers in the Sava River Catchment and comparison with Swedish catchments

In this study, we investigate long-term hydroclimatic changes and their possible relation to regional changes in climate, land-use and water-use over the twentieth century in the transboundary Sava River Catchment (SRC) in South Eastern Europe. In a hydropower dominated part of the SRC, unlike in an unregulated part, we find increase in average annual evapotranspiration and decrease in temporal runoff variability, which are not readily explainable by observed concurrent climate change in temperature and precipitation and may be more related to landscape-internal change drivers. Among the latter investigated here, results indicate hydropower developments as most closely related to the found hydroclimatic shifts, consistent with previous such indications in studies of Swedish hydropower catchments. Overall, the present results have quantitatively framed the recent history and present state of hydroclimate in the SRC, of relevance for water resources in several countries and for a majority of their populations. This provides a useful basis for further assessment of possible future hydroclimatic changes, under different scenarios of climate change and land/water-use developments in the region.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0641-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Adaptive Water Resource Planning in the South Saskatchewan River Basin: Use of Scenarios of Hydroclimatic Variability and Extremes

The South Saskatchewan River Basin is one of Canada's most threatened watersheds, with water supplies in most subbasins over‐allocated. In 2013, stakeholders representing irrigation districts, the environment, and municipalities collaborated with researchers and consultants to explore opportunities to improve the resiliency of the management of the Oldman and South Saskatchewan River subbasins. Streamflow scenarios for 2025‐2054 were constructed by the novel approach of regressing historical river flows against indices of large‐scale ocean‐atmosphere climate oscillations to derive statistical streamflow models, which were then run using projected climate indices from global climate models. The impacts of some of the most extreme scenarios were simulated using the hydrologic mass‐balance model Operational Analysis and Simulation of Integrated Systems (OASIS). Based on stakeholder observations, the project participants proposed and evaluated potential risk management and adaption strategies, e.g., modifying existing infrastructure, building new infrastructure, changing operations to supplement environmental flows, reducing demand, and sharing supply. The OASIS model was applied interactively at live modeling sessions with stakeholders to explore practical adaptation strategies. Our results, which serve as recommendations for policy makers, showed that forecast‐based rationing together with new expanded storage could dramatically reduce water shortages.     

长江上游大型水库群对宜昌站水文情势影响分析

近年来,长江上游已建成一批大型水库,其运行调度必然会对下游的径流产生影响。水文变化指标法(IHA)和水文变化幅度法(RVA)是以水流的量、时间、频率、延时和变化率5种基本特征为基础,对建坝前后的河道水文情势变化进行定量分析的方法。根据长江流域大型水库群建设的实际情况,利用Mann-Kendall秩次相关检验法划分了宜昌站建库前后的流量序列,用来评估长江上游大型水库群对宜昌站水文情势的改变情况。M-K相关检验发现,宜昌站的年最小流量已经在2000年发生了显著性地变化;IHA和RVA分析成果表明,宜昌站的水文情势已经发生了中等程度的改变,主要是与小流量相关的一些因子,如1~3月平均流量、最小流量六个因子、低脉冲发生次数及持续时间等;随着以三峡水库为核心的上游大型水库群建成并投入运行,未来长江下游河道径流还将发生进一步的改变。     

Use of observed hydroclimatic trends to constrain projections of snowmelt season runoff in the Rio Grande headwaters

A method is developed for choosing 21st Century streamflow projections among widely varying results from a large ensemble of climate model-driven simulations. We quantify observed trends in climate–streamflow relationships in the Rio Grande headwaters, which has experienced warming temperature and declining snowpack since the mid-20th Century. Prominent trends in the snowmelt runoff season are used to assess corresponding statistics in downscaled global climate model projections. We define “Observationally Consistent (OC)” simulations as those that reproduce historical changes to linear statistics of diminished snowpack–streamflow coupling in the headwaters and an associated increase in the contribution of spring season (post-peak snowpack) precipitation to streamflow. Only a modest fraction of the ensemble of simulations meets these consistency metrics. The subset of OC simulations projects significant decreases in headwaters flow, whereas the simulations that poorly replicate historical trends exhibit a much wider range of projected changes. These results bolster confidence in model-based projections of declining runoff in the Rio Grande headwaters in the snowmelt runoff season and offer an example of a methodology for evaluating model-based projections in basins with similar hydroclimates that have experienced pronounced climate changes in the recent historical record.     

城市污水回用于山地绿化灌溉土壤重金属的空间变异性

新疆乌鲁木齐市雅玛里克山国家级绿化示范基地的灌溉用水为雅玛里克山污水厂一级出水(乌鲁木齐生活污水出水). 在面积为59 hm2的污灌区布设了61个采样点,测定了表土(0～20 cm)中Cu,Zn,Ni,Cr,Pb,Cd的含量和pH,有机质(OM)含量,阳离子交换量(CEC)等土壤理化参数,并在此基础上进行了尼梅罗综合污染指数评价和基于地理信息系统(GIS)及地统计学的研究. 结果表明,6种重金属的平均含量均低于国家二级标准(GB15168-1995)限值;采样区的土壤重金属总体上属于轻度污染. Zn,Cr,Pb和Cd含量变异函数曲线的理论模型符合指数模型;Ni和OM含量及CEC的理论模型表现为高斯模型;Cu含量和pH的理论模型为球状模型. Pb,Ni,Cr,OM含量和pH,CEC表现为中等强度的空间自相关,Cu,Zn和Cd含量均表现出强烈的空间自相关. 重金属a值最大的是Pb (450 m),而其他重金属的a值多集中在100～200　m,采用普通克立格最优内插法对未测点重金属,pH,OM含量和CEC进行最优估计,绘制了空间分布图,更直观地反映出了重金属元素及土壤理化参数的空间变异特征.