•Urbanization impacts stream health through complex pathways in the Southeast Piedmont.•Flow and pesticides were major mediators of urbanization impact on macroinvertebrates.•Potential interactions ...existed among pesticides, nutrients, and basic water quality.•Structural equation modeling has potential in informing watershed management.•Landscape development intensity index is a useful urban indicator.
Urbanization has greatly degraded stream health, particularly in the rapidly urbanizing southeastern United States. Recent studies identified primary instream stressors affecting biological communities along urban gradients in the Southeast Piedmont. However, a comprehensive understanding of the complex mechanisms is still lacking, which impedes effective management actions. To improve our understanding, we investigated the potential pathways by which urbanization, as represented by the landscape development intensity index (LDII), and important environmental characteristics affected instream stressors and macroinvertebrate communities using structural equation modeling (SEM) and the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Stream Quality Assessment dataset. We investigated the direct, indirect, and total effects of LDII and environmental characteristics on instream stressors and macroinvertebrate communities as well as the interactions of instream stressors. Moreover, we explored alternative reasonable relationships between variables by using an alternative model approach. We found that LDII had moderate to strong total effects on all instream stressors and macroinvertebrates with complex impact pathways revealed in SEM models, demonstrating the dominant impact of urban landscape development on stream ecosystems in the Southeast Piedmont. Flow disturbance and pesticides were major mediators transmitting most of LDII’s effects on macroinvertebrates. Furthermore, we found potential interactions among instream stressors, which were not widely discussed in previous studies. Compared with agricultural watersheds, urban watersheds represented different land use impact mechanisms. Our findings contributed to an improved understanding of urbanization’s impact on stream ecosystems and demonstrated the usefulness of an alternative model approach that provided insights into the underlying mechanisms. In addition, we demonstrated the utility of LDII in characterizing landscape development and improving SEM models. Finally, we explored the potential of SEM in global watershed management activities by discussing the practical implications of impact pathways and the innovative use of SEM as a decision-making tool.
•CN is useful environmental indicator of stream health.•CN can predict FBI in western north Carolina, US.•Lower CNs (higher infiltration velocity soils and less IC) indicate improved (FBI).
Many ...studies report stream degradation from direct anthropogenic impacts by correlating increased catchment impervious cover percentage (IC) with worsening stream health. However, this correlation can be less useful when predicting stream health in catchments with little to no IC. Our study characterizes catchments by combining hydrologic soil groups (HSG) with land cover and maintenance, known as Curve Numbers (CN), to predict stream health thresholds across a wide gradient of land cover conditions, particularly when IC is nominal or nonexistent. We did not compare the CN method with IC, but regressed two commonly used variables. The independent variable is the CN and the response variable is an index based on a rapid biological assessment protocol for wadable streams, known as the Family Benthic Index (FBI). The FBI is an index of organic pollution that rates stream reaches with published values that range from “Very Poor” to “Excellent” to categorize stream health. Generally, increasing CNs indicate increasing IC with slower infiltration velocity. CNs are commonly applied across the United States and other regions to estimate runoff quantity. However, we only investigated if CNs could reliably predict stream health (FBI). We sampled catchments (n = 178) in western North Carolina, US and found that CN can predict stream health (FBI) reasonably well (r2=0.78, p<0.0001). The FBI determination is based on rapid biological assessment protocol that relies on the identification of benthic macroinvertebrates collected from riffles to the family level using Hilsenhoff's Family Benthic Index (FBI). Our results suggest that a CN less than 70 indicated “Good” or better stream health categories (lower CNs have less IC and higher infiltration velocity). CNs greater than 70 suggest stream health below the “Good” classification. Future research includes replicating this method in other catchments and comparing this method to other indices such as IC or embodied energy in a landscape, which were not tested in this paper. Water quality professionals and scientists can calibrate this method for other catchments to inform decision making to address stream health.
La utilización de los estudios de montaña requiere de narrativas integradoras para la geoalfabetización sobre paisajes socioecológicos productivos y motiva más investigaciones transdisciplinares en ...el campo de la montología. Concebimos este artículo como la confluencia de la experiencia individual y el razonamiento colectivo hacia la formación de grupos de investigación sinérgicos que se ocupan de la ciencia de montaña convergente, para hacer avanzar la montología a un nuevo nivel, mediante el cual el pensamiento innovador sobre la ciencia de la sustentabilidad y el desarrollo regenerativo incorpora propuestas alternativas para el mantenimiento, la mejora, o regeneración de las condiciones de vida de los paisajes de montaña. Buscamos utilizar este marco contemporáneo de sustentabilidad y restauración ecológica como el ímpetu para comprender mejor las relaciones de la naturaleza y la cultura, desde una perspectiva transdisciplinar, en montañas habitadas que operan en cuatro dimensiones (largo, ancho, alto y tiempo). El artículo está orientado a potenciar la transversalidad de temáticas en torno a las montañas como sistemas socioecológicos productivos, en una nueva disciplina académica institucionalizada y convergente. Concluimos con un llamado a un desarrollo regenerativo, sustentable y consiliente en las montañas del mundo.
Collaborative planning in the coast of Georgia, USA, at the regional scale, by applying a Geodesign framework used for the evaluation and negotiation of alternative plans from multiple stakeholders, ...using innovative tools for assessing, visualizing and sharing proposals. Each project evaluated issues of conservation, resilience, and regional development in a sensitive coastal area, with great historic and ecological value, in a region that has been exposed to the impacts of two hurricanes in the past three years. The second project integrates two dynamic models for ecological connectivity and for land use allocation using the most recent green infrastructure national datasets. A single negotiated regional plan was the result that will be used for future planning efforts by the coastal regional agency as well as other stakeholders.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.20.2018.14
Reimagining infrastructure for a biodiverse future van Rees, Charles B; Hernández-Abrams, Darixa D; Shudtz, Matthew ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
11/2023, Letnik:
120, Številka:
46
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Civil infrastructure will be essential to face the interlinked existential threats of climate change and rising resource demands while ensuring a livable Anthropocene for all. However, conventional ...infrastructure planning largely neglects the contributions and maintenance of Earth's ecological life support systems, which provide irreplaceable services supporting human well-being. The stability and performance of these services depend on biodiversity, but conventional infrastructure practices, narrowly focused on controlling natural capital, have inadvertently degraded biodiversity while perpetuating social inequities. Here, we envision a new infrastructure paradigm wherein biodiversity and ecosystem services are a central objective of civil engineering. In particular, we reimagine infrastructure practice such that 1) ecosystem integrity and species conservation are explicit objectives from the outset of project planning; 2) infrastructure practices integrate biodiversity into diverse project portfolios along a spectrum from conventional to nature-based solutions and natural habitats; 3) ecosystem functions reinforce and enhance the performance and lifespan of infrastructure assets; and 4) civil engineering promotes environmental justice by counteracting legacies of social inequity in infrastructure development and nature conservation. This vision calls for a fundamental rethinking of the standards, practices, and mission of infrastructure development agencies and a broadening of scope for conservation science. We critically examine the legal and professional precedents for this paradigm shift, as well as the moral and economic imperatives for manifesting equitable infrastructure planning that mainstreams biodiversity and nature's benefits to people. Finally, we set an applied research agenda for supporting this vision and highlight financial, professional, and policy pathways for achieving it.
Global environmental factors (e.g., extreme weather, climate action failure, natural disasters, human environmental damage) increasingly threaten coastal communities. Shorelines are often hardened ...(seawalls, bulkheads) to prevent flooding and erosion and protect coastal communities. However, hardened shorelines lead to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Developmental pressures that are growing in scale, scope, and complexity necessitate the development of sustainable solutions to work with, rather than against, nature. Such nature-based solutions (NBS) provide protection and improve environmental quality and enhance biodiversity. To further this pressing need into action, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began the Engineering With Nature (EWN) initiative to balance economic, environmental, and social benefits through collaboration with partners and stakeholders. This work shows how engineering practice can be advanced through structured decision-making and landscape architecture renderings that include ecological sciences and NBS into an integrated approach for enhancing biodiversity in coastal marine environments. This integrated approach can be applied when designing new infrastructure projects or modifying or repairing existing infrastructure. To help communicate designs incorporating NBS, drawings, and renderings showcasing EWN concepts can aid decision-making. Our experiences with implementing EWN in practice have revealed that involving landscape architects can play a crucial role in successful collaboration and lead to solutions that protect coastal communities while preserving or enhancing biodiversity.
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•Engineered coastal structures prevent flooding/erosion but can reduce biodiversity.•Nature-based Solutions (NbS) provide flood protection and improve environmental quality.•Resilient landscape architectural design can improve biodiversity with NbS.•Engineering practice can be advanced through structured decision-making.
A growing body of research indicates that opinions about long-term climate change and other natural resource issues can be significantly affected by current weather conditions (e.g., outside air ...temperature) and other highly contingent environmental cues. Although increased severity and frequency of droughts is regarded as a likely consequence of anthropogenic climate change, little previous research has attempted to relate the experience of drought with public attitudes about water supply or water-related climate change issues. For this study, a large set (
n
= 3,163) of public survey data collected across nine states of the southern United States was spatio-temporally linked with records of short-term (~12 weeks) and long-term (~5 years) drought condition at the level of each respondent’s zip code. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression models that included numerous other independent variables (environmental ideology, age, gender, education, community size, residency duration, and local annual precipitation) indicated highly significant interactions with long-term drought condition, but showed no significant effect from short-term drought condition. Conversely, attitudes about water-related climate change showed highly significant interactions with short-term drought, with weaker to no effects from long-term drought. While the finding of significant effects from short-term drought condition on opinions about future drought is broadly consistent with previous public opinion research on climate change, the finding of water supply attitudes being more responsive to longer term drought condition is, to our knowledge, a novel result. This study more generally demonstrates the methodological feasibility and applied importance of accounting for local drought condition when public opinion information is used to evaluate outreach programs for water conservation and climate change.
We examine public opinions about future water availability using results of a survey conducted in 2008 – 2010 in nine southern states. Because a large percentage of respondents in Florida, Georgia, ...and Texas were concerned with water availability, and many in Tennessee believed a prolonged drought was likely, residents of these states may be more responsive to water conservation educational programs. To increase public awareness about water issues, Extension should tailor educational programs to new state residents and those with lower educational levels. Extension programs focusing on global warming impacts on water resources can have high effects in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Clear, cool headwater streams in the mountains of North Carolina are inextricably linked to the surrounding landscape. Trickling perennial streams drain precipitation from their catchment and are ...capable of sustaining excellent water quality to support rich aquatic biodiversity that feeds and beneficially contributes to the stream network below. However, headwater ecosystems can be easily compromised by even seemingly insignificant anthropogenic impacts. Small headwater streams were not mapped until recently, and are now known to be ubiquitous. Although the NC Mountains contain some of the highest headwater streams densities in the nation, they remain very susceptible to changes in the catchments that sustain them. Understanding effects from changes in the catchment can ameliorate future impacts, prioritize preservation efforts and inform restoration trajectories. Although a variety of stakeholders have preserved and passively managed unimpaired stream systems, others have attempted to enhance or restore streams with limited success. Without consideration to the surrounding landscape, these efforts may not be successful. This dissertation offers a starting point for determining thresholds of anthropogenic impacts to sustain biological integrity in headwater streams and offers examples of successful Extension education outreach efforts.
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