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Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 3:00 PM
590
Combined effects of climate change and urbanization on stream condition
Jeroen Gerritsen1, Erik Leppo1, Anna Hamilton1, and Britta G. Bierwagen2. (1) Tetra Tech Inc., 400 Red Brook Boulevard, Suite 200, Owings Mills, MD 21117, (2) Global Change Research Program, ORD, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, MC 8601 P, Washington, DC 20460
The interaction between climate change and other stressors affecting aquatic ecosystems is a central issue in managing the effects of changing climate. Urbanization is a landscape-level change that may have similar effects as climate change in several ways. Urbanization is typified by increased flashiness of runoff and stream flow, increases in water temperatures, and changes in non-point source loadings (e.g., nutrients, sediments). Hydrologic and water quality changes due to climate change will be confounded, and potentially obscured, by similar changes due to urbanization. We used existing hydrologic data covering a strong urban gradient and a long time period, and inferred effects of urbanization and effects of changes in rainfall patterns. We also examined a modeling approach to develop ranges for projected changes in biologically meaningful stream characteristics that are affected by both climate change and land use, including temperature and various flow parameters. The interactions of landscape-level impacts to the quality of stream ecosystems with climate change effects has implications for the long-term management of flowing waters, including applications of analytical approaches, protection and appropriate characterization of reference conditions, and other adaptive strategies.
Web Page: Climate change, land use, hydrological indicators