Journal article
Agro-hydrologic Landscapes in the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River Basins
Environmental management (New York), Vol.55(3), pp.646-656
03/01/2015
DOI: 10.1007/s00267-014-0420-x
PMID: 25479705
Abstract
A critical part of increasing conservation effectiveness is targeting the "right practice" to the "right place" where it can intercept pollutant flowpaths. Conceptually, these flowpaths can be inferred from soil and slope characteristics, and in this study, we developed an agro-hydrologic classification to identify N and P loss pathways and priority conservation practices in small watersheds in the U.S. Midwest. We developed a GIS framework to classify 11,010 small watersheds in the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River basins based on soil permeability and slope characteristics of agricultural cropland areas in each watershed. The amount of cropland in any given watershed varied from < 10 to > 60 %. Cropland areas were classified into five main categories, with slope classes of < 2, 2-5, and > 5 %, and soil drainage classes of poorly and well drained. Watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River basin (UMRB) were dominated by cropland areas in low slopes and poorly drained soils, whereas less-intensively cropped watersheds in Wisconsin and Minnesota (in the UMRB) and throughout the Ohio River basin were overwhelmingly well drained. Hydrologic differences in cropped systems indicate that a one-size-fits-all approach to conservation selection will not work. Consulting the classification scheme proposed herein may be an appropriate first-step in identifying those conservation practices that might be most appropriate for small watersheds in the basin.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Agro-hydrologic Landscapes in the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River Basins
- Creators
- Keith E. Schilling - University of IowaCalvin F. Wolter - Iowa Department of Natural ResourcesEileen McLellan - Environmental Defense Fund
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Environmental management (New York), Vol.55(3), pp.646-656
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00267-014-0420-x
- PMID
- 25479705
- ISSN
- 0364-152X
- eISSN
- 1432-1009
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- Walton Family Foundation
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/01/2015
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984383304202771
Metrics
10 Record Views