Quantifying and Predicting the Attenuation of Downstream Fluxes Associated with Beaver Meadows

量化和预测与海狸草甸相关的下游通量的衰减

基本信息

批准号：
1632798
负责人：
Tim Covino
金额：
$ 27.91万
依托单位：
Colorado State University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2016
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2016-08-01 至 2020-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1632798&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Quantifying Predicting Attenuation Downstream Fluxes

项目摘要

Predicted warming and drying across much of the U.S. will stress existing water supplies for consumptive activities, as well as ecosystem health and resilience. This is particularly true for the arid and semi-arid regions of the western U.S., including headwater states such as Colorado. Given the predicted increased potential for droughts and floods in the region, the ability to retain and gradually release water from surface and subsurface retention zones within river basins is important. This study will evaluate the potential for beaver meadows which contain numerous dams, ponds, and multi-thread channels, to substantially attenuate downstream fluxes of water, sediment, organic matter, and nitrate relative to river segments without beaver activity. Results of this work will be important for restoring river function, attenuating flood pulses and augmenting low flow periods, as well as for mitigating potential effects of climate change.In this study investigators will (1) quantify the magnitude of downstream-flux attenuation as a function of size of the beaver meadow relative to the contributing drainage area and activity/spatial heterogeneity of the meadow, (2) evaluate how meadow position within a catchment affects downstream attenuation, (3) assess the extent and magnitude of landscape alteration in the region, and (4) estimate the potential influence of landscape alteration on hydrologic dynamics across larger spatial extents. Quantitative interdisciplinary methods from both hydrology and geomorphology will be leveraged to quantify relationships between catchment morphology, storage, and flux and to scale these dynamics to larger spatial extents. The research will develop new insights into the buffering capacities offered by retention zones in the form of beaver meadows and develop new conceptualizations and numerical models on the manner in which reach-scale behavior influences catchment-scale process.

预计美国大部分地区将出现变暖和干燥，这将对消费活动的现有供水以及生态系统的健康和恢复能力造成压力。对于美国西部的干旱和半干旱地区尤其如此，包括科罗拉多州等水源州。鉴于预计该地区干旱和洪水的可能性增加，从流域内的地表和地下滞留区保留并逐渐释放水的能力非常重要。这项研究将评估包含大量水坝、池塘和多线河道的海狸草甸相对于没有海狸活动的河段显着减弱下游水、沉积物、有机物和硝酸盐通量的潜力。这项工作的结果对于恢复河流功能、减弱洪水脉冲和延长枯水期以及减轻气候变化的潜在影响非常重要。在这项研究中，研究人员将（1）量化下游通量衰减的幅度，将其作为海狸草甸大小相对于草甸贡献排水面积和活动/空间异质性的函数，(2) 评估流域内草甸位置如何影响下游衰减，(3)评估该地区景观变化的程度和程度，(4) 估计景观变化对更大空间范围内水文动态的潜在影响。将利用水文学和地貌学的定量跨学科方法来量化流域形态、蓄水量和通量之间的关系，并将这些动态扩展到更大的空间范围。该研究将对河狸草甸形式的保留区提供的缓冲能力提出新的见解，并就河段规模行为影响流域规模过程的方式开发新的概念和数值模型。