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.

在美国大部分地区预测的变暖和干燥将强调现有的消费活动以及生态系统健康和韧性的水供应。对于包括科罗拉多州等源头州在内的美国西部地区的干旱和半干旱地区，尤其如此。鉴于该地区干旱和洪水的潜力增加了，因此在河流盆地内保留并逐渐从地面和地下保留区释放水的能力很重要。这项研究将评估包含大量大坝，池塘和多线程通道的海狸草地的潜力，以实质性地减弱水，沉积物，有机物和硝酸盐的下游通量相对于没有海狸活动的河流。这项工作的结果对于恢复河流功能，减轻洪水脉搏并增加了低流动周期以及减轻气候变化的潜在影响至关重流域影响下游衰减，（3）评估该地区景观改变的程度和幅度，（4）估计景观改变对较大空间扩展的水文动力学的潜在影响。从水文学和地貌学的定量跨学科方法将被利用以量化集水学，存储和通量之间的关系，并将这些动态扩展到更大的空间范围。这项研究将开发新的见解，以对保留区以海狸草地的形式提供的缓冲能力，并开发出有关涉及量表行为影响集水尺度流程的方式的新概念和数值模型。