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Watershed Ecology > Exam 2 > Flashcards

Exam 2 Flashcards

1
Q

What is riparian

A
  • of a belonging to the bank of a river

- riparian areas are the lands adjacent to rivers and streams

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2
Q

Some attributes of Riparian zones

A
  • variable environments in space and time
  • collection points for resources
  • High species diversity
  • Biotic communities adapted to disturbance
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3
Q

Dynamic hydrology creates_____

A

complex vegetation

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4
Q

4 dimensions of riparian zones

A
  • longitudinal: links upstream to downstream
  • lateral: links upslope areas with the channel corridor
  • vertical: integrates the critical zone (atm, soil, groundwater)
  • temporal: tracks ecosystem dynamics overtime
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5
Q

5 primary vascular plant zones on floodplains

A
  • permanent water with submerged vegetation
  • permanent flooded areas with rooted or floating emergent vegetation
  • seasonally flooded areas with emergent vegetation
  • areas that are occasionally flooded
  • areas that are not flooded, but whose water table is influenced by the flood regime
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6
Q

Riparian zones have high spatial variation in

A
  • texture
  • organic matter
  • nutrient content
  • moisture capacity
  • redox potential
  • micro-fauna
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7
Q

Abandoned channels support:

A

riparian forests

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8
Q

Adaptions of riparian plants

A
  • ability to grow on unstable substrates
  • establish on floodplain mineral soils
  • grow in saturated or flooded soils
  • develop seeds or pant fragments well suited for dispersal/survival in riverine areas
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9
Q

Intermediate disterbance hypothesis

A

-predicts that biotic diversity will be greatest in communities subjected to intermediate levels of disturbance

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10
Q

vegetative diversity

A
  • plant diversity increases downstream in longitudinal patterns (greater topography and habitat diversity)
  • -peaks at intermediate levels of disturbance and moisture availability
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11
Q

River continuum concept

A
  • invertebrate diversity is greatest in middle-order reaches
  • most productivity is derived from upstream
  • downstream reaches depend on the leakiness of upstream
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12
Q

Flood pulse concept

A
  • within reaches with extensive floodplains, ecosystem productivity is controlled by lateral interactions of river and floodplain
  • different from RCC which predicts productivity is determined by longitudinal linkages
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13
Q

Ecosystem engineers

A
  • beaver
  • conversion of forest to wetland
  • increase in landscape diversity
  • creates a beneficial habitat for waterfowl, amphibians, and weland plants
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14
Q

Riparian forest management

A
  • old growth riparian forests are more structurally complex than young ones
  • riparian buffers should target old growth riparian corridors
  • by protecting large trees, this will promote stand development to old growth
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15
Q

why are riparian buffers prescribed

A

-to stabilize banks, filter pollutants, and provide favorable micro-habitats

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16
Q

Main functions of dams

A
  • STORAGE OF WATER for water supply, power generation, to capture flood peaks
  • TO RAISE THE WATER LEVEL BEHIND THE DAM: to increase hydraulic head/water pressure, and to divert into irrigation canals and water supply intakes
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17
Q

Earliest remnants of dams or water diversions

A
  • ancient mesopotamia

- 8000 BP

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18
Q

Earthfill dams

A
  • made of rock and soil
  • oldest, cheapest build
  • accounts for 63% of dams
  • worlds largest dam in Pakistan is one of these
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19
Q

Gravity dams

A
  • mostly concrete
  • built across narrow valleys with firm bedrock
  • accounts for 4% of large dams
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20
Q

Arch dams

A
  • arches point upstream and distribute the hydrostatic pressure
  • economical use of building material
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21
Q

Modern purposes of dams

A
  • HYDROPOWER: provides almost 20% of worlds electricity
  • WATER SUPPLY: for agriculture, irrigation, households
  • FLOOD CONTROL
  • NAVIGATION
  • LEISURE ACTIVITES
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22
Q

When were the glory years of dam construction in the US

A

-1930s-1960s

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23
Q

FERC

A
  • Federal Emergency Regulatory Commission
  • licenses and inspects private, municipal, and state hydroelectric powers
  • Established by the Federal Water Power Act of 1920
24
Q

Dam facts

A
  • 90,580 damas in the US
  • Average age is 56 years
  • > $45 billion required to repair high hazard potential dams
25
Q

Large dams

A

> 15 m high

>57,000 large dams in the world

26
Q

Top dam building countries

A

-china, US, India, Japan

27
Q

Giant dams

A

-over 300 in the world
>150m tall
-> 15 million cubic meters of volume
-Reservoir storage > 25 cubic km

28
Q

Negative impacts of dams

A
  • forces people to move from homes and farms
  • harms livelihoods of communities who rely on natural fisheries
  • habitat destruction, disrupts fish and wildlife migration
  • expensive
  • sediment can build up, decreasing effectivness
29
Q

hydrologic response to dams

A
  • fewer high magnitude floods
  • less seasonal variability with flow stabilization
  • decreased discharge due to irrigation diversions
30
Q

geomorphic response to dams

A
  • less bed mobilization
  • reduced sediment supply
  • riparian vegetation loss which leads to more bank erosion
  • decreased floodplain inundation
31
Q

Serial Discontinuity Concept

A

-dams result in upstream-downstream shifts in biotic and abiotic patterns

32
Q

Alluvial river response to dam construction (trinity river)

A
  • eliminated snowmelt peak and recession
  • lack of scouring floods allows trees to establish in the channel
  • floodplains were isolated and abandoned
  • reduces habitat quantity and quality for salmonids, vegetation, etc
33
Q

Potential effects of dam removal

A
  • unbalancing fine and coarse sediments
  • filling of downstream impoundments
  • decreased streambed particle size
  • will be substantial short term changes in many ecological variables bc this is a disturbance
34
Q

Systems of water rights in the US

A
  • riparian rights
  • Appropriative rights
  • regulated riparian rights
35
Q

What is the most common water right system in the US and what is NY

A
  • US: Appropriation doctrine (west)

- NY: regulated riparian

36
Q

Riparian rights

A
  • eastern states
  • based on proximity to water
  • use must be reasonable and must not interfere with resonable use by others
  • right granted is to use, not to own, water
37
Q

Representative riparian rights

A

-landowners with land that lie within the water source have access/rights to the water

38
Q

Appropriative rights

A
  • based on seniority, (first come first serve)

- water appropriated for beneficial use and absolute measurement

39
Q

water as a public resource

A

-instream uses support ecosystem health and env quality

40
Q

Water as a market commodity

A
  • home uses

- industry, agriculture

41
Q

What is the purpose of water policy

A

-to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nations waters

42
Q

What is water pollution

A

-man made, or man induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of the water

43
Q

Point source

A
  • any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance

- pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit….

44
Q

Nonpoint source

A
  • pollution induced by natural processes (rain, runoff, seepage)
  • pollution not traceable to any discreet or identifiable facility
45
Q

Jurisdictional wetland

A
  • 14 continuous days of saturated conditions at or near the surface in the growing season
  • hydric soils on the NRCS list, must have characteristics of hydrology in the soil
46
Q

Waters of the US

A
  • waters which are currently/past used in interstate/foreign commerce
  • all interstate waters and wetlands
  • territorial seas
  • impoundments of waters in 1 and 3
47
Q

What are not waters of the US

A
  • waste treatment systems
  • prior converted cropland
  • ditches with ephemeral/intermittent flow that are not a relocated tributary
48
Q

What is vegetation management

A
  • human caused changes in vegetation cover

- often implemented as cuttiing trees and maintaining a desired physical forest structure

49
Q

Issues with vegetation manipulation

A
  • deforestation effects on water quality

- effects of urbanization on water yield and quality

50
Q

Changes in catchment runoff from timber cutting

A
  • increased storm runoff in harvested catchment

- changes in peak flow timing

51
Q

Changes in runoff from forest cutting

A
  • increased runoff
  • flashier system, flood peaks arrive sooner
  • increased hillside erosion
52
Q

Why do forests function as natural flood protection

A
  • trap water during heavy rainfall
  • release water slowly into streams
  • maintains stream flows during dry periods
53
Q

Removing 10% of raining native forest would

A
  • increase the frequency of floods by 4-28%

- lengthen flood duration by 4-8%

54
Q

What should be used for reforestation

A

-native species

55
Q

Ecosystem value of floodplains

A

sediment and nutrient reduction

  • groundwater recharge
  • flood risk reduction
  • provide about 25% of all non-marine ecosystem service benefits

Watershed Ecology (3 decks)

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