Changes in hillslope hydrology in a perched,shallow soil system due to clearcutting and residual biomass removal

Sustainable fuels legislation and volatility in energy prices have put additional pressures on the forestry sector to intensify the harvesting of biomass for “advanced biofuel” production. To better understand how residual biomass removal after harvest affects forest hydrology in relatively low slope terrain, a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study was conducted in the USDA Forest Service's Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota, USA. Hydrological measurements were made from 2010–2013 on a forested hillslope that was divided into three treatment blocks, where one block was harvested and residual biomass removed (Biomass Removed), the second was harvested and residual biomass left (Biomass Left), and the last block was left as an Unharvested Control. The pre-harvest period (2 years) was 2010–11 and post-harvest (2 years) was 2012–13. Water table elevation at the upslope and downslope position, subsurface runoff, and soil moisture were measured between May–November. Mixed effect statistical models were used to compare both the before-after and “control” treatment ratios (ratios between harvested hillslopes and the Unharvested Control hillslope). Subsurface runoff significantly increased (p < .05) at both harvested hillslopes but to a greater degree on the Biomass Left hillslope. Greater subsurface runoff volumes at both harvested hillslopes were driven by substantial increases during fall, with additional significant increases during summer on the Biomass Left hillslope. The hydrological connectivity, inferred from event runoff ratios, increased due to harvesting at both hillslopes but only significantly on the Biomass Left hillslope. The winter harvest minimized soil disturbance, resulting in no change to the effective hydraulic conductivity distribution with depth. Thus, the observed hydrological changes were driven by increased effective precipitation and decreased evapotranspiration, increasing the duration that both harvested hillslopes were hydrologically active. The harvesting of residual biomass appears to lessen hydrological connectivity relative to leaving residual biomass on the hillslope, potentially decreasing downstream hydrological impacts of similar forestry operations.     

A 1500-year record of climatic and environmental change in ElkLake, Minnesota I: Varve thickness and gray-scale density

The deepest part (29.5 m) of Elk Lake, ClearwaterCounty, northwestern Minnesota, contains a complete Holocene section that iscontinuously varved. The varve components are predominantly autochthonous(CaCO₃, organic matter, biogenic silica, and several iron andmanganese minerals), but the varves do contain a minor detrital-clastic(aluminosilicate) component that is predominantly wind-borne (eolian) andprovides an important record of atmospheric conditions. Singular spectrumanalysis (SSA) and wavelet analysis of varve thickness recognized significantperiodicities in the multicentennial and multidecadal bands that varied inpower (i.e., variable significance) and position (i.e., variable period) withinthe periodic bands. Persistent periodicities of about 10, 22, 40, and 90 years,and, in particular, multicentennial periodicities in varve thickness and otherproxy variables are similar to those in spectra of radiocarbon production, aproxy for past solar activity. This suggests that there may be a solar control,perhaps through geomagnetic effects on atmospheric circulation. Multicentennialand multidecadal periodicities also occur in wavelet spectra of relativegray-scale density. However, gray-scale density does not appear to correlatewith any of the measured proxy variables, and at this point we do not know whatcontrolled gray scale.     

Karst database development in Minnesota: design and data assembly

The Karst Feature Database (KFD) of Minnesota is a relational GIS-based Database Management System (DBMS). Previous karst feature datasets used inconsistent attributes to describe karst features in different areas of Minnesota. Existing metadata were modified and standardized to represent a comprehensive metadata for all the karst features in Minnesota. Microsoft Access 2000 and ArcView 3.2 were used to develop this working database. Existing county and sub-county karst feature datasets have been assembled into the KFD, which is capable of visualizing and analyzing the entire data set. By November 17 2002, 11,682 karst features were stored in the KFD of Minnesota. Data tables are stored in a Microsoft Access 2000 DBMS and linked to corresponding ArcView applications. The current KFD of Minnesota has been moved from a Windows NT server to a Windows 2000 Citrix server accessible to researchers and planners through networked interfaces.     

The Application of a Diatom-based Transfer Function to Evaluate Regional Water-Quality Trends in Minnessota Since 1970

Significant population growth over the last three decades, as well as efforts to improve surface-water quality mandated by the Clean Water Act, potentially have had opposing influences on aquatic ecosystems in the U.S. Because historical data on water-quality trends are limited over this time period, we developed a diatom-based transfer function to reconstruct chloride, color, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), total phosphorus (TP), and pH in 55 Minnesota lakes. The lakes span three different ecoregions, as well as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and differ in their history of settlement and land use, and in surficial geology, climate, and vegetation. Lakes in the Northern Lakes and Forest ecoregion are nearly pristine, whereas those in the other regions likely are strongly affected by urban or agricultural pollutants. Reconstructions of water-chemistry trends since 1970 suggest that recent human activities have had substantial impacts in both urban and rural areas. Chloride concentrations have increased in many Metro lakes, which may be due to road salts, and phosphorus levels have been steady or rising in agricultural regions. The majority of Metro lakes show some decline in TP, although many of the changes are not statistically significant based on our reconstruction techniques. There is no evidence that atmospheric deposition of sulfate or nitrate has caused acidification or changes in trophic state for remote lakes in the northeastern part of the state.     

Modelling the impacts of subsurface drainage on surface runoff and sediment yield in the Le Sueur Watershed,Minnesota, USA

Abstract

Tile drainage influences infiltration and surface runoff and is thus an important factor in the erosion process. Tile drainage reduces surface runoff, but questions abound on its influence on sediment transport through its dense network and into the stream network. The impact of subsurface tiling on upland erosion rates in the Le Sueur River watershed, USA, was assessed using the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model. Six different scenarios of tile drainage with varying drainage coefficient and management type (no till and autumn mulch-till) were evaluated. The mean annual surface runoff depth, soil loss rate and sediment delivery ratio (SDR) for croplands, based on a 30-year simulation for the watershed with untiled autumn mulch-till (Scenario 1), were estimated to be 83.5 mm, 0.27 kg/m² and 86.7%, respectively; on no-till management systems (Scenario 4), the respective results were 72.3 mm, 0.06 kg/m² and 88.2%. Tile drains reduced surface runoff, soil loss and SDR estimates for Scenario 1 by, on average, 14.5, 8.1 and 7.9%, respectively; and for Scenario 4 by an estimated 31.5, 22.1 and 20.2%, respectively. The impact of tile drains on surface runoff, soil loss and SDR was greater under the no-till management system than under the autumn mulch-till management system. Comparison of WEPP outputs with those of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) showed differences between the two methods.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz

Citation Maalim, F.K. and Melesse. A.M., 2013. Modelling impacts of subsurface drainage on surface runoff and sediment yield in the Le Sueur Watershed in Minnesota, USA. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (3), 570–586.     

A climatic-limnologic model of diatom succession for paleolimnological interpretation of varved sediments at Elk Lake,Minnesota

Sediment traps placed in the profundal region of Elk Lake, north central Minnesota during the 1979 spring and 1983–84 fall and spring seasons monitored seasonal diatom production for two climatically distinctive periods. The spring of 1979 was one of the coldest and wettest on record. Ice out at Elk Lake was 10 days later than average, and spring circulation was short. Fragilaria crotonensis dominated the late spring and early summer diatom production in association with Synedra and Cyclotella species, perhaps because rates of phosphorus supply were low compared to silica. The winter of 1983–84 was drier than usual, and the early but cold spring of 1984 caused ice out at Elk Lake to be about 1 week earlier than normal. Spring storms promoted a long and full circulation that allowed Stephanodiscus minulutus to bloom, presumably in response to increased phosphorus loading related to deep and vigorous circulation. The two dominant diatoms in Elk Lake, F. crotonensis and S. minutulus may reflect climatic patterns that control lake circulation. The climatically regulated occurrence of these diatoms is generally, but not specifically, comparable to their distribution in lake surface sediments throughout Minnesota. A combination of regional and lake-specific studies on the controls of diatom succession and distribution provides climatic insights for interpreting paleolimnogical records of diatoms.     

EQUILIBRIUM AND NONEQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS IN DRYLAND RIVERS

Rivers in drylands typically are characterized by extreme flow variability, with long periods of little or no flow interspersed with occasional large, sometimes extreme, floods. Complete adjustment of river form and process is sometimes inhibited, resulting in a common assumption that equilibrium conditions may rarely, if ever, exist in dryland rivers, and that transient and unstable (nonequilibrium) behavior is the norm. Examples from the Channel Country and the Northern Plains in central Australia challenge that notion. Along the middle reaches of these intermediate and large, low-gradient rivers, where long duration floods generate moderate to low unit stream powers and boundary resistance is high as a result of indurated alluvial terraces, cohesive muds or riparian vegetation, there is evidence that: (1) channels have remained essentially stable despite large floods; (2) sediment transport discontinuities, while present at a catchment scale, are largely insignificant for channel form and process in individual reaches; (3) there are strong correlations between many channel form and process variables; and (4) many rivers appear to be adjusted to maximum sediment transport efficiency under conditions of low gradient, abundant within-channel vegetation and declining downstream discharge. In these middle reaches, rivers are characterized by equilibrium conditions. However, in the aggradational lower reaches of rivers on the Northern Plains, where upstream terraces are buried by younger sediments and channels are less confined, nonequilibrium conditions prevail. Here, channels sometimes undergo sudden and substantial changes in form during large floods, sediment transport discontinuities are readily apparent, and landforms such as splays remain out-of-balance with normal flows. Hence, dryland rivers can exhibit both equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions, depending on factors such as catchment size, channel gradient, flood duration, unit stream power, channel confinement, sediment cohesion, and bank strength. [Key words: dryland rivers, floods, equilibrium, nonequilibrium, central Australia.]     

Dendroecological Analysis of Spruce Budworm Outbreaks and their Relation to Climate Near the Prairie-Forest Border in Northwestern Minnesota

This paper investigates the effects of spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) on balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) at Itasca State Park in northwestern Minnesota. We studied the species composition, age structure, and radial growth patterns in tree rings along five belt transects at sites infested with spruce budworm. Our objectives were to: (1) discover when the latest spruce budworm outbreak started; (2) determine whether tree growth was similarly reduced in earlier decades, suggesting earlier spruce budworm outbreaks; and (3) test whether radial tree growth and the start of the outbreak(s) were correlated with climate. We used the computer program OUTBREAK to determine that the current spruce budworm infestation began to reduce tree growth in the 1990s, before it was detected by park officials in 2001. The tree-ring record indicated that growth of the host-species trees was periodically reduced at all sites prior to the 1990s. We found no consistent relationship between temperature/precipitation and the initiation of spruce budworm outbreaks, as reconstructed by the OUTBREAK program, at the southwestern edge of the distribution of balsam fir. The Palmer Drought Severity Index, however, was positive (i.e., wetter-than-normal conditions) before increased spruce budworm activity at all sites. Outbreaks are related to climatic conditions, but they also depend on other factors such as the availability of sufficient food for the spruce budworm.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books Reviewed in this article: Lob Trees in the Wilderness . Clifford and Isabel Ahlgren . Satellite Microwave Remote Sensing . T. D. Allan , ed. Sunbelt Cities: Politics and Growth Since World War II . Richard M. Bernard and Bradley R. Rice , eds. Legacy of Minneapolis: Preservation Amid Change . John R. Borchert , David Gebhard , David Lanegran , and Judith A. Martin . Bloomington, MN: Preparing a Historic Preservation Ordinance. Richard J. Roddewig . The Mountains of Northeastern Tasmania, A Study of Alpine Geomorphology . Nel Caine . Introductory Cartography . John Campbell . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Changing Climate . Manual of Remote Sensing, Second Edition . 2 Vols. Robert N. Colwell , ed.-in-chief; David S. Simonett and John E. Estes , vol. eds. Remote Sensing in Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology . A. P. Cracknell , ed. Multidimensional Scaling . Mark L. Davison . Environmental Karst . Percy H. Dougherty , ed. The Urban Environment . Ian Douglas . Geomorphology of Europe . Clifford Embleton , ed. An Introduction to South Asia . B. H. Farmer . Great Geological Controversies . A. Hallam . Hazardous Waste Management: In Whose Backyard? Michalann Harthill , ed. Energy for Subsistence . Margaret Haswell . Perspective on Ratzel's Political Geography . James M. Hunter . Economic Deposits and their Tectonic Setting . Charles S. Hutchison . Energy Risk Assessment . Herbert Inhaber . Discovering the Vernacular Landscape . John Brinckerhoff Jackson . Climate and Energy Systems: A Review of Their Interactions . Jill Jäger . Dilemmas in Regional Policy . Antoni Kuklinski and J. G. Lambooy , eds. California Farmland: A History of Large Agricultural Landholdings . Ellen Liebman . The Spatial Organization of New Land Settlement in Latin America . Jacob O. Maos . Dark Continent: Africa as Seen by Americans . Michael McCarthy . Westport, CT: Climatology: An Introduction . John E. Oliver and John J. Hidore . Columbus, OH: The Geography of Warfare . Patrick O'Sullivan and Jesse W. Miller . The Expanding City. Essays in Honour of Professor Jean Gottmann . John Patten , ed. Scotland's Environment During the Last 30,000 Years . Robert J. Price . Integrated Urban Models . S. H. Putman . Development and the Environmental Crisis: Red or Green Alternatives? Michael Redclift .