Using Knowledge of Aquatic Ecosystem Services to Advance River Conservation

Transcription

1 Using Knowledge of Aquatic Ecosystem Services to Advance River Conservation Paul L. Angermeier U.S. Geological Survey Virginia Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit and Amy Villamagna Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

2 Today s Objectives 1. Describe general definition, conservation relevance of riverine ecosystem services 2. Describe purpose, initial progress of new ES project in Albemarle-Pamlico basin 3. Illustrate methods used to map ES, some applications

3 Sustainability goals: Human Conserve capital (triple bottom line) Manufactured Natural

4 Conservation Status of North American Freshwater Fishes (Jelks et al. 2008; Fisheries) 700 imperiled, extant taxa 280 endangered 190 threatened 61 extinct or extirpated 92% increase in number of imperiled taxa since % of taxa improved status since 1989

5 LOSS of FRESHWATER SERVICES Global 18% of humans lack safe drinking water 46% of humans lack basic sanitation services (5-10 million deaths / year) U.S. 40% of water bodies not fishable/swimmable 33% of lake acres (excl. Gr. Lakes) 15% of river miles } fish/shellfish consumption advisories

6 A new eco-sociological lens FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM GOODS & SERVICES Provisioning Services Drinking water Bathing water (swimmable) Aquatic foods (fishable) Regulating Services Water purification Flood modulation Disease regulation Cultural Services Recreation Beauty Spirituality

7 Value of Ecosystem Services Provided by National Wildlife Refuges (Ingraham & Foster 2008) Total value of (some) NWR ecosystem services climate and atmosphere regulation disturbance prevention freshwater regulation and supply waste assimilation nutrient regulation habitat provision = ~$27B / year 33X recreational value

8 Ecosystem Services Provisioning Regulating Cultural Human Well Being Personal health Basic materials Social relations Freedom of choice Economic security? Biodiversity? Conservation

9 Spatial Analysis of Relations among Conservation Practices, Aquatic Ecosystem Services, and Human Well-being in the Albemarle-Pamlico Basin General research questions: When / where do actions and practices to conserve biodiversity enhance or diminish delivery of valued AES? When / where do different conservation actions reinforce or undermine each other s societal benefits via AES? To what extent does biodiversity conservation contribute to HWB?

10 Focal Aquatic Ecosystem Services Provisioning Services Providing water supply Regulating Services Water purification Nitrogen regulation Cultural Services Wildlife-based recreation (bird-watching, fishing)

11 Approach and Key Terms ES not measured empirically but inferred from biophysical features of the landscape ES Capacity is a biophysical measure of how much of a given service can be supplied ES Flow is the amount of a given service actually used by people (flow need not equal capacity)

12 Providing Water Supply Definition: Total potential surface water and groundwater available for withdrawal (Sun et al. 2008) Surface Water Supply (Capacity) = Precipitation + Wastewater discharge Percolation Evapotranspiration Ground Water Supply (Capacity) = Aquifer volume + Percolation

13 Mappable Metrics to Estimate Water Supply Capacity in the APB Factor Measurement Coverage/resolution Format Data source Precipitation Annual precipitation National/Spatial resolution 4 meters SHP USDA Geospatial Gateway Land cover Land use cover (2001) National /Spatial resolution 30 meters Raster National Land Cover Database & C-CAP Wetlands cover & type National /Spatial resolution ~3 meters SHP USFWS National Wetlands Inventory Water body size Streams & waterbodies (2003) National /1:2,000,000- scale SHP National Atlas Geology and Soil Soil survey National /1:250,000- scale SHP NRCS STATSGO Ground water Ground water levels National /Sites within drainage areas EXCEL USGS NWIS Catchment size Land use 12-digit hydrologic units Water supply watersheds (NC only) National /1:24,000 SHP USDA Geospatial Gateway State/Supply watersheds SHP NC OneMap Surface water intakes North Carolina points SHP NC OneMap

14 Mapping Capacity to Provide Surface Water in APB Step 1: Calculate NRCS curve number using STATSGO soil hydrologic groups, and NASS land and cropland cover. Step 2: Overlay annual precip with curve number maps and calculate runoff volume following NRCS method for each polygon. Step 3: Calculate total runoff volume for each 12-digit hydrologic unit or county using an area-weighted sum of all runoff polygons.

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16 Ranked Surface Water Capacity in APB 2005 Ranked Water Use in APB Potential tool for mapping sustainable use of surface water?

17 Water Purification Definition: Collective processes that constrain the biological availability of contaminants Water Purification Capacity depends on structural elements (physical, biological, and chemical) of the landscape that mediate the exclusion, removal, or conversion of contaminants. WPC is a function of geology, soil type, land cover, and land use

18 LAND meets WATER Most sediment, nutrients, and other contaminants are removed from surface water flowing through a vegetated riparian filter for 50 yards

19 Estimating Components of Water Purification Capacity Measure via Universal Soil Loss Equation Measure Vertical Retention Capacity using a Water-Soluble Contaminant Leaching Index* *Czymmek et al New York Leaching Index

20 Estimated Vertical Retention (leaching prevention) of Water-soluble Contaminants

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22 Wildlife-Based Recreation (WBR) Definition: Recreation activities or social benefits based on presence or expected presence of wildlife Recreational Fishing Bird watching WBR Capacity: Physical carrying capacity (presence of wildlife) and Social carrying capacity (maximum use allowed without incurring unacceptable conflict or loss of quality in visitor experience)

23 Social Carrying Capacity

24 Measuring WBR Capacity Inside pre-defined Conservation-Recreation Areas (CRAs) (federal, state, NGO lands) WBR INDEX Physical capacity: 1) % target-species suitable habitat cover 2) index of site management Social capacity: 3) weighted average of potential users within 1-mile*, 1-50-mile radius of CRA * USFWS (2006) that found 95% of wildlife watchers did so within 1 mile of home.

25 Summary Ecosystems provide many products, processes valuable to society (provisioning, regulating, cultural services) ES function as currency for understanding social tradeoffs among management options Many data are already available to build watershed-based, approximate maps of ES

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27 Measuring Flow of Regulating Services Flow = Contaminant * Input - Ambient Quality Calculate annual contaminant input for 10-digit HUs Calculate annual [contaminant] at water quality monitoring stations near pour-point of the HU * Focal contaminants are sediment, fecal coliform, mercury, and atrazine

28 Biophysical template Ecosystem condition Biodiversity Anthropogenic factors Conservation actions Restrictions on land/water use Ecosystem management policies Cap y to provide services Flow of benefits to people Socio-cultural context stakeholder 1 stakeholder 2 stakeholder 3 etc. Human well-being