Assessing land use and land cover influence on surface water quality using a parametric weighted distance function

Liberoff, Ana Laura; Flaherty, Silvia; Hualde, Pablo; Asorey, Martin Ignacio Garcia; Fogel, Marilyn L.; Pascual, Miguel

doi:10.1016/j.limno.2018.10.003

Cited by 24 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Contrary to numerous previous studies (e.g., Bu et al, 2014;Gu et al, 2019;Li et al, 2019;Liberoff et al, 2019;You et al, 2019), and in line with our hypotheses, the variation in water quality among sites could not be explained by differences in land cover. Instead, the distribution of point sources of pollution appears to be the most influential driver of water quality in the study area.…”

supporting

confidence: 85%

“…In Patagonia, water quality variables have been previously used in ecological studies as predictors of biological communities, yet a comprehensive analysis of water quality patterns, and the factors behind them, is still lacking (but see Liberoff et al, 2019). Here, we use machine learning techniques to model data from a spatially extensive field survey to bridge this gap and shed light on water quality issues in a study region traditionally under-represented in the river science literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Point source pollution influences water quality of Patagonian streams more than land cover

Williams‐Subiza

Assef

Brand

2021

River Research & Apps

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Understanding how anthropogenic activities affect water quality is crucial for water resource management and protection. We explored the relationship between land cover variables, point sources of pollution, and water quality in north-western Patagonian streams during the summer of 2019. We measured eight water quality parameters at 103 sampling sites, and used a self-organizing map to cluster, analyse, and visualize our data. We also used boosted regression trees to model the relationship between land cover, position with respect to the nearest point source of pollution, and each water quality parameter. We found that water quality was generally good, with just 15 sites showing signs of severe anthropogenic degradation. Boosted regression trees revealed that the spatial variation in water quality was mainly driven by the presence of point sources of pollution, whereas land cover variables generally had a modest effect. The overall good condition of the streams in the study area indicates that in contrast with more impacted regions of the world, water quality management in Patagonia should focus on water quality preservation, not water quality restoration.

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supporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Point source pollution influences water quality of Patagonian streams more than land cover

Williams‐Subiza

Assef

Brand

2021

River Research & Apps

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“…The resulting weighted pixel area is based on the Euclidean distance from the sampling point and an exponential decay function describing loss of solute concentration. Following the approach of Liberoff et al (2019), 16 we calculated the weight based on an exponential curve reparametrized as a function of the half-life of a given indicator. We then assumed that the weight decays exponentially as a function of the distance between a given land use pixel and the sampling point.…”

Section: Landcover Classicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic influences on Zambian water quality: hydropower and land-use change

Winton

Teodoru

Calamita

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts

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“…The presence of forests, for example, can improve water quality through root filtration and sequestration of pollutants (Fernandes et al, 2014). Correspondingly, land-use changes like the expansion of urban areas and monocrop agricultural systems are associated with declining water quality due to the increased flow of greywater, sediments, and agrochemicals (Comte et al, 2012;Kertész et al, 2019;Liberoff et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water quality in The Lachuá Ecoregion Landscape: Comparing streams from Forest, Milpa, and an Oil Palm plantation

Rojas

Avendaño

Isakson

2022

CTS

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The hydrological network in the Lachuá Ecoregion (EL), Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, hosts high levels of biodiversity and supplies water to 44 Mayan communities. Despite this critical fact, this network has been threatened by scarcely monitored industrial activities including the rapidly expanding oil palm monoculture (Elaeis guineensis Jacq). Regardless of Lachua’s freshwaters importance, there is little information on how this monoculture impacts them. We compared water-quality properties from streams in oil palm plantations (P), paddock and milpa systems (M), and primary forests (F) in EL. During 2015-2016, 13 rivers were sampled (5 times) for water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, hardness, chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD), and concentration of silica, nitrates, phosphates, and ammonia. Several parameters showed significant differences. P were 2.7ºC and 1.8ºC warmer than M and F and carried 1.4mg/L more nitrates than F. F carried 10.8mg/L and 11.8mg/L more silica than M and P. M showed intermediate temperatures and silica concentrations, as well as 14.8µS/cm and 8.9µS/cm lower conductivities than P and F. Additionally, COD in M was 9.9mg/L and 4.6mg/L lower than P and F. We believe higher temperatures and lower silica in P are due to the loss of riparian forest and their role in buffering temperatures and recycling silicon. In addition, the existence of secondary forest (guamil) in M might explain the intermediate temperatures and silica concentrations. Our results highlight the contributions of forests to waterways and suggest potential water-quality depletion from the oil palm expansion in EL.

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Assessing land use and land cover influence on surface water quality using a parametric weighted distance function

Cited by 24 publications

References 22 publications

Point source pollution influences water quality of Patagonian streams more than land cover

Point source pollution influences water quality of Patagonian streams more than land cover

Anthropogenic influences on Zambian water quality: hydropower and land-use change

Water quality in The Lachuá Ecoregion Landscape: Comparing streams from Forest, Milpa, and an Oil Palm plantation

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