Potential impacts of global climate change on the hydrology and ecology of ephemeral freshwater systems of the forests of the northeastern United States

Abstract

Global, national, and regional assessments of the potential effects of Global Climate Change (GCC) have been recently released, but not one of these assessments has specifically addressed the critical issue of the potential impacts of GCC on ephemeral freshwater systems (EFS). I suggest that this is a major oversight as EFS occur in various forms across the globe. In the northeastern United States, these systems, whether ephemeral ("vernal") pools or ephemeral or intermittent headwater streams are abundant and provide unique habitats critical to the maintenance of forest biodiversity. Since the hydrology of these waterbodies is strongly affected by weather patterns (in the short-term) or climate (long-term), they are especially sensitive to climate change. In this essay, I review the literature on relationships between climate and hydrology of EFS and on relationships between hydrology and ecology of these systems. I then conclude with my assessment of potential impacts of GCC on the hydrology of EFS and implications for their ecology. The focus of this essay will be on EFS of the forests of the northeastern United States, but will include literature from other regions as they relate to the general relationships between GCC and EFS.

Ensemble projections of future streamflow droughts in Europe

“…We therefore limit the analysis to river basins with an upstream area exceeding 1000 km 2 , hereby excluding ephemeral rivers. Even if the latter (headwater and lower order streams) are particularly sensitive to climate change, as analyzed in a comprehensive review by Brooks (2009), to be properly quantified they would require a finer hydro-geomorphological characterization than the one provided in the large-scale approach presented herein. Furthermore, we argue that river basins with an upstream area exceeding 1000 km 2 are representative enough to explore the impact of climate changes on future hydrological droughts at continental scale.…”

Climate Variability and Its Impact on Forest Hydrology on South Carolina Coastal Plain, USA

“…Some freshwater wetlands may lose to a decrease in fresh water inputs rather than to sea level rise, especially in middle and low latitude zones due to global warming-induced hydrologic drought [11]. Consequently, the functions and services of these wetland ecosystems are inevitably affected by climate change [25][26][27][28]. Therefore, understanding the hydrologic response of coastal wetlands to global warming/climate change is needed to assess ramifications of climate change to coastal wetland ecosystems, especially to those ecosystems in middle and low latitude areas where rainfall is expected to decrease.…”

“…The hydrology of forested wetland watersheds on Atlantic Coastal Plain in the Carolinas, especially of the first-order watersheds, is heavily dependent on precipitation and evapotranspiration [12,26,[41][42][43]. Those first and second, even third order watersheds can lose their flow in normal dry periods, and regain them in wet periods [13,44,45].…”

Conservation biology of the great crested newt in managed boreal forests in Finland

“…In southern Finland the number of days with snow cover together with the snow water equivalent are expected to decrease significantly in the future (Jylha et al 2008, Jylhä et al 2009, Raisanen and Eklund 2012. Climatic conditions are predicted to have dramatic effects on ephemeral pond hydrology (Brooks 2004, Leibowitz and Brooks 2008, Brooks 2009, Hartel et al 2011). More studies though, are needed to enhance our understanding regarding the response of boreal ephemeral ponds and their biota to climate change.…”