Relationships between land use and multi-dimensional characteristics of streams and rivers at two different scales

Abstract

-Despite numerous previous studies, relationships between watershed land use and adjacent streams and rivers at various scales in Korea remain unclear. This study investigated the relationships between land uses and the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of 720 sites of streams and rivers across the country. The land uses at two spatial scales, including a 1-km buffer and the base watershed management region (BWMR), were computed in a geographical information system (GIS) with a digital land use/land cover map. Characteristics of land uses at two spatial scales were then correlated with the monitored multidimensional characteristics of the streams and rivers. The results of this study indicate that land use types have significant effects on stream and river characteristics. Specifically, most characteristics were negatively correlated with the proportions of urban, rice paddy, agricultural, and bare soil areas and positively correlated with the amount of forest. The site-scale and BWMR-scale analyses suggest that BWMR land use patterns were more strongly related to ecological integrity than they were to site land use patterns. Improving our understanding of land use effects will largely depend on relating the results of site-specific studies that use similar response techniques and measures to evaluate ecological integrity. In addition, our results clearly indicate that the characteristics of streams and rivers are closely linked and that land use types differentially affect those characteristics. Thus, effective restoration and management for ecological integrity of lotic system should consider the physical, chemical, and biological factors in combination.

Influence of landscape properties on stream water quality in agricultural catchments in Southeastern Brazil

“…The properties of stream water respond directly to land cover changes in the catchments which they drain (Johnson et al, 1997;Storey and Cowley, 1997;Park et al, 2011). For this reason, changes in the forest cover of a catchment exert influence on the physical and chemical characteristics of water bodies, affecting the natural hydrological and ecological processes that occur in the aquatic environment (Ziemer and Lisle, 1998;Allan and Castillo, 2007).…”

Contribution of surface runoff from forested areas to the chemistry of a through-flow lake

“…In forest ecosystems, it is claimed that the output of nutrients is relatively small when compared to their total amount cycling within the system (Hirobe et al 2004). However, the elements exported from the wooded catchments may still have considerable impact on the quality of receiving waters (Strobel et al 2001;Vuornenmaa et al 2002;Astrom et al 2004;Park et al 2011). The role of surface runoff in nutrient cycling is increased with slope inclination which can lead to the elution of the upper layers of soil and forest litter directly into the lakes (Sickman et al 2003).…”

Catchment vegetation can trigger lake dystrophy through changes in runoff water quality

“…In forest ecosystems, the input and output of essential nutrients is relatively small when compared to their total amount of cycling within the system (Hirobe et al, 2004). However, the elements exported from wooded catchments may have a considerable impact on the quality of surface waters (Irfanullah, 2009;Park et al, 2011). In some cases, they can be responsible for dystrophication of lakes resulting from the large quantities of organic matter exported with the surface runoff (Steinberg, 2003).…”