Water-Quality and Biological Characteristics and Responses to Agricultural Land Retirement in Three Streams of the Minnesota River Basin, Water Years 2006-08

Christensen, Victoria G.; Lee, Kathy E.; Sanocki, Christopher A.; Mohring, Eric H.; Kiesling, Richard L.

doi:10.3133/sir20095215

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…On the contrary, though they had relatively less human influence, Ngerende and Kirumi sampling blocks recorded significantly higher soil bulk density, % carbon, % phosphorus, % nitrogen as well as soil pH, compared to all other land use types (sites) probably due to wildlife and livestock trampling effects on the top soils which results in pore volumes reduction and thus high soil bulk density as well as accumulation of fertile soils from uplands to the lower reaches of the Mara River basin resulting in the high nutrient levels recorded at this section of the basin. Consistent with the current study findings, Christensen et al [52] also demonstrated that total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations were highest at sampling sites with little to no agricultural activities such as Ngerende and Kirumi and lower at sampling sites that had a higher percentage of agricultural activities such as Kapkimolwa.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Effects of Land Use Change on Land Degradation Reflected by Soil Properties along Mara River, Kenya and Tanzania

Matano¹,

Kanangire²,

Anyona³

et al. 2015

OJSS

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Human-induced changes to natural landscapes have been identified as some of the greatest threats to freshwater resources. The change from natural forest cover to agricultural and pastoral activities is rampant especially in the upper Mara River catchment (water tower), as well as along the course of the Mara River. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of land use change on the physico-chemical properties of soil (bulk density, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and pH) along the course of the Mara River. Five major land uses (agricultural lands, livestock/pastoral lands, forested lands, conservancy/game reserves, and natural wetland) were explored. Results revealed that the mean soil bulk density was 0.956 g/cm 3 and differed significantly between sites (p < 0.001). Live biomass values differed significantly between sampling sites (land use types) within the Mara River Basin (F (4, 147) = 8.57, p < 0.001). The mean infiltration over a period of 150 minutes differed, not only among sampling sites, but also between different sides of the river (left and right) within the same sampling site. Soil pH was generally acidic across the five sites and varied significantly (F (4, 63) = 19.26, p < 0.0001) between sites along the Mara River Basin. The mean percentage soil nitrogen across all sampling blocks was 4.87%, with significant differences observed in percentage soil nitrogen (F (4, 63) = 3.26, p < 0.006) between sampling sites. The results indicated that the five land use types affected land degradation differently along the Mara River, while adjacent land degradation affected water physico-chemical properties. These results point to the need to have focused policies on integrated land and water resource management strategies in the Mara River Basin.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Effects of Land Use Change on Land Degradation Reflected by Soil Properties along Mara River, Kenya and Tanzania

Matano¹,

Kanangire²,

Anyona³

et al. 2015

OJSS

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“…Th erefore, more recent data may provide information related to the length of time needed for improvement in biological conditions. Christensen et al (2009) demonstrated that total nitrogen concentrations were highest at sampling sites with little to no agricultural land retirement in the basin and lower at sampling sites that had a higher percentage of agricultural land retirement in the basin. However, total phosphorus concentrations were not directly related to diff ering percentages of agricultural land retirement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Fish IBI scores increased as agricultural land retirement percentages in the local riparian area increased. Data and analysis from Christensen et al (2009) and Feist and Niemela (2002) were used as a foundation for this evaluation of the association between agricultural land retirement programs and stream quality throughout the Minnesota River Basin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relations between Retired Agricultural Land, Water Quality, and Aquatic‐Community Health, Minnesota River Basin

et al. 2012

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The relative importance of agricultural land retirement on water quality and aquatic-community health was investigated in the Minnesota River Basin. Eighty-two sites, with drainage areas ranging from 4.3 to 2200 km, were examined for nutrient concentrations, measures of aquatic-community health (e.g., fish index of biotic integrity [IBI] scores), and environmental factors (e.g., drainage area and amount of agricultural land retirement). The relation of proximity of agricultural land retirement to the stream was determined by calculating the land retirement percent in various riparian zones. Spearman's rho results indicated that IBI score was not correlated to the percentage of agricultural land retirement at the basin scale ( = 0.070); however, IBI score was correlated to retired land percentage in the 50- to 400-m riparian zones surrounding the streams ( < 0.05), indicating that riparian agricultural land retirement may have more influence on aquatic-community health than does agricultural land retirement in upland areas. Multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance models indicated that other environmental factors (such as drainage area and lacustrine and palustrine features) commonly were correlated to aquatic-community health measures, as were in-stream factors (standard deviation of water depth and substrate type). These results indicate that although agricultural land retirement is significantly related to fish communities as measured by the IBI scores, a combination of basin, riparian, and in-stream factors act together to influence IBI scores.

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“…Previous work in the WFB basin (Christensen et al, 2009) found that stream suspended sediment as well as NO 2 plus NO 3 and total N concentrations significantly decreased with increasing percentages of retired land. In addition, although biological indicators varied in their response to the percentage of retired land in the basin, most, including algal biovolume, abundance of tolerant invertebrate and fish species, and Index of Biotic Integrity scores improved as the amount of retired land increased within a zone of 50 to 100 m of the stream for the WFB basin and other streams in the Minnesota River basin (Christensen et al, 2012).…”

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confidence: 81%

Stream Sediment Sources in Midwest Agricultural Basins with Land Retirement along Channel

Williamson

Christensen²,

Richardson³

et al. 2014

J. Environ. Qual.

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Documenting the effects of agricultural land retirement on stream-sediment sources is critical to identifying management practices that improve water quality and aquatic habitat. Particularly difficult to quantify are the effects from conservation easements that commonly are discontinuous along channelized streams and ditches throughout the agricultural midwestern United States. Our hypotheses were that sediment from cropland, retired land, stream banks, and roads would be discernible using isotopic and elemental concentrations and that source contributions would vary with land retirement distribution along tributaries of West Fork Beaver Creek in Minnesota. Channel-bed and suspended sediment were sampled at nine locations and compared with local source samples by using linear discriminant analysis and a four-source mixing model that evaluated seven tracers: In, P, total C, Be, Tl, Th, and Ti. The proportion of sediment sources differed significantly between suspended and channelbed sediment. Retired land contributed to channel-bed sediment but was not discernible as a source of suspended sediment, suggesting that retired-land material was not mobilized during high-flow conditions. Stream banks were a large contributor to suspended sediment; however, the percentage of stream-bank sediment in the channel bed was lower in basins with more continuous retired land along the riparian corridor. Cropland sediments had the highest P concentrations; basins with the highest cropland-sediment contributions also had the highest P concentrations. Along stream reaches with retired land, there was a lower proportion of cropland material in suspended sediment relative to sites that had almost no land retirement, indicating less movement of nutrients and sediment from cropland to the channel as a result of land retirement.

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Water-Quality and Biological Characteristics and Responses to Agricultural Land Retirement in Three Streams of the Minnesota River Basin, Water Years 2006-08

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Effects of Land Use Change on Land Degradation Reflected by Soil Properties along Mara River, Kenya and Tanzania

Effects of Land Use Change on Land Degradation Reflected by Soil Properties along Mara River, Kenya and Tanzania

Relations between Retired Agricultural Land, Water Quality, and Aquatic‐Community Health, Minnesota River Basin

Stream Sediment Sources in Midwest Agricultural Basins with Land Retirement along Channel

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