Ecosystem
Services
Research

CARS was a major part of the core group that produced the 2005 – 2010 Arkansas NPS Management Plan update.  This plan guides the use of state and federal funds used on projects aimed at solving issues related to NPS pollution.

Funding from Arkansas Natural Resources Commission helped complete this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

Regional Corn Modeling at a High-Resolution Scale: A Yield Based Approach and Blue vs Green Water Assessment

Agricultural water use currently accounts for as much as 70 percent of total water use.  Couple this with an expected 50 percent increase in global water resource demand in the next 40 years and a potential shift in rainfall patterns associated with climate change; one can begin to see the major challenges ahead for the current generations.  Predicting the future agricultural water demands patterns is essential to ensure a sustainable world for a growing human population.  We developed a crop water demand simulation process incorporating the CERES-Maize model in the Decisions Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) Cropping System Model (CSM) program, version 4.0, the MATrix LABoratory program (MATLAB), and regional comprehensive datasets including the NASA Agroclimatology Archive, the International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) World Inventory of Soil Emission Potentials (WISE) soils database, the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) Harvest Area and Yields of 175 crops and Crop Calendar database, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Phase 1 of the project involved a preliminary a calibration of the CERES-Maize model to the largest corn production regions in the U.S., USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) Region 1, also known as the Heartland Region.  The calibration procedure exhibited relative success at modeling at the regional scale, obtaining a R2 value of 0.8.  However, the results were not replicated in the validation step, producing a R2 value of 0.07.  In addition, global evapotranspiration was estimated for the entire globe.  The process began by obtain water use efficiencies (WUE) from the current scientific literature.  The WUE values were then applied to global corn yields to calculate the evapotranspiration of corn.  Finally, based on the equation Q = P – ET – RO, blue and green water was calculated for the globe.  The areas where ET was greater than the difference between precipitation and runoff were designated blue water areas, while the areas where ET was less than the difference were designated as green water areas.  Given the poor predictive ability of the model produced during Phase 1, the calibration strategy was revised for the regional crop modeling procedure.  Maize production ERS region 1 was re-evaluated during Phase 2 and a temporal dimension was added to the process.

Phase 2 focused on derived a grid specific definition of maize genetic coefficients to act as predictor of maize yields.  A preliminary sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the optimal starting ranges for calibration process.  Coding for the calibration procedure is currently underway and new results are expected soon.

The Sustainability Consortium helped fund this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

Water Quality and Biological Assessment of Selected Segments in the Illinois River Basin and Kings River Basin, Arkansas.

This project characterized the water quality and  aquatic biological resources of several streams in the Illinois River basin and Kings River basin in northwest Arkansas to determine the status of  aquatic  life  use.  The primary water quality concern targeted in this project was the impact on in-stream biological communities and aquatic life use made by nutrient concentrations and dissolved oxygen.  Of particular interest were those waters upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants in the Cities of Rogers, Springdale, Prairie Grove, and Berryville, Arkansas.  Eleven indicators divided into three categories, Water Chemistry, Habitat, and Biological Characteristics, were used to develop this weight-of-evidence summary for the Illinois River and Kings River basins.  Based upon this weight-of-evidence approach, for the Illinois River sites, four sites scored as unimpacted, five sites scored as slightly impacted, two sites were determined to be impacted, and one was classified as severely impacted.  For the Kings River sites, two sites scored as unimpacted, one site scored as slightly impacted, and one site was classified as severely impacted.  The results of this project combined with other existing water quality data from the Illinois River basin and Kings River basin suggest a trend of declining water and habitat quality which is impacting the biological communities to varying degrees.

Parsons Engineering and Funding from US Environmental Protection Agency partnered in this study.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

In the Mississippi Delta, vast acreages of rice and soybean employ high levels of fertilizers, pesticides and water for production. Without proper management, the use of these inputs could lead to sediment and nutrient movement off the farm and into nearby rivers and streams. Rice, soybean and cotton producers in the Arkansas Delta region might consider the establishment of best management practices to help overcome water pollution in the region. However, in selecting these practices, farmers deal with increasing costs of production that diminish the adoption of expensive practices.
The goal of this project was to develop a water quality-water conservation decision support system based on linkages among water conservation, agricultural production, water quality, and watershed-scale ecosystem integrity. This goal was accomplished by fulfilling two objectives:

1. Create an interactive illustration of farm crop budgets including BMPs costs for rice, soybean and cotton in the Languille River watershed.
2. Identify the efficient set of BMPs in terms of its effectiveness to reduce TP and its relative costs to rice and soybean producers.

Contact Information:

Héctor Germán Rodríguez hrodrig@uark.edu
Jennie Popp jhpopp@uark.edu

Use Attainability Analysis and Water Quality Assessment of Coffee Creek, Mossy Lake, and the Ouachita River.

The purpose of this investigation was to perform a water quality assessment of the Ouachita River, which is the receiving water of the Georgia-Pacific (GP) Crossett paper mill discharge, and to determine if the current “no aquatic life use designation” for Coffee Creek and Mossy Lake is appropriate. The area of the Ouachita River for this study is located in southern Arkansas below the Felsenthal Lock and Dam and upstream of the Louisiana state line. The study area consisted of Coffee Creek, Mossy Lake, and a portion of the Ouachita River, a short  distance upstream and downstream of the confluence with Coffee Creek. From the biological data collected it was apparent that a diverse and abundant, though seasonal, aquatic community existed in the Reference Site stream. The fish and macroinvertebrate samples from the Reference Site were indicative of an aquatic community that is seasonally variable and tied to flood flows from the Ouachita River. Coffee Creek had very few fish and was dominated by a highly pollution-tolerant macroinvertebrate community. The same was true for the Mossy Lake biological community with the exception of a slightly more diverse macroinvertebrate assemblage. The Coffee Creek site below Mossy Lake had higher numbers of large predatory fish, due to the proximity of the Ouachita River, but otherwise exhibited an aquatic community much like the other effluent-dominated sites. From this evidence it was concluded that the waters of Coffee Creek and Mossy Lake have the potential to support aquatic life indicative of streams in the ecoregion. They also show evidence of degradation from the effluent of the Georgia Pacific Outfall 001.There were exceedances of several numeric GCER standards in these water bodies, and signs of ecological impairment, including loss of habitat and toxicity to aquatic organisms from both the water column and sediment.

Parsons Engineering and Funding from US Environmental Protection Agency partnered with this study.

Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on the Ecosystem Services of the Gulf Coast.

The loss of ecosystem services from the Deep Ocean Horizon oil spill were assessed using risk-based geospatial modeling.  Using NOAA’s Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps and the Emergency Response Management Application (ERMA) oil impact maps an initial valuation of ecosystem services and the loss ecosystem service value were calculated.

This study was initiated as part of the 2010 REU program and the research is still in progress.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

Wadeable Streams Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation’s Streams

CARS participated in the US EPA Wadeable Streams Assessment, collecting samples at over 30 sites in Arkansas and participating in the direction of the analysis and interpretation of the results.  The results of the WSA show that 42% of the nation’s stream length is in poor biological condition, 25% is in fair condition, and 28% is in good condition.  Results were also divided into 3 ecoregions of the US.  Two of these ecoregions, Eastern Highlands and Lowlands and Plains, were represented in Arkansas.  For the Eastern Highlands percent of stream miles in poor, fair, and good biological condition were 18%, 20%, and 52% respectively.  For the Lowlands and Plains ecoregion the values were 29%, 29%, and 40% respectively.  More details on the study can be found at the EPA website listed below.

US Environmental Protection Agency (Funding and Collaboration) helped make this project possible.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

National Stream Report

Geospatial Climate Data

In recent years, plot specific crop models have been adapted to national and regional scales to aid policy makers with agricultural decisions concerning climate change and the resulting effects on food security and future water demands.  These models are often constrained by data to represent geospatially variable inputs as homogeneous data.  The impact of these assumptions on model effectiveness is a function of the sensitivity of the input parameter to the model, the scale of data being aggregated, and the scale of the analysis.   The impact of aggregation of geospatially variable data at the regional level is loss of calibration and validation effectiveness and thus utility for most modeling efforts.  Regional cropping systems are highly heterogeneous and model inputs should reflect as much.  Considering the vast quantities of available input data, decisions must be made about desired spatial and temporal resolution, as well as the amount of generalizations that can be made about the study in question.  This project summarized many of the existing datasets for global climate parameters, as well soil and agricultural management variables, such as irrigation.

The Sustainability Consortium helped fund this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

Water Quality and Ecological Assessment of Osage and Spring Creeks in the Illinois River Basin, Arkansas.

The cities of Springdale and Rogers, Arkansas contracted with McGoodwin, Williams and Yates , the University of Arkansas Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability and Arkansas Water Resources Center to conduct a study evaluating water quality and assessing biological conditions in Osage and Spring Creeks in Northwest Arkansas. More specifically, the team collected and analyzed water quality, benthic macroinvertebrate, fish, and periphyton samples from  Osage and Spring Creeks in Northwest Arkansas to evaluate the status of attainment of the aquatic life designated use of the streams under Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission’s Arkansas Department of environmental Quality Regulation 2 (ADEQ Reg. 2). Results of the water quality assessment showed no violations of ADEQ Reg. 2 criteria, with the exception of the site upstream from the Springdale WWTP for dissolved oxygen during Critical Season 1. All other observations across all other sites met the criteria for designated use for water quality during all observation periods.  based upon the analyses performed during this project water quality in Spring and Osage Creeks met or exceeded designated use criteria for the period measured. Biological data indicated that stream ecosystem processes were not impaired by phosphorus, and biotic communities were not degraded by phosphorus.

Dr. Brian Haggard, Director Arkansas Water Resources Center; Dr. Arthur Brown, Professor Department of BiologicalSciences; McGoodwin, Williams, and Yates Engineering; Funding from the Cities of Springdale and Rogers all contributed to this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

An increased loss of agricultural nutrients is a growing concern for water quality in Arkansas, especially in nutrient surplus areas. Methodologies that help to find solutions that are accepted and understood by all the stakeholders involved in water quality issues are needed. Several studies have shown that best management practices (BMPs) are effective in controlling excess amounts of sediment and nutrient from runoff. However, selection, placement and affordability of those practices need to be taken into consideration when making water management decisions.

The main goal of this project was to evaluate the relations between water quality, and selection, timing, and distribution of BMPs within the Lincoln Lake watershed using an environmental-economic model. This goal was accomplished by fulfilling four objectives:

1. Integrate historical water quality, annual land use, point source, nutrient management/conservation plans and BMP data from Moores Creek, Beatty Branch, and Lincoln Lake into a common GIS-linked database.
2. Evaluate BMPs under uncertain production conditions using stochastic dominance (SD) techniques by demonstrating how the selection of BMPs differs when scenarios are ranked in terms of total phosphorous reduction or net returns benefits.
3. Develop a BMP optimization technique that searches for near-optimal solutions to achieve minimum total phosphorous pollution runoff and minimum total net cost increase for BMP placement within the Lincoln Lake
4. Collect stakeholder’s perceptions about water quality and sources of water pollution.

Contact Information:

Héctor Germán Rodríguez hrodrig@uark.edu
Jennie Popp jhpopp@uark.edu
Edward Gbur egbur@uark.edu
John Pennington jhpennington@uada.edu

Demonstration of Greenway Development To Protect Ecological Services in Urban Streams

This project addressed nonpoint source (NPS) pollution from urban watersheds, with specific emphasis on pollutants from both development activities and post-developed runoff.  Blossom Way Creek is a tributary of Osage Creek, Rogers, Arkansas, which is a tributary to the Illinois River, a priority waterbody in Arkansas.  The Illinois River has been identified as at risk for total solids and total phosphorus loads.   The goal of this project was to demonstrate methods and technologies for protecting critical ecological services in urban streams. Specifically, this project was designed to demonstrate stream restoration methods for reducing in-stream loads and concentrations of pollutants such as total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP) from urban watersheds. The project period for this project was August 1, 2002 to July 31, 2006. The Blossom Way Creek Trail was dedicated through a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 20, 2006. The primary measure of success for this project was the adoption by the City of Rogers of a greenway approach for preservation and restoration of ecological integrity of urban streams. The City of Rogers has adopted a greenway approach for urban stream management that will encompass the entire city through a network of 52 miles of trails and greenway parks, designed to enhance ecological services and reduce water pollution.  Stream restoration best management practices (BMPs) such as riparian zone restoration and protection, bank stabilization methods, urban stream design, and urban stream restoration have been implemented.  The implementation of these BMPs resulted in measurable improvements, including stabilized stream peak flow and stage events, reduced sediment and phosphorus transport, and improved ecological services in the stream reach.

The City of Rogers and Arkansas Water Resources Center were both partners in this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

City of Rogers Website

Demonstration of Best Management Practices for Stream Bank Protection

The goal of this project was to demonstrate best management practices and methods for protecting stream banks in urban areas and was a continuation of the previous demonstration project on Blossom Way Creek. Presenting an alternative to the use of concrete lined channels in urban areas was the primary goal of this project. The NPS problem being addressed is channel incision and accelerated bank erosion caused by increasing impervious surfaces in a rapidly urbanizing area.   The primary water quality goal is a reduction of sediment loading to Blossom Way Creek in Rogers, Arkansas.  Construction of the project design was conducted during the late summer 2008.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Water Resource Conservation Center, Nelson Engineering, and The City of Rogers all partnered with this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

A Review of Water Scarcity Indices and Methodologies

In the past 20 years, many indices have been developed to quantitatively evaluate water resources vulnerability (e.g. water scarcity or water stress).  The difficulty of characterizing water stress is that there are many equally important facets to water use, supply and scarcity.  Selecting the criteria by which water is assessed can be as much a policy decision as a scientific decision.  This review provides an overview of the primary water scarcity indices and water resource assessment methodologies at the forefront of political and corporate decision making.

The Sustainability Consortium helped fund this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu

4-Year Physical and Biological Stream Assessment and Monitoring Program for the City of Fayetteville

The City of Fayetteville  has undergone rapid growth in the past decade, resulting in large scale changes in land use across the metropolitan area. In order to understand how stream ecological services were being impacted by this growth, the City of Fayetteville (City) contracted with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability (CARS) to perform an assessment of the impact of land use change on stream ecological services in 2004.  The Center established benchmark values for streams in 2004 and monitored these streams for the following three years, through 2007. Urban stream characteristics assessed in this investigation included geomorphology, habitat quality, quality of floodplain/riparian zone and quality of the benthic macroinvertebrate community. These characteristics were measured at more than 30 locations for four years.  Observations were compared to the benchmark year (2004) to quantify changes in stream ecosystem services. Measures of change included increases and/or decreases in erosion,  riparian vegetation, benthic macroinvertebrate community diversity, and algal production. 

Results of this study show that streams in Fayetteville have been impacted to varying degrees by urban development.  All sites analyzed would score relatively low if compared to an unimpacted reference site. High relative condition sites were typically small to medium sized watersheds with relatively low urban land use and low riparian disturbance.  Low relative  condition sites were typically watersheds with relatively high urban land use and high riparian disturbance.

The City of Fayetteville helped fund this project.

Contact:
Marty Matlock, 479-575-2849, mmatlock@uark.edu