A Project Description Of The Landscape

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Project Description The landscape features present in an area greatly influence the areas hydrologic organization. Hydrology is the subdivision of the earth sciences, which deals with the storage and movement of water around the earth, the physical and chemical feedback of water among the environment, and the relation of water to living organisms (Hendricks 1962). Changes in the landscape alter the area’s natural hydrologic flow. These changes may alter the stability of river channels, the heights or frequency of floods, and the volume of base flow in rivers and streams (Douglas 1976). These changes could be the removal of natural vegetation for roads or building or creating new gardens or vegetative areas. These negative impacts to the natural flow and infiltration can increase the amount of runoff and nutrient influx to the system (Wollheim, Pellerin, Vörösmarty, and Hopkinson 2005). Excess nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates, and chlorides can negatively impact the pH, dissolved oxygen, and invertebrate species (Bradshaw, Sundrud, White, Barton, Fuhriman, Loveridge, and Pratt 1973). One of the most influential impacts to the hydrologic cycle is the immense growth metropolitan areas. In 1900, one out of twenty Americans lived in an urban area; and in 1968, 14 out of 20 Americans lived in urban areas (Hennigan 1969). During this same period of time, the population had doubled, meaning that while the rural population has dropped about 30%, the urban population
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