How Land Cover Has Changed During The D ' Parsley Creek Watershed

The conquering and development of natural land has in the past, been seen as a mark of human civilization. In the United States, our progress is often measured by growth and development, but should this be re-examined? There are many opinions on the subject of urban sprawl and its effects on wildlife, but one thing is for certain, we are expanding. From 1955 to 2005, urban and suburban areas grew by 300%, however, the population only increased by 75% over the same period (Ewing, Kostyack and Chen). According to NatureServe, a non-profit conservation organization, urban sprawl threatens one of every three endangered species in the United States. NatureServe’s analysis states, “rare and endangered species data shows that three-fifths (60

Many of these impervious surfaces have drainage systems that run directly into the watershed. As shown above in the center picture, there is direct drainage from the street to the watershed with no type of filtration, which in return has cause the glistening polluted puddle in front of the drainage pipe.

The aim is to identify and associate landforms, rock types and soils to the natural environment and its plants and animals and also to investigate the history of the local environment, comprising human impacts over the last 50 years. The impact of human alterations to the environment includes increased soil erosion and changes in river flows.

Brooks (EPA), J. Heinrichs (UW), S. McMillin (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) and C. Wilsey (UW). Landuse change scenarios were developed by Jim Thorne and the Information Center for the Environment at UC Davis. The information in this document has been funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to review by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory’s Western Ecology Division and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents reflect the views of the Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for

Since the 1950s, Florida 's population has risen at an annual rate of approximately four percent. In the [past] 50 years, more than eight million acres of forest and wetland habitats (about 24 percent of the state) have been cleared to accommodate the expanding human population. In 1990, about 19 acres per hour of forest, wetland, and agricultural land [were] being converted for urban uses. Because of this growth, Florida’s ecosystems are now

Everglades, the largest subtropical wetland of North America, has encountered anthropogenic perturbation since the last quarter of 19th century when canals were built and peatlands were drained for economic gain (Godfrey and Catton, 2011). Since then, the system has been exploited, drained, polluted and changed from its natural setup to escalate and widen the potential services from it. The present state is a highly regulated system to buttress economic productivity and fulfill several regional demands. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, one of the world’s largest restoration initiative, aims to restore, protect and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida (National Research Council, 2014). While the restoration program is built on a foundation of retrospective science backed by several years of sophisticated research on understanding the Everglades and similar ecosystem (Estenoz and Bush, 2015), the human dimension of restoration was not studied adequately(Clarke and Dalrymple, 2003; Kranzer, 2002; National Research Council, 2014). Particularly, the spatial extent of residents’ preference or the heterogeneity of their opinion is important for CERP as the plan aims to restore ecosystem without compromising the present services (e.g. flood control, water for agricultural, urban and industrial uses etc.), which are also spatially related.

The Everglades is a diverse ecosystem located in southern Florida, yet urbanization has created a considerable amount of impact that has altered the physical landscape of the region, resulting in a symbiotic environment between humans and nature. Based on geographical research, the original Everglades spanned an area of approximately 12,000km2, and now because of urbanization and agricultural growth in this sub-region the area of the Everglades has been condensed to half of its original size (Willard et al 1-2). The Everglades is actually a sub-region of the Southern Coastlands region of the United States. It is comprised of a unique climate, divided into sub-provinces that create a diverse pallet of environments for wildlife to thrive,

Extensive amounts of litter were observed both in (figure 8) and around the creek, this aspect of human interaction clearly is degrative within this environment Increased flood risk due to surface impermeability this disrupts the water cycle and increases subsequent erosion

Stormwater is water produced by rain or melting snow, which can rapidly flow over impervious surfaces into streams. Upland development magnifies the occurrence of stream bank erosion and in-stream nutrient pollution, which also have indirect negative effects. When stream bank erosion occurs, eroding sediment causes an increase in turbidity. Heavy stormwater flows into streams mixes the streambed sediment, which also increases turbidity, and ultimately causes declines in aquatic biota (Waters 1995). Therefore, negative externalities of upland development include

Associated activities may include installing drainage systems, grading slopes, ditching for storm drainages, and conduits for service utilities. The disturbance of natural patterns of runoff and rainwater infiltration through modified drainage can lead to the concentration of water flow at sites that previously only took direct rainwater infiltration; this can result in rapid forming cover-subsidence sinkholes (Waltham et al, 2005, p. 159). The many impervious surfaces used in modified drainage activities also impedes groundwater recharge, which can consequently lower the water

In more recent times, the interactions of people and the landscape have influenced the landscape and the life that depends on it. Swampland has been drained, cleared and cultivated, roads have been constructed, and homesteads established. Wildfires were stopped and non-native vegetation was introduced. Pollutants have also degraded water quality. Non-native

Most of the catchments depicted in Figure 1 where fully urbanised which caused surfaces in the catchment to be impervious; that is very little runoff would infiltrate into the ground

River, land and natural resources are important parts for people’s daily lives, and its configurations represent how people affected the environment over 150 years. With the improvement of technology, people are able to utilize these technologies to remold the river levee; however, the impacts that came from people also brought some significant changes to the area.

Land transformation as a result of anthropogenic effects continues to be one of the biggest threats to the ecological integrity of headwater streams today. Land transformation induced by human alterations to the landscape, have been shown to have negative impacts on habitat, water quality, and the biota of natural waterways (Allan 2004). For instance, in 2004 Gage found that macro invertebrates were negatively impacted by anthropogenic mediated land use, which often lead to declines and even eliminations of sensitive taxa from the stream (Gage et. al. 2004). Urbanization is considered to be one of the driving forces behind land transformation and is mainly responsible for increases in impervious surface area. Increases in impervious surface area have led to the rapid conveyance of storm waters, resulting in the increased presence of oils, metals, and road salts within surface waters (Moore et. al. 2005). The increased presence of these solutes are leading to variations in ionic concentrations that deviate from natural concentrations, thus altering the conductivity within the water systems.

Joshua Stevens, Jennifer M. Smith, and Raechel A. Bianchetti (2012), Mapping Our Changing World, Editors: Alan M. MacEachren and Donna J. Peuquet, University Park, PA: Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University. National Geodetic Survey (2004). SPC Utilities. Retrieved June 6, 2017, from http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/spc.html National Geodetic Survey (2004). UTM Utilities.