Simulation and assessment of highly altered hydrologic system responses to anthropogenic and natural stressors at the watershed scale

Environmental stressors account for human activities and natural processes that provoke modification of an ecosystem and its behavior. These stressors are chemical, physical, or biological in nature and can have short- and long-term impacts on the ecosystem (EPA, 2017b). Watershed Management Practices (WMPs) are strategies intended to mitigate the impacts of environmental stressors at the watershed scale (Drake and Hogan, 2013). Examples of WMPs are riparian buffers, reduced tillage practice, filter strips, cover crops and crop rotation. Hence, WMPs may be viewed as anthropogenic stressors strategically implemented to reduce the impacts of farming activities on the ecosystem. The implementation of these practices requires the identification of the most vulnerable locations or areas suitable for WMP implementation across the watershed to focus efforts and resources in the most efficient way. The objective of this research is to assess the impacts of anthropogenic and natural stressors over the systemic responses of the ecosystem at the watershed scale. The effects of these stressors over the surface and groundwater resources, erosion processes, and non-point source pollution were studied through the physically based distributed watershed model MIKE-SHE coupled to the hydrodynamic model MIKE11. Other modeling tools (e.g., MaxEnt, MUSLE) also were used to achieve the proposed goal. The implementation of modeling tools for scenario-based analysis in lieu of actual field experimentation made it possible to assess the impacts of future climate and land use changes over the watershed responses. Although, the conceptualization of the physical processes representing the WMPs is challenging, the ability to create feasible land use scenarios under future climate projections is a powerful tool to assess the possible impacts of proposed environmental endeavors.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural & Biological Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Botero Acosta, Alejandra

Contributors dc:contributor

• Chu, Maria L.
• Eheart, J. Wayland
• Czapar, George F.
• Cooke, Richard A.
• Zhang, Yuanhui

• Environmental stressors
• hydrologic model
• transport model
• water management practices
• nonpoint source pollution
• advection-dispersion equation

Statement dc:rights

• Chapter 1 is a reprint of the article: Botero-Acosta, A., Chu, M.L., Guzman, J.A., Starks, P.J., Moriasi, D.N. 2017. Riparian erosion vulnerability model based on environmental features. Journal of Environmental Management 203: 592-602, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.02.045 and the copyright is owned by Journal of Environmental Management. Chapter 2 is a reprint of the article: Botero-Acosta, A., Chu, M.L, Stumpf, A.J. 2018. Impacts of environmental stressors on the water resources of intensively managed hydrologic systems. Hydrological Processes. 32:2947-2962, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13244 and the copyright is owned by Hydrological Processes journal. Some contents of Chapter 3 are part of the article in review: Botero-Acosta, A., Chu, M.L., Huang, C. Impacts of environmental stressors on nonpoint source pollution in intensively managed hydrologic systems. Journal of Hydrology, (In review). The copyright will be owned by Journal of Hydrology if accepted and published.

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102928

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/102928