TITLE:
Linking Watershed Scales through Altered Waterways
AUTHORS:
Mason Johnson, Katherine Clancy
KEYWORDS:
Nested Hierarchy Theory, Altered Waterways, Landuse, Water Quality
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.8 No.10,
August
31,
2016
ABSTRACT: Nested
hierarchy theory advances the idea that rivers have a fractal dimension where
processes at the catchment scale (>1 km) control processes at the reach or
mesoscale (100 m) and microscale (1 - 10 m). Largely absent from this work is a
mesoscale link to the larger and smaller scales. We used stream alteration classifications
to provide this link. We used orthophotographs, land cover, and LiDAR derived
terrain models to classify stream alterations within four watersheds. We
compared phosphorus point data with watershed, sub-watershed, and 100-meter
buffers around the point data. In the predominately urban watershed, the 100 m
buffer scale correlated better with phosphorus levels. In the predominately
agricultural watershed, the sub-watershed scale correlated with phosphorus
levels better. We found adding the classification of the stream alteration type
clarified anomalously low phosphorus levels.