Critical transition in critical zone of intensively managed landscapes

Kumar, Praveen; Le, Phuong Thu; Papanicolaou, A. N.; Rhoads, Bruce L.; Anders, Alison M.; Stumpf, Andrew J.; Wilson, Christopher G.; Bettis, E. Arthur; Blair, Neal E.; Ward, Adam S.; Filley, Timothy R.; Lin, Henry; Keefer, Laura; Keefer, Donald A.; Lin, Yu Feng; Muste, Marian; Royer, Todd V.; Foufoula‐Georgiou, Efi; Belmont, Patrick

doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2018.04.002

Cited by 79 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…After the retreat of the last glaciation, prairie wetlands were formed and had been undisturbed until the European Settlement in the early 1800s. Agricultural practices has started since then but expanded extensively after the 1900s (Kumar et al, ). The erosion rate accelerated significantly with the expansion (Papanicolaou et al, ).…”

Section: Study Site Field Samples and Data Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agricultural practices, however, have significantly perturbed the system, and, hence, disturbed this equilibrium (Amundson et al, ; Lehmann & Kleber, ). In the intensively managed agricultural landscapes in the U.S. Midwest, farming practices such as changing land cover/land use, tilling the surface soil, and installing tile drainage networks belowground have pushed the soil system away from equilibrium conditions toward accelerated soil and SOC erosional loss (Kumar et al, ). By analyzing soil samples up to 100 cm deep in central Illinois (sampled in early 1900s, 1957, and early 2000s, respectively), David et al () found that cultivated fields had SOC typically 30% to 50% less than undisturbed nearby prairie soils.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Three‐Dimensional Modeling of the Coevolution of Landscape and Soil Organic Carbon

Yan

Woo

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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Soil organic carbon (SOC) is going through rapid reorganization due to anthropogenic influences. Understanding how biogeochemical transformation and erosion-induced SOC redistribution influence SOC profiles and stocks is critical to our food security and adaptation to climate change. The important roles of erosion and deposition on SOC dynamics have drawn increasing attention in the past decades, but quantifying such dynamics is still challenging. Here we develop a process-based quasi 3-D model that couples surface runoff, soil moisture dynamics, biogeochemical transformation, and landscape evolution. We apply this model to a subcatchment in Iowa to understand how natural forcing and farming practices affect the SOC dynamics in the critical zone. The net soil thickness and SOC stock change rates are −0.336 (mm/yr) and −1.9 (g C/m 2 /year), respectively. Our model shows that in a fast transport landscape, SOC transport is the dominant control on SOC dynamics compared to biogeochemical transformation. The SOC profiles have "noses" below the surface at depositional sites, which are consistent with cores sampled at the same site. Generally, erosional sites are local net atmospheric carbon sinks and vice versa for depositional sites, but exceptions exist as seen in the simulation results. Furthermore, the mechanical soil mixing arising from tillage enhances SOC stock at erosional sites and reduces it at depositional ones. This study not only helps us understand the evolution of SOC stock and profiles in a watershed but can also serve as an instrument to develop practical means for protecting carbon loss due to human activities. Plain Language SummaryUnderstanding how soil organic carbon (SOC) content changes in space and time are critical for our food security and adaptation to climate change. It changes through the belowground transformation-decomposition of litter and release of CO 2 , and surficial transport-lateral physical redistribution. The balance between the two interactions has been strongly shifted by human activities. Quantifying such interactions has remained challenging. Here we developed a 3-D model, which simulates the movement and burial of SOC and compare the impacts of natural and human activities in the critical zone. We apply this model to a watershed in Iowa. Our results show that the net soil thickness and SOC stock change rates are both decreasing. The fast burial of legacy carbon by modern carbon results in a "nose" profile at depositional sites, which is consistent with soil cores sampled in the watershed. The lateral transport rate can be significantly larger than the transformation rate, but this balance is modified by the mechanical mixing from tillage. Generally, erosional sites are net sinks for atmospheric carbon and depositional sites are net sources. The model can serve as an important tool for protecting soil carbon change caused by both human and natural events.

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Section: Study Site Field Samples and Data Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three‐Dimensional Modeling of the Coevolution of Landscape and Soil Organic Carbon

Yan

Woo

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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“…All of the data sets and modeling approaches presented here are now publicly available. The goal of this paper is to present an integrated synthesis of these data sets and models, both as an example of how interdisciplinary science can inform key scientific and societal questions and to encourage additional research into IML as a prototype of coupled human‐natural systems undergoing change (Kumar et al, ). This data collection and analysis effort differs from some of the longer‐term observatory‐scale efforts (e.g., Goodman et al, ; Hobbie et al, ; Utz et al, ; White et al, ; Wilson et al, ) but provides an example of how leveraged publicly available data and previous studies can be optimally integrated to maximize science.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of Environmental Observatories for Advancing Multidisciplinary Research, Outreach, and Decision Support: The Case of the Minnesota River Basin

Gran

Dolph

Baker

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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Observatory‐scale data collection efforts allow unprecedented opportunities for integrative, multidisciplinary investigations in large, complex watersheds, which can affect management decisions and policy. Through the National Science Foundation‐funded REACH (REsilience under Accelerated CHange) project, in collaboration with the Intensively Managed Landscapes‐Critical Zone Observatory, we have collected a series of multidisciplinary data sets throughout the Minnesota River Basin in south‐central Minnesota, USA, a 43,400‐km2 tributary to the Upper Mississippi River. Postglacial incision within the Minnesota River valley created an erosional landscape highly responsive to hydrologic change, allowing for transdisciplinary research into the complex cascade of environmental changes that occur due to hydrology and land use alterations from intensive agricultural management and climate change. Data sets collected include water chemistry and biogeochemical data, geochemical fingerprinting of major sediment sources, high‐resolution monitoring of river bluff erosion, and repeat channel cross‐sectional and bathymetry data following major floods. The data collection efforts led to development of a series of integrative reduced complexity models that provide deeper insight into how water, sediment, and nutrients route and transform through a large channel network and respond to change. These models represent the culmination of efforts to integrate interdisciplinary data sets and science to gain new insights into watershed‐scale processes in order to advance management and decision making. The purpose of this paper is to present a synthesis of the data sets and models, disseminate them to the community for further research, and identify mechanisms used to expand the temporal and spatial extent of short‐term observatory‐scale data collection efforts.

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“…Water fluxes are one of the main drivers of the evolution of the critical zone because they regulate its chemical, biological, and physical processes (Chorover et al, ). In turn, the ability of the ecosystem to deliver the services that support human life depends on how critical zone evolves in response to natural and anthropogenic stressors (Kumar et al, in press). For instance, overland runoff and tile drainage generate nonpoint sources of pollution that is considered the most important cause of water quality impairment in the United States (Arabi, Govindaraju, & Hantush, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future climate scenarios were also simulated to assess the impacts of WMPs under changing climatic conditions. The modelling framework was developed for the Upper Sangamon River Basin (USRB), which lies within the Intensively Managed Landscapes Critical Zone Observatory that is studying how human activities have impacted the critical zone processes, specifically the alterations to the transport of sediment, water, and nutrients flow across the surface and through the subsurface (Kumar et al, in press). In accordance with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Lake Decatur (located at the downstream end of the USRB [Figure ]) is listed as impaired water body because of high levels of nitrogen‐nitrate and phosphorus (Bekele, Keefer, & Chandrasekaran, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of environmental stressors on the water resources of intensively managed hydrologic systems

Botero‐Acosta

Chu

Stumpf

2018

Hydrological Processes

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Watersheds are complex systems due to their surface and subsurface spatially connected water fluxes and biochemical processes that shape Earth's critical zone. In intensively managed landscapes, the implementation of watershed management practices (WMPs) regulate their short‐term responses, whereas climate variability controls the long‐term processes. Understanding their responses to anthropogenic and natural stressors requires a holistic approach that takes into account their multiscale spatio‐temporal linkages. The objective of this study was to simulate the impacts of spatially and temporally varying WMPs and projected climate changes on the surface and groundwater resources in the Upper Sangamon River Basin (USRB), a watershed in central Illinois greatly impacted by agricultural and industrial operations. The physically based hydrologic model MIKE‐SHE was used to simulate the hydrologic responses of the basin to different WMPs and climatic conditions. The simulation of a WMP was varied spatially across the basin to determine the spectrum of responses and critical conditions. In general, the wetlands and forested riparian buffer scenarios were found to cause a reduction in the average streamflow, whereas crop rotation had varied responses depending on the location of implementation and the climate condition assumed. Reductions of up to 30% in the average streamflow were found for the forested riparian buffer under the ESM 2M climate projections, whereas an increase of up to 13% with the crop rotation schemes under CM3 climate was predicted. The model results showed that the installation of tile drains across the USRB increased the water table depth (from ground level) by up to 56%, making crop production possible. Groundwater level in USRB appeared to be more sensitive to future climatic conditions than to WMP implementation. The impacts of WMPs are determined to depend on the climate conditions under which they are applied. Investigating individual and combined stressors' effects over the critical zone at a watershed scale can lead to a more comprehensive analysis of the risk and trade‐offs in every managerial decision that will enable an efficient use of resources.

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Critical transition in critical zone of intensively managed landscapes

Cited by 79 publications

References 80 publications

Three‐Dimensional Modeling of the Coevolution of Landscape and Soil Organic Carbon

Three‐Dimensional Modeling of the Coevolution of Landscape and Soil Organic Carbon

The Power of Environmental Observatories for Advancing Multidisciplinary Research, Outreach, and Decision Support: The Case of the Minnesota River Basin

Impacts of environmental stressors on the water resources of intensively managed hydrologic systems

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