Historical and projected climate (1901–2050) and hydrologic response of karst aquifers, and species vulnerability in south-central Texas and western South Dakota

Abstract

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Demographics, reproduction, growth, and abundance of Jollyville Plateau salamanders (Eurycea tonkawae)

“…Adaptations to temporally variable flow are likely common among epigean central Texas Eurycea populations, as spring reliability varies widely throughout the Edwards Plateau (Sweet, ). Although urbanization remains the primary near‐term threat to many populations of E. tonkawae (Bendik et al., ), adaptations that allow them to cope with variable flow conditions may become more important as a drier future looms over central Texas aquifers (Stamm et al., ).…”

Is Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) a Useful Indicator to Forecast Groundwater Droughts? — Insights from a Karst Aquifer

“…The region is known to have highly erratic climate (Griffiths and Strauss 1985) and experienced a prolonged period of drought during the 1950s which is the basis for current regional water resources planning efforts (TWDB 2017). Stamm et al (2015) indicated that the region will likely experience an increase in temperature and a significant decrease in annual precipitation during the 21st Century and cause reductions to spring flow which in turn will affect sensitive aquatic habitats as well as create vulnerabilities to municipal, agricultural, and industrial water supplies. While the 2010-2011 drought was the worst single-year drought in Texas, South Central Texas region (where the study area is located) experienced above-average rainfall in the latter part of 2011 which somewhat mitigated the impacts.…”

Detection of Karst Features in the Black Hills Area in South Dakota/Wyoming, USA, Based on Evaluations of Remote Sensing Data

“…Relatively soluble rocks, including dolomite, limestone, gypsum and anhydrite, comprise about 35 percent of the total stratigraphic section within the topographic Black Hills [10][11][12]. Caves, sinking streams, and other karst features are found in limestones, gypsum, dolomites and anhydrite in several stratigraphic units in the Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming ( Figure 1) The Limestone Plateau is located on the western side of the Black Hills along the South Dakota and Wyoming border, where large outcrops of the Madison Limestone and Minnelusa Formation occur in a high-altitude area of generally low relief [6]. The Black Hills are encircled by the lower elevations of the Red Valley, which is underlain by red clastic rocks of the Triassic-age Spearfish Formation and Jurassic-age Sundance Formation and other units.…”

“…These dissolution processes depend on surface water input that will be affected by climate conditions. The Black Hills region has a continental climate characterized by low precipitation, hot summers, cold winters, and extreme variability [6]. The largest precipitation amounts typically occur during May and June, and the smallest amounts typically occur during November through February [5].…”

“…Karst features such as dolines vary in their morphology and origins as there are collapse dolines and enclosed depressions. Solution cavities can exhibit large short-term variability in hydrogeologic characteristics, such as spring flow and water-table level [4][5][6]. As a result, karst aquifers are likely to respond to climate change.…”