Influences of land use and wetland characteristics on water loss rates and hydroperiods of playas in the Southern High Plains, USA

Tsai, Jo‐Szu; Venne, Louise S.; McMurry, Scott T.; Smith, Loren M.

doi:10.1672/0277-5212(2007)27[683:ioluaw]2.0.co;2

Cited by 83 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Cultivation is both positively [66][67][68][69] and negatively [17,21,26,57] associated with playa inundation and hydroperiod: on the one hand, tilled rows can facilitate overland flow of runoff, allowing playas to fill (albeit with heavy sediment loads), but on the other hand, growing vegetation can physically block and absorb water and sediments [4]. Thus, whereas cropland playas may fill more readily, they contain turbid water compared to playas with grass-dominated watersheds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Land use, particularly that associated with irrigated annual tillage agriculture in this region, creates an environment that facilitates playa sedimentation, with sediment loads being positively associated with cultivation [21,22]. In this region, agricultural fields are often bare soil (no cover crop) in the non-growing seasons; these bare fields are subject to erosion for over half the year, and are the primary source of sediments that wind up in playa basins.…”

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this region, agricultural fields are often bare soil (no cover crop) in the non-growing seasons; these bare fields are subject to erosion for over half the year, and are the primary source of sediments that wind up in playa basins. In a field survey of 40 dry playas (i.e., basins with no water currently in them) in Texas, sediment depths at the soil surface ranged from 17 to 1049 mm (mean = 249 mm) and were deeper playas surrounded by tilled cropland [21]; similar sediment depths (means ranging from 230 to 380 mm) have been found in the Rainwater Basin playas of Nebraska [23]. The sediments that accumulate in playas have been found to be from waterborne rather than windborne particles, resulting from watershed erosion that is exacerbated in croplands that are irrigated relative to non-irrigated agricultural fields [24].…”

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These assessments were based on soil cores taken from a relatively small number of dry basins [21,[24][25][26]32]. We, however, were more interested in sedimentation in water, which is likely to incur unique biological impacts; quantifying sedimentation in water (i.e., turbidity) has not been attempted in this system.…”

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Remotely Sensed Imagery to Document How Land Use Drives Turbidity of Playa Waters in Texas

et al. 2016

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Sedimentation (primarily from human land use) is a major threat to runoff-fed wetlands of the Great Plains of North America (playas), but it is unknown how many playas are turbid, how prevalence of turbidity has changed over time, and how turbidity is related to surrounding land use. We used remotely sensed imagery to assess sedimentation in the waters of over 7700 playa basins in Texas on four dates during a 29-year span: 25 July 1986 (a regionally wet time), 3 May 2014 (during drought), 4 June 2014 (after the drought was broken), and 25 July 2015 (one year post-drought). Even on the wettest date examined, 64% of playa basins did not hold water. Turbidity varied over time, was already present in over half of the basins examined in 1986, and prevalence of turbidity was not simply proportional to overall wet playa abundance. There was an increase in total and irrigated cropland in our focal region and a statistically significant association between sedimentation and land use within 100 m of a playa: clear playas were associated with more urban development and pasture/grassland, and turbid playas were surrounded mostly by cropland.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Remotely Sensed Imagery to Document How Land Use Drives Turbidity of Playa Waters in Texas

et al. 2016

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“…Numerous anthropogenic alterations such as concentration of water through excavated pits, cultivation within the playa, inadequately managed grazing, urbanization, and increased sedimentation due to watershed erosion are negatively affecting playas. Accelerated sedimentation and its associated disturbances are the primary threats to playas because of active filling in of the wetland, leading to altered hydrology, altered biota, and complete loss (e.g., Luo et al 1997;Smith and Haukos 2002;Gray et al 2004;Tsai et al 2007). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of Playa Wetlands Caused by Reclassification and Remapping of Hydric Soils on the Southern High Plains

et al. 2011

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Historically, playas in the Southern High Plains (SHP) were identified by the presence of hydric soils. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun a reclassification and remapping of upland and depressional soils for the playa region of Texas. For eight counties in Texas, we compared the occurrence of playas, as indicated by soils designated as hydric in original soil surveys, to designations in remapped soil surveys. We estimate a 65% decrease in playa numbers and 50% decrease in area as defined by the presence of hydric soil. Anthropogenic impacts, resulting in an altered hydrology and masking of hydric soil are proposed as primary factors responsible for reduction in playa numbers. Other potential factors include current USDA methodology and correction of historical survey errors. Playas on the SHP being considered for inclusion under USDA conservation programs must be individually and independently assessed on-site for wetland criteria, rather than reliance on revised USDA-NRCS Soil Survey maps. During on-site evaluations, effects of anthropogenic alterations on the playa soil to develop and maintain hydric characteristics must be considered. Until completion of the remapping effort, confusion will ensue with the use of the online USDA-NRCS Soil Survey maps during interpretation by those unfamiliar with the status of soil survey reports for the Texas SHP.

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Climate change causes declines and greater extremes in wetland inundation in a region important for wetland birds

Londe,

Davis,

Loss

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

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Wetland ecosystems are vital for maintaining global biodiversity, as they provide important stopover sites for many species of migrating wetland‐associated birds. However, because weather determines their hydrologic cycles, wetlands are highly vulnerable to effects of climate change. Although changes in temperature and precipitation resulting from climate change are expected to reduce inundation of wetlands, few efforts have been made to quantify how these changes will influence the availability of stopover sites for migratory wetland birds. Additionally, few studies have evaluated how climate change will influence interannual variability or the frequency of extremes in wetland availability. For spring and fall bird migration in seven ecoregions in the south‐central Great Plains of North America, we developed predictive models associating abundance of inundated wetlands with a suite of weather and land cover variables. We then used these models to generate predictions of wetland inundation at the end of the century (2069–2099) under future climate change scenarios. Climate models predicted the average number of inundated wetlands will likely decline during both spring and fall migration periods, with declines being greatest in the eastern ecoregions of the southern Great Plains. However, the magnitude of predicted declines varied considerably across climate models and ecoregions, with uncertainty among climate models being greatest in the High Plains ecoregion. Most ecoregions also were predicted to experience more‐frequent extremely dry years (i.e., years with extremely low wetland abundances), but the projected change in interannual variability of wetland inundation was relatively small and varied across ecoregions and seasons. Because the south‐central Great Plains represents an important link along the migratory routes of many wetland‐dependent avian species, future declines in wetland inundation and more frequent periods of only a few wetlands being inundated will result in an uncertain future for migratory birds as they experience reduced availability of wetland stopover habitat across their migration pathways.

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Influences of land use and wetland characteristics on water loss rates and hydroperiods of playas in the Southern High Plains, USA

Cited by 83 publications

References 38 publications

Using Remotely Sensed Imagery to Document How Land Use Drives Turbidity of Playa Waters in Texas

Using Remotely Sensed Imagery to Document How Land Use Drives Turbidity of Playa Waters in Texas

Loss of Playa Wetlands Caused by Reclassification and Remapping of Hydric Soils on the Southern High Plains

Climate change causes declines and greater extremes in wetland inundation in a region important for wetland birds

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