Groundwater-dependent ecosystems have become hot topics lately. A number of professional societies have had topical sessions at their conferences, and the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) devoted an entire conference to this topic last fall at its meeting in Portugal. It's great to see groundwater, so often the "forgotten child", be accorded the importance it deserves.
So how can you tell if your ecosystem and its species are groundwater-dependent? Do you have to indulge in a massive data-collection scheme designed and conducted by overpriced, boorish hydrogeologists?
No!
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with the support of the Northwest Conservation Fund, has just released Groundwater and Biodiversity Conservation: A Methods Guide for Integrating Groundwater Needs of Ecosystems and Species into Conservation Plans in the Pacific Northwest. Download a copy here.
The peer-reviewed and field-tested manual describes tools and approaches for:
- understanding groundwater processes in a watershed;
- identifying key ecosystems and species that are groundwater dependent; and
- describing the groundwater requirements of these ecosystmes and species.
It is written for non-hydrogeologists, uses readily available data (so detailed groundwater studies do not need to be completed at your site) and illustrates all steps with examples. The specifics of the methods are for use in the Pacific Northwest of North America but the overall framework may be useful in other areas.
The report is authored by Jenny Brown, Abby Wyers, Allison Aldous, and Leslie Bach.
If you would like more information, contact Dr. Jenny Brown ([email protected]) or Dr. Leslie Bach ([email protected]).
And, as a bonus, here is a copy of the Brown et al. paper from the IAH conference, "Overcoming data shortfalls to locate groundwater-dependent ecosystems and assess threats to groundwater quantity and quality":
Download iah_paper_jbrown_final.pdf
and a paper by Brodie et al., "Mapping groundwater-dependent ecosystems: a case study in the fractured basalt aquifers of the Alstonville Plateau, New South Wales, Australia":
Download gde_brodie_et_al..pdf
Enjoy!
"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." -- Linus Pauling
Comments