Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems

Increased land use intensity has adversely affected aquatic ecosystems within Canada. Activities that occur over the landscape are individually minor but collectively significant when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions, and are defined as cumulative effects. Exis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Seitz, Nicole Elyse
Other Authors: Westbrook, Cherie
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: University of Saskatchewan 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04042011-094309/
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spelling ndltd-USASK-oai-usask.ca-etd-04042011-0943092013-01-08T16:34:56Z Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems Seitz, Nicole Elyse Cumulative effects land use/land cover Athabasca River water quantity water quality Increased land use intensity has adversely affected aquatic ecosystems within Canada. Activities that occur over the landscape are individually minor but collectively significant when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions, and are defined as cumulative effects. Existing approaches to cumulative effects assessment for river systems within Canada are ineffective. This thesis aims to improve the practice of cumulative effects assessment by evaluating current methodology for linking landscape change and river response over a large spatiotemporal scale. As part of this goal, I offer a framework for better incorporating science into current practices for cumulative effects assessment. The framework addresses the challenges involved in cumulative effects assessment, such as defining appropriate spatial and temporal scale, complex ecological and hydrologic pathways, predictive analysis, and monitoring. I then test the framework over a large spatiotemporal scale using a case study of the lower reaches of the Athabasca River Basin, Alberta. Three objectives are addressed: 1) changes in land use and land cover in the lower ARB for several census dates (1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001) between 1976 (historic) and 2006 (current day) are identified; 2) linkages between landscape change and river water quality and quantity response are evaluated; and 3) results of the different methods used to link landscape stressors with stream responses are compared. Results show that the landscape has changed dramatically between 1976 and 2006, documented by increases in forest harvesting, oil sands developments, and agricultural intensity. Secondly, results suggest that linear regression tests combined with regression trees are useful for capturing the strongest associations between landscape stressors and river response variables. For instance, water abstraction and agricultural activities have a significant impact on solute concentrations. This suggests that water abstraction and agriculture are important indicators to consider when conducting a watershed cumulative effect assessment on a similar spatiotemporal scale. The thesis has strong implications for the need for improved water quality and quantity monitoring of Canada‟s rivers. The research provides a means of identifying appropriate tools for improved watershed cumulative effects assessment for scientists and land managers involved in the environmental impact assessment process and protection of Canada‟s watersheds. Westbrook, Cherie Dubé, Monique Noble, Bram Patrick, Robert University of Saskatchewan 2011-04-14 text application/pdf http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04042011-094309/ http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04042011-094309/ en unrestricted I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.
collection NDLTD
language en
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Cumulative effects
land use/land cover
Athabasca River
water quantity
water quality
spellingShingle Cumulative effects
land use/land cover
Athabasca River
water quantity
water quality
Seitz, Nicole Elyse
Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
description Increased land use intensity has adversely affected aquatic ecosystems within Canada. Activities that occur over the landscape are individually minor but collectively significant when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions, and are defined as cumulative effects. Existing approaches to cumulative effects assessment for river systems within Canada are ineffective. This thesis aims to improve the practice of cumulative effects assessment by evaluating current methodology for linking landscape change and river response over a large spatiotemporal scale. As part of this goal, I offer a framework for better incorporating science into current practices for cumulative effects assessment. The framework addresses the challenges involved in cumulative effects assessment, such as defining appropriate spatial and temporal scale, complex ecological and hydrologic pathways, predictive analysis, and monitoring. I then test the framework over a large spatiotemporal scale using a case study of the lower reaches of the Athabasca River Basin, Alberta. Three objectives are addressed: 1) changes in land use and land cover in the lower ARB for several census dates (1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001) between 1976 (historic) and 2006 (current day) are identified; 2) linkages between landscape change and river water quality and quantity response are evaluated; and 3) results of the different methods used to link landscape stressors with stream responses are compared. Results show that the landscape has changed dramatically between 1976 and 2006, documented by increases in forest harvesting, oil sands developments, and agricultural intensity. Secondly, results suggest that linear regression tests combined with regression trees are useful for capturing the strongest associations between landscape stressors and river response variables. For instance, water abstraction and agricultural activities have a significant impact on solute concentrations. This suggests that water abstraction and agriculture are important indicators to consider when conducting a watershed cumulative effect assessment on a similar spatiotemporal scale. The thesis has strong implications for the need for improved water quality and quantity monitoring of Canada‟s rivers. The research provides a means of identifying appropriate tools for improved watershed cumulative effects assessment for scientists and land managers involved in the environmental impact assessment process and protection of Canada‟s watersheds.
author2 Westbrook, Cherie
author_facet Westbrook, Cherie
Seitz, Nicole Elyse
author Seitz, Nicole Elyse
author_sort Seitz, Nicole Elyse
title Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
title_short Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
title_full Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
title_fullStr Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
title_full_unstemmed Advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
title_sort advancing cumulative effects assessment methodology for river systems
publisher University of Saskatchewan
publishDate 2011
url http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04042011-094309/
work_keys_str_mv AT seitznicoleelyse advancingcumulativeeffectsassessmentmethodologyforriversystems
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