EPA Grant Number: R825335-01-0

Title : Modeling effects of alternative landscape design and management on water quality and biodiversity in Midwest agricultural watersheds

Investigators/Institution: Santelmann, M., K. Freemark, G. Matzke, S. Polasky, D. White (Oregon State University); J. Eilers (E & S Environmental Chemistry, Inc.); B. Danielson (Iowa State University); J. Nassauer (Univ. of Michigan); and S. Galatowitsch (University of Minnesota)

Project Period: January 1997-December 1999

Description: Degradation in water quality and declines in native biodiversity in farmland demonstrate the need for the multidisciplinary approach employed by this study. The research objective is to use a multidisciplinary approach to integrate the following components into a watershed-level assessment of ecological and human resources:

1. development and evaluation of alternative future land-use scenarios for agricultural watersheds, farm planning,
2. modeling of biodiversity (aquatic organisms, terrestrial vertebrates, wetland plants),
3. development and calibration of water quality models for watersheds, modeling of water quality

Ecological and socioeconomic impact of human land use and management decisions will be analyzed for two agricultural watersheds in Iowa, comparing the present landscape and three designed alternative visions of these same watersheds 25 years in the future. Data bases exist on land cover, aquatic biodiversity, and avian biodiversity of these watersheds as a result of the US-EPA/USDA Midwest Agricultural Surface/subsurface Transports and Effects Research (MASTER) program.

This research builds on the MASTER program, incorporating modeling approaches used elsewhere to evaluate risks to vertebrate biodiversity. Parallel modeling approaches (multispecies and demographic models) will cross-validate and evaluate terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity model results. For evaluating the effects of alternative wetland preservation/ restoration strategies, new models will be developed from existing data bases in Iowa and southern Minnesota. Models for assessment and evaluation of water quality will be developed for the study watersheds. Alternative future landscape scenarios will be designed to represent three different sets of human land-use management priorities: first, a continuation of present trends, with land-use reflecting market-driven farming practices and existing regulations or deregulation; second, an effort to improve water quality and preserve biodiversity using conventional methods, within the existing regulatory framework; third, incorporating a higher priority on restoration of native biodiversity coupled with efforts to improve water quality. Alternative futures will be evaluated and compared in terms of relative impacts on biodiversity and water quality using models developed for the present landscape. The farm planning exercise will incorporate input from local farmers and decision-makers and explore how human attitudes and practical and economic constraints are translated into land-use and management decisions, and the spatial implications of these decisions at the watershed level. The significance of this research lies in its ability to inform land owners and policy-makers (for example, those crafting Farm Bill 2000) of effects of land-use and management choices on water resources, ecosystem function and human social systems in the Western Corn Belt Region.