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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #364477
Research Project: Agroecosystem Benefits from the Development and Application of New Management Technologies in Agricultural Watersheds

Location: Agroecosystems Management Research

Title: Riparian catchments as an approach to link upland and riparian conservation practices for watershed and agro-ecosystem management

Author
item Tomer, Mark
item James, David
item PORTER, SARAH - Former ARS Employee

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/2019
Publication Date: 11/11/2019
Citation: Tomer, M.D., James, D.E., Porter, S.A. 2019. Riparian catchments as an approach to link upland and riparian conservation practices for watershed and agro-ecosystem management [Abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/119579.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A new approach for discretization and analysis of agricultural watersheds, called riparian catchments, has been included in the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework, Version 3, a watershed planning toolbox used with geographic information systems software, available at www.acpf4watersheds.org. Riparian catchments are developed by dividing the stream network into a set of segments of a length selected by the user. Watershed contributing areas are delineated to each segment and then divided by the stream. The resulting riparian catchments each delineate the land area that can contribute overland flows to a defined length of streambank found on either side of each stream segment. Results can facilitate analyses for evaluating riparian zone management opportunities from a whole watershed perspective. Attributes of the riparian catchment, including size, topography and soil characteristics can be used to map functional buffer designs and the potential for siting practices such as saturated buffers for tile drainage treatment. A variety of additional analyses are possible, the poster will present several examples from a case-study watershed.