FOREST AND WETLAND HYDROLOGY 2016

NRC 528 (3 credits) SPIRE #: 75053 305 Holdsworth Hall MWF, 11:15-12:05 Course website on Moodle

Paul K. Barten, Ph.D. Professor and ECo Honors Program Director University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation 219 Holdsworth Hall pkbarten@eco.umass.edu (office hours by apt.) 413.545.2665 (UMass); 860.461.6946 (Cell) Faculty Mailbox: 204 Holdsworth Hall (until 4 pm)

Summary – This graduate-level course focuses on water movement through forest and wetland

ecosystems. The water balance and the energy balance are used as the analytical frameworks for the exploration of hydrologic processes. The effects of land and natural resource use on the quantity, timing, and quality of water flow—and consequent watershed management challenges and opportunities—are also presented and discussed.

Required Book – de la Crétaz, A.L., and P.K. Barten., 2007. Land Use Effects on Streamflow and Water

Quality in the Northeastern United States. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 319 pp. (list price: $148)

Intended Audience

Seniors and graduate students in the Department of Environmental Conservation. Other qualified students may enroll with my permission and assistance, if space is available. The enrollment capacity is 30; this reflects the substantial amount of mentoring and grading (six professional writing assignments and a four-part term project) needed to deliver this course without a graduate teaching assistant.

Preparation and Expectations

The interdisciplinary nature of hydrology and watershed management builds upon training in ecology, geology, general physics, and soil science. Part 1 (Chapters 1-5) of de la Crétaz and Barten (2007) provides background information on hydrology, environmental chemistry, aquatic ecosystems, and riparian areas that will be helpful to students who have a strong interest in this course but lack some of the core background and training. Reading assignments, lectures, discussions, and the term project are based on the minimum expectation that students have successfully completed college-level mathematics (pre-calculus), basic statistics, biology, chemistry, and ecology and are proficient with Microsoft Excel (at an intermediate level for detailed calculations and scientific graphics). I am reluctant to add a long list of prerequisites in SPIRE that would automatically exclude some highly motivated prospective students. If, however, you are concerned about your preparation for NRC 528 please make an appointment to meet with me during the first week of classes.

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Here is a symbolic and visual representation of the entire course1

Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy: Inflows - Outflows Storage = 0

Water Balance Equation: P - ET - Q S = 0 P = precipitation, ET = evapotranspiration, Q = water yield, S = storage

P - (E + T + I) - (QOF + QSSF + QGW) ± (SSNOW + SSOIL+ SWETLANDS +SLAKES + SSTREAMS + SBIOMASS) = 0

Water Balance = f (Energy Balance, time, terrain, land use, legacy effects, climate, etc., etc.)

1 A “water year” (beginning and ending in March) starting from the upper left and proceeding, typewriter fashion, to the lower right, 365 days later ― looking from forested uplands across a wetland to an open field about 200 meters away.

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Fall 2016 schedule

Wk Date Lecture/Discussion Topic Chap. Concept Summary

DUE

Project Report

DUE 1 W, 7 Sep Introduction and overview of the course 1

F, 9 Sep Key concepts: variability and probability of occurrence

2

M, 12 Sep The water balance, water year, and annual hydrograph 2

W, 14 Sep The energy balance and energy exchange

F, 16 Sep Solar radiation Part 1

3

M, 19 Sep Terrestrial radiation (Last day to Drop with no record)

W, 21 Sep Latent heat flux, advection, convection, conduction 1

F, 23 Sep Precipitation: storm types, intensity, effects

4

M, 26 Sep Snow

W, 28 Sep Water movement through soils – physical and hydraulic properties

F, 30 Sep Soil water potential [energy] and hydraulic gradients 2

5

M, 3 Oct Permeability and Darcy’s Law

W, 5 Oct Infiltration, soil compaction, heat flow

F, 7 Oct Interception

6

M, 10 Oct Columbus Day

T, 11 Oct Evaporation

W, 12 Oct Soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and evapotranspiration (ET) 3 Part 2

F, 14 Oct Streamflow generation – pathways and relative rates of flow 3

7

M, 17 Oct Variable Source Area Concept – old water/new water

W, 19 Oct Riparian Areas (Oct. 20, Last day to Withdraw) 5

F, 21 Oct Wetland hydrology – unique features and functions Web site

4

8

M, 24 Oct Wetland hydrology – reservoir routing analogy

W, 26 Oct Open channel hydraulics

F, 28 Oct Manning’s equation 5

9

M, 31 Oct Aquatic Ecosystems and the River Continuum Concept 4

W, 2 Nov Forest management and natural disturbances 6

F, 4 Nov NO CLASS …Prof. Barten in Wisconsin, 3-6 Nov

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M, 7 Nov Forest/wetland conversion to agriculture 7 6

W, 9 Nov Forest/wetland conversion to urban and suburban land use 8

F, 11 Nov Veterans Day

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M, 14 Nov Mixed land use and cumulative effects 9

W, 16 Nov Land use effects workshop (integration and synthesis)

F, 18 Nov Land use effects workshop …completed Part 3

12 19-27 Nov Thanksgiving Recess

13

M, 28 Nov Conclusions and watershed management implications 10

W, 30 Nov Term Project Workshop …getting your work in professional form

F, 2 Dec Term Project Workshop …continued 7

14

M, 5 Dec Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Maine (NRC 2004) Web site

W, 7 Dec Hydrologic Effects of a Changing Forest Landscape (NRC 2008)

F, 9 Dec Mass. Forest Assessment, de la Cretaz et al. (2010), Criterion 4

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M, 12 Dec Mass. DWSP Watershed Forestry Program (Barten et al. 2012)

W, 14 Dec Natural Infrastructure: Investing in Forested Landscapes for Source Water Protection in the United States (Gartner et al., Editors, 2013)

F, 16 Dec Term project final report due (pdf via email by 5:00 pm) Part 4

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Key Concept Summaries* Due date Grading Scale

1. Water balance energy balance 21 Sep Grade: 0, 8, 10, or 12

2. Rain and snow 30 Sep Key: 0 = unacceptable, do over within one week. 8 = not 500-level 10 = 500-level 11 or 12 = exceptional …for each worksheet

3. Soils 14 Oct

4. ET and Streamflow 21 Oct

5. Riparian Areas and Wetlands 28 Oct

6. Open Channel Flow and Aquatic Ecosystems

7 Nov

7. Land Use Effects 2 Dec

* One “free pass” can be used for 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 …or your 7th summary will be extra credit

Term Project Water Balance Analysis (from NOAA NCDC and USGS Water Resources)

Points Due date

Part 1: Set-up, unit conversions, temperature and precipitation calculations 10 16 Sep

Part 2: Streamflow calculations and hydrometeorological graphs 20 12 Oct

Part 3: Evapotranspiration calculations (PET and est. AET) and graphs 30 18 Nov

Part 4: Compilation of graphs, summary stats, interpretation, report 40 16 Dec.

Software note: We will be using Microsoft Excel in Windows-based Microsoft Office.

You must complete at least six key concept summaries and all parts of the term project. Your

work is due on the dates listed above. Reasonable, case-by-case exceptions will be made for documented illnesses, family emergencies, or UMass athletic team members. The Health Center, Office of Student Affairs, or Athletic Department can provide documentation for legitimate absences. You should schedule your work to ensure timely completion of each assignment. Late work will be accepted for half credit. Please take advantage of opportunities to ask questions in class and seek help, as needed (email, phone, or by appointment).

Course Grade = 0.5 (key concept summary total %) + 0.5 (term project total %)

Incomplete Policy – An incomplete (INC) will be submitted if, and only if, the student has a documented

medical absence (Health Plan) or family emergency (Dean of Student Affairs) during the semester as described in the UMass Amherst attendance policy. In all other cases, the course grade will be calculated as noted above from the work that has been submitted by the last due date (18 Dec). For 64 pages of detail go to: http://www.umass.edu/registrar/sites/default/files/academicregs.pdf

Letter grade Point total

A >92.5

A- 90 – 92.4

B+ 87.5 – 89.9

B 82.5 – 87.4

B- 80 – 82.4

C+ 77.5 – 79.9

C 72.5 – 77.4

C- 70 – 72.4

D 60 – 69.9

F <60

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Statement on Academic Honesty – It is expected that all students will abide by the Academic Honesty

Policy (available online at www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty). Sanctions for acts of dishonesty range from receiving a grade of F on the paper/exam/assignment or in the course, loss of funding, being placed on probation or suspension for a period of time, or being dismissed from the University. All students have the right of appeal through the Academic Honesty Board.

This is NOT a prohibition on working and learning together with fellow students. It is simply a reminder that all submitted work must ultimately be your own, with appropriate attribution of reference material and data sources. Specifically, you must develop your own spreadsheet for the term project, including all of its component parts (data, formulae, and graphs).

“The Lone Clearing” on the North Saskatchewan River, Alberta, Canada

The Columbia Glacier on the Continental Divide is the source of this majestic river. This photo illustrates the landscape scale ecological patterns and processes discussed in

NRC 528: Forest and Wetland Hydrology.