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Article: An ecohydrological model for studying groundwater-vegetation interactions in wetlands

TitleAn ecohydrological model for studying groundwater-vegetation interactions in wetlands
Authors
KeywordsEcohydrology
Groundwater Drawdown
Land Use Change
Numerical Modeling
Plant Biomass
Wetlands
Issue Date2011
PublisherElsevier BV. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jhydrol
Citation
Journal Of Hydrology, 2011, v. 409 n. 1-2, p. 291-304 How to Cite?
AbstractDespite their importance to the natural environment, wetlands worldwide face drastic degradation from changes in land use and climatic patterns. To help preservation efforts and guide conservation strategies, a clear understanding of the dynamic relationship between coupled hydrology and vegetation systems in wetlands, and their responses to engineering works and climate change, is needed. An ecohydrological model was developed in this study to address this issue. The model combines a hydrology component based on the Richards' equation for characterizing variably saturated groundwater flow, with a vegetation component described by Lotka-Volterra equations tailored for plant growth. Vegetation is represented by two characteristic wetland herbaceous plant types which differ in their flood and drought resistances. Validation of the model on a study site in the Everglades demonstrated the capability of the model in capturing field-measured water table and transpiration dynamics. The model was next applied on a section of the Nee Soon swamp forest, a tropical wetland in Singapore, for studying the impact of possible drainage works on the groundwater hydrology and native vegetation. Drainage of 10. m downstream of the wetland resulted in a localized zone of influence within half a kilometer from the drainage site with significant adverse impacts on groundwater and biomass levels, indicating a strong need for conservation. Simulated water table-plant biomass relationships demonstrated the capability of the model in capturing the time-lag in biomass response to water table changes. To test the significance of taking plant growth into consideration, the performance of the model was compared to one that substituted the vegetation component with a pre-specified evapotranspiration rate. Unlike its revised counterpart, the original ecohydrological model explicitly accounted for the drainage-induced plant biomass decrease and translated the resulting reduced transpiration toll back to the groundwater hydrology for a more accurate soil water balance. This study represents, to our knowledge, the first development of an ecohydrological model for wetland ecosystems that characterizes the coupled relationship between variably-saturated groundwater flow and plant growth dynamics. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/180440
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 5.9
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 1.764
ISI Accession Number ID
References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorChui, TFMen_US
dc.contributor.authorLow, SYen_US
dc.contributor.authorLiong, SYen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-28T01:37:57Z-
dc.date.available2013-01-28T01:37:57Z-
dc.date.issued2011en_US
dc.identifier.citationJournal Of Hydrology, 2011, v. 409 n. 1-2, p. 291-304en_US
dc.identifier.issn0022-1694en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/180440-
dc.description.abstractDespite their importance to the natural environment, wetlands worldwide face drastic degradation from changes in land use and climatic patterns. To help preservation efforts and guide conservation strategies, a clear understanding of the dynamic relationship between coupled hydrology and vegetation systems in wetlands, and their responses to engineering works and climate change, is needed. An ecohydrological model was developed in this study to address this issue. The model combines a hydrology component based on the Richards' equation for characterizing variably saturated groundwater flow, with a vegetation component described by Lotka-Volterra equations tailored for plant growth. Vegetation is represented by two characteristic wetland herbaceous plant types which differ in their flood and drought resistances. Validation of the model on a study site in the Everglades demonstrated the capability of the model in capturing field-measured water table and transpiration dynamics. The model was next applied on a section of the Nee Soon swamp forest, a tropical wetland in Singapore, for studying the impact of possible drainage works on the groundwater hydrology and native vegetation. Drainage of 10. m downstream of the wetland resulted in a localized zone of influence within half a kilometer from the drainage site with significant adverse impacts on groundwater and biomass levels, indicating a strong need for conservation. Simulated water table-plant biomass relationships demonstrated the capability of the model in capturing the time-lag in biomass response to water table changes. To test the significance of taking plant growth into consideration, the performance of the model was compared to one that substituted the vegetation component with a pre-specified evapotranspiration rate. Unlike its revised counterpart, the original ecohydrological model explicitly accounted for the drainage-induced plant biomass decrease and translated the resulting reduced transpiration toll back to the groundwater hydrology for a more accurate soil water balance. This study represents, to our knowledge, the first development of an ecohydrological model for wetland ecosystems that characterizes the coupled relationship between variably-saturated groundwater flow and plant growth dynamics. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.en_US
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherElsevier BV. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jhydrolen_US
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Hydrologyen_US
dc.subjectEcohydrologyen_US
dc.subjectGroundwater Drawdownen_US
dc.subjectLand Use Changeen_US
dc.subjectNumerical Modelingen_US
dc.subjectPlant Biomassen_US
dc.subjectWetlandsen_US
dc.titleAn ecohydrological model for studying groundwater-vegetation interactions in wetlandsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.emailChui, TFM: maychui@hku.hken_US
dc.identifier.authorityChui, TFM=rp01696en_US
dc.description.naturelink_to_subscribed_fulltexten_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.08.039en_US
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-80054059645en_US
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-80054059645&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_US
dc.identifier.volume409en_US
dc.identifier.issue1-2en_US
dc.identifier.spage291en_US
dc.identifier.epage304en_US
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000296601600025-
dc.publisher.placeNetherlandsen_US
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridChui, TFM=24723787700en_US
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridLow, SY=21741465300en_US
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridLiong, SY=7004569396en_US
dc.identifier.issnl0022-1694-

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