Richard J. Olson

Land-use conflicts with natural vegetation in the United States

The potential existing vegetation cover of the United States was determined, using a computer algorithm developed to subtract Conservation Needs Inventory land-use data from Kuechlers Potential Natural Vegetation of the United States. This was done on a county-by-county basis for the 48 conterminous states. The results indicate that 23 of the 106 vegetation types have each been reduced by over 50% by man-induced land uses. In contrast, only 26 types have had 5% or less of their potential area converted to urban, agricultural, pasture, or other miscellaneous uses. Tule marshes showed the greatest destruction, losing 88% of their original area, primarily to agriculture. Bluestem prairie and its transition zone with oak-hickory forest declined by 85% and 77%, respectively, primarily due to agriculture. Over 41 x 106 ha of these two vegetation types have been converted to other uses. The agricultural states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana have the least amount of land covered by natural vegetation - 8, 11, and 18%, respectively. Despite the drawbacks of using Kuechlers Potential Natural vegetation of the United States and CNI land-use data, the results give a fairly accurate and startling portrayal of the area occupied by natural vegetation.

Adirondack headwater lake chemistry relationships with watershed characteristics

The Adirondack Region of New York State has been identified as having surface waters sensitive to acidic deposition and as receiving large annual inputs of acidic deposition. The large amount of data available for this region makes a quantitative study of the region possible. Compiled from a variety of sources, the Adirondack Watershed Data Base (AWDB) contains information on lake chemistry; lake elevation, area, and volume; and associated watershed data, such as size, slope, aspect, elevation, vegetation and wetland types, beaver activity, fire and logging history, and soils data. Bivariate and multivariate procedures were used to examine relationships between watershed attributes and lake chemistry. Because the variables in the data base are being refined and modified, the current relationships should be considered preliminary. Preliminary results indicate that wet deposition, lake elevation, and forest cover are the principal variables that are associated with variance in the data for lake pH and acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) in the Adirondacks. For headwater lakes in the Adirondacks, we estimate approximately 50% have a total ANC ≤ 40 μeq L−1 and 40% have a pH ≤ 5.5.

EXPLORATION OF THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ACIDIC DEPOSITION, LAND USE, AND WATER CHEMISTRY

ABSTRACT Many waterzshed characteristics, either by themselves or in combination with acidic deposition, have been shown to influence the acidification of lakes. Correlations and linear regressions were calculated for pairs of watershed characteristics and water chemistry measurements to statistically test, using observational data, these relationships. The study included a subset of 46 headwater lakes in the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State that were common to both the National Surface Water Survey (providing water chemistry data) and the Adirondack Watershed Data Base (providing watershed attribute data). Wet deposition and lake elevation showed strong, negative relationships with both lake pH and alkalinity, although elevation may act as a surrogate variable for other factors, such as soil type, vegetation type, and deposition level. Conifer vegetation, historical fire activity, and wetlands, expressed as the percentage of watershed area, also showed significant, negative relationships with...

Achieving Full Data Consolidation

The ultimate goal of data consolidation is to create a scientific and computational environment which will enable the addressing of scientific issues raised in the research Community, and facilitate the development of models, analysis techniques, and observational approaches by promoting scientific exchange. In other words, to allow scientists to concentrate on the science with minimum distraction by making the necessary data easy to share, use and understand.

Existing degrees of consolidation

Examples from a range of degrees of data consolidation are presented here. They range from completely independent datasets (of which there are many), through various levels of consolidation. Examples of Consolidated datasets include the products of operational data networks, both general and project specific data archives, and highly Consolidated datasets which adhere strongly to Standards of format, resolution and documentation.

Integrated Ground-based and Remotely Sensed Data to Support Global Studies of Environmental Change'

Global studies of environmental change require integrated databases of multiple data types that are accurately coordinated in terms of spatial, temporal and thematic properties. Such datasets must be designed and developed jointly by scientific researchers, computer specialists, and policy analysts. The presentation focuses on our approach for organizing data from ground-based research programs so that the data can be linked with remotely sensed data and other map data into integrated databases with spatial, temporal, and thematic characteristics relevant to global studies. The development of an integrated database for Net Primary Productivity is described to illustrate the process.