Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Call for Research Editor
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Call for Research Editor
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us
  • Follow SWCS on Twitter
  • Visit SWCS on Facebook
Research ArticleResearch Section

Impact of weather and climate scenarios on conservation assessment outcomes

J.D. Garbrecht, M.A. Nearing, F. Douglas Shields, M.D. Tomer, E.J. Sadler, J.V. Bonta and C. Baffaut
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation September 2014, 69 (5) 374-392; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.69.5.374
J.D. Garbrecht
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M.A. Nearing
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
F. Douglas Shields Jr.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M.D. Tomer
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
E.J. Sadler
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J.V. Bonta
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
C. Baffaut
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Selected watershed studies of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) are reviewed and findings are interpreted from the perspective of potential conservation outcomes due to climate change scenarios. Primary foci are runoff, soil erosion, sediment transport, and watershed sediment yield. Highlights, successes, and challenges with regards to climate change impacts on soil erosion, runoff, and watershed sediment yield are presented. The covered information adds to the existing knowledge base of climate change impacts and provides another piece of information that may be useful in the planning and management of agricultural watersheds; assessment of conservation needs; and development, funding, and implementation of conservation programs. The selected conservation assessment studies include, among others, a thought experiment on the sensitivity of soil erosion, runoff, and sediment yield to changes in rainfall; a computer-based investigation of potential climate change effects on runoff and soil erosion in a southeastern Arizona rangeland; the complex response of northern Mississippi watersheds to runoff variations and channel stabilization measures; the impact of conservation practices and a persistent pluvial period on watershed runoff and sediment yield in Oklahoma; and stream bank erosion during major flooding in Iowa and river corridor management. A study of rainfall-runoff in an north-central Missouri watershed and a curve number analysis in a northern Appalachian experimental watershed are included herein. Findings showed that climate change scenarios of increased precipitation intensity lead to an exponential increase in soil erosion, runoff, and watershed sediment yield, thereby stressing current conservation practices or future practices designed with present day practice standards. This diminishes conservation practice effectiveness and increases sediment supply to the stream network. The sensitive response of the watershed hydrologic system may lead to renewed soil erosion that is large enough to offset the reduction in soil loss achieved by current conservation practices. However, in alluvial-floodplain environments with non-cohesive bed and bank material, watershed sediment yield is controlled by channel discharge and energy slope, neither of which is influenced by traditional in-field conservation practices or channel bank stabilization structures. Thus, control of sediment yield will gradually shift in the downstream direction from sediment supply to sediment transport capacity and blur any existing relation between a climate change signal, in-field conservation outcomes, and sediment yield at watershed outlets. Targeting conservation practices to erosion prone areas, expanding conservation coverage, and adapting agronomic practices may be necessary to prevent excessive soil erosion and downstream sedimentation under climate change scenarios that include intensified precipitation.

  • © 2014 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 69 (5)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 69, Issue 5
September/October 2014
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Impact of weather and climate scenarios on conservation assessment outcomes
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
2 + 8 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Impact of weather and climate scenarios on conservation assessment outcomes
J.D. Garbrecht, M.A. Nearing, F. Douglas Shields, M.D. Tomer, E.J. Sadler, J.V. Bonta, C. Baffaut
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Sep 2014, 69 (5) 374-392; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.69.5.374

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Impact of weather and climate scenarios on conservation assessment outcomes
J.D. Garbrecht, M.A. Nearing, F. Douglas Shields, M.D. Tomer, E.J. Sadler, J.V. Bonta, C. Baffaut
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Sep 2014, 69 (5) 374-392; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.69.5.374
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Riparian catchments: A landscape approach to link uplands with riparian zones for agricultural and ecosystem conservation
  • Quantifying the impacts of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project watershed assessments: The first fifteen years
  • Stream bank and sediment movement associated with 2008 flooding, South Fork Iowa River
  • A decade of conservation effects assessment research by the USDA Agricultural Research Service: Progress overview and future outlook
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

Research Section

  • Microbial respiration gives early indication of soil health improvement following cover crops
  • Aerial interseeding and planting green to enhance nitrogen capture and cover crop biomass carbon
  • Rice producer enrollment and retention in a USDA regional conservation partnership program in the southern United States
Show more Research Section

Special Research Section: A Decade of USDA Agricultural Research Service Watershed-Scale Research to Assess Conservation Effects

  • A decade of conservation effects assessment research by the USDA Agricultural Research Service: Progress overview and future outlook
  • Fine sediment sources in Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds
Show more Special Research Section: A Decade of USDA Agricultural Research Service Watershed-Scale Research to Assess Conservation Effects

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Early Online
  • Archive
  • Subject Collections

Info For

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Advertisers

Customer Service

  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions and Reprints
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

SWCS

  • Membership
  • Publications
  • Meetings and Events
  • Conservation Career Center

© 2023 Soil and Water Conservation Society