Environmental Studies Commons^™

Model Estimation Of Land-Use Effects On Water Levels Of Northern Prairie Wetlands, Richard A. Voldseth, W.Carter Johnson, Tagir Gilmanov, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Bruce V. Millett

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region exist in a matrix of grassland dominated by intensive pastoral and cultivation agriculture. Recent conservation management has emphasized the conversion of cultivated farmland and degraded pastures to intact grassland to improve upland nesting habitat. The consequences of changes in land-use cover that alter watershed processes have not been evaluated relative to their effect on the water budgets and vegetation dynamics of associated wetlands. We simulated the effect of upland agricultural practices on the water budget and vegetation of a semipermanent prairie wetland by modifying a previously published mathematical model (WETSIM). Watershed cover/landuse practices were …