Ecology

  2012 MAY 18 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Despite inequalities in spatial resolution between stochastic geological models and flow simulator models, geostatistical algorithms are used for the characterisation of groundwater systems. From available data to grid-block hydraulic parameters, workflows basically utilise the development of a detailed geostatistical model (morphology and properties) followed by upscaling," scientists writing in the journal Advances in Water Resources report ...read more

  2012 MAY 18 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to the authors of recent research from Gloucester, Massachusetts, "Recent studies document increasing precipitation and streamflow in the northeastern United States throughout the 20th and early 21st Centuries. Annual peak discharges have increased over this period on many New England rivers with dominantly natural streamflow-especially for smaller, more frequent floods."

  "To better investigate high-frequency floods (< 5-year recurrence interval), we analyze the partial duration flood series for 23 New England rivers selected for minimal human impact. The study rivers have continuous records through 2006 and an average period of record of 71 years. Twenty-two of the 23 rivers show increasing trends in peaks over threshold per water year (POT/WY) - a direct measure of flood frequency -using the MannKendall trend test. Ten of these trends had p< 0.1. Seventeen rivers show positive trends in flood magnitude, six of which had p< 0.1. We also investigate a potential hydroclimatic shift in the region around 1970. Twenty-two of the 23 rivers show increased POT/WY in the post-1970 period when comparing pre-and post1970 records using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. More than half of these increases have p< 0.1, indicating a shift in flow regime toward more frequent flooding. Region wide, we found a median increase of one flood per year for the post-1970 period," wrote W.H. Armstrong and colleagues, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...read more

  2012 MAY 18 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to the authors of a study from London, United Kingdom, "Several research investigations have explored the interaction between morphodynamic and vegetation growth processes from both the modelling and the experimental viewpoints. Results have mainly been concerned with morphologic analyses of the effects of vegetation on long term riverbed evolution without addressing the relative role of the timescales between such processes. ...read more