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Research Themes

Patterns and controls of material export from land to the coastal ocean

Description Personnel Products Related Data Show All
Rain gauging station near the top of a watershed
Rain gauging station near the top of a watershed

The amount and biogeochemical properties of materials exported from land to the ocean are controlled by the amount and pattern of rainfall, watershed area, topography, vegetation, soil properties, geology, biological processing, land use and perturbations, such as fire. The numerous watersheds of the SBC region differ considerably in these characteristics, which allow for informative spatial comparisons of terrestrial inputs to coastal waters and the factors that control them. Similarly, high seasonal and interannual variations in stream flows characteristic of the SBC region facilitate temporal comparisons in terrestrial runoff.

Time series measurements of rainfall, stream discharge, and concentrations of dissolved and particulate constituents in a diverse array of watersheds that drain into the Santa Barbara Channel form a core component of SBC LTER's long-term research in coastal watersheds. Stream gauging stations located throughout the study region measure stream stage and water temperature year-round and ratings curves derived from stream channel cross sections and roughness are used to convert these measurements into discharge. Concentrations of dissolved inorganic nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and ammonium), dissolved and particulate organic nutrients, and total suspended solids are sampled during baseflow and stormflow conditions and are combined with discharge data to determine export fluxes. Data on rainfall and runoff collected from a subset of watersheds that vary in size and land use have been used to calibrate and validate a watershed scale hydrologic model for the SBC region that aids in evaluating how climate and land-use influence runoff into the coastal zone.

To model the discharge of water, associated solutes, and sediments from the land to the ocean requires an integration of the interactions among land cover, land use, rainfall, vegetation microbial activity, and soil properties. Such integration is being done using a rainfall-runoff model, an ecohydrological model (RHESSys) and statistical relations among relevant parameters. These models will permit regionalization of our results and forecasts of changes as climate and land use occur.

Investigators

Ralph E. Beighley
r.beighley@neu.edu
Patricia A. Holden
holden@bren.ucsb.edu
John M. Melack
john.melack@lifesci.ucsb.edu
Joshua P. Schimel
schimel@lifesci.ucsb.edu
Christina L. Tague
ctague@bren.ucsb.edu

Post Doctoral Associates

Rosana Aguilera
raguilera@bren.ucsb.edu
2015 - present
Al P. Leydecker
al.leydecker@cox.net
2000 - 2008

Graduate Students

Helen Chen
hc10024@gmail.com
2015 - present
Xiaoli Chen
xiaoli_chen@umail.ucsb.edu
2014 - 2017
J S. Coombs

2004 - 2006
Darcie Goodman
2002 - 2008
Blair M. Goodridge
bgoodridge@ucsb.edu
2010 - 2014
Erin J. Hanan
erin.hanan@lifesci.ucsb.edu
2011 - 2016
Heili Lowman
2016 - present
Timothy H. Robinson

2001 - 2006
Catherine Shields

2008 - 2012
SBC student sampling stream water for analysis
SBC student sampling stream water for analysis

Publications

Aguilera, R. and J. M. Melack. 2018. Concentration-discharge responses to storm events in coastal California watersheds. Water Resources Research, 54: 407-424. (sbc-id: 1276)

Beighley, R. E., T. Dunne and J. M. Melack. 2008. Impacts of climate variability and land use alterations on frequency distributions of terrestrial runoff loading to coastal waters in southern California. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 44: 62-74. (sbc-id: 473)

Beighley, R. E., T. Dunne and J. M. Melack. 2005. Understanding and modeling basin hydrology: Interpreting the hydrogeological signature. Hydrological Processes, 19: 1333-1353. (sbc-id: 288)

Beighley, R. E. and G. E. Moglen. 2002. Trend Assessment in Rainfall-Runoff Behavior in Urbanizing Watersheds. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering ASCE, 7(1): 27-34. (sbc-id: 76)

Beighley, R. E. and Y. He. 2009. Predicting model uncertainty at river junctions due to drainage network structure. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 14:5: 499-507. (sbc-id: 521)

Beighley, R. E., M. Kargar and Y. He. 2009. Effects of impervious area estimation methods on simulated peak discharges. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, ASCE, 14:4: 388-398. (sbc-id: 522)

Beighley, R. E., J. M. Melack and T. Dunne. 2003. Impacts of California's climatic regimes and coastal land use change on streamflow characteristics. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 39: 1419-1433. (sbc-id: 142)

Cao, Y., C. H. Wu, G. L. Andersen and P. A. Holden. 2011. Community Analysis-Based Methods. in: Microbial Source Tracking: Methods, Applications, and Case StudiesHagedorn, C., A. R. Blanch and V. J. Harwood, eds. Springer. (sbc-id: 846)

Cao, Y. P., L. C. Werfhorst, B. Sercu, J. L. S. Murray and P. A. Holden. 2011. Application of an integrated community analysis approach for microbial source tracking in a coastal creek. Environmental Science and Technology, 45 (17): 7195-7201. (sbc-id: 831)

Cao, Y., P. G. Green and P. A. Holden. 2008. Microbial community composition and denitrifying enzyme activities in salt marsh sediments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 74: 7585-7595. (sbc-id: 525)

Collins, D. G. and J. M. Melack. 2014. Biological and chemical responses in a temporarily open/closed estuary to variable freshwater inputs. Hydrobiologia, 743: 97-113. (sbc-id: 1016)

Colman, B. P. and J. P. Schimel. 2013. Drivers of microbial respiration and net N mineralization at the continental scale. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 60: 65-76. (sbc-id: 854)

Coombs, J. S. and J. M. Melack. 2013. The initial impacts of a wildfire on hydrology and suspended sediment and nutrient export in California chaparral watersheds. Hydrological Processes, 26: 3842-3851. (sbc-id: 833)

Fierer, N., J. P. Schimel and P. A. Holden. 2003. Influence of drying-rewetting frequency on soil bacterial community structure. Microbial Ecology, 45 (1): 63-71. (sbc-id: 156)

Fierer, N., J. P. Schimel and P. A. Holden. 2003. Variations in microbial community composition through two soil depth profiles. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 35 (1): 167-176. (sbc-id: 139)

LaMontagne, M. G. and P. A. Holden. 2003. Comparison of free-living and particle-associated bacterial communities in a coastal lagoon. Microbial Ecology, 46(2): 228-237. (sbc-id: 173)

LaMontagne, M. G., J. P. Schimel and P. A. Holden. 2003. Comparison of subsurface and surface soil bacterial communities in California grassland as assessed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes. Microbial Ecology, 46 (2): 216-227. (sbc-id: 174)

McCuen, R. H. and R. E. Beighley. 2003. Seasonal flow frequency analysis. Journal of Hydrology, 279 (1-4): 43-56. (sbc-id: 176)

Melack, J. M. and A. P. Leydecker. 2005. Episodic variations in nutrient concentrations in coastal Californian streams. Ver Limnol. Verein. Limnol, 29: 1049-1053. (sbc-id: 303)

Moglen, G. E. and R. E. Beighley. 2002. Spatially Explicit Hydrologic Modeling of Land Use Change. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 38(1): 241-253. (sbc-id: 80)

Power, M. E., S. J. Kupferberg, S. D. Cooper and M. L. Deas. 2016. Rivers. in: Ecosystems of California – A source bookMooney, H. and E. Zavaleta, eds. University of California Press. (sbc-id: 1017)

Robinson, T. H. and J. M. Melack. 2013. Modeling nutrient export from coastal California watersheds. Journal of the American Water Resource Association, 49(4): 739-809. (sbc-id: 923)

Romero, L., D. A. Siegel, J. C. McWilliams, Y. Uchiyama and C. Jones. 2016. Characterizing storm water dispersion and dilution from small coastal streams. J. Geophys. Res, 121: 3926–3943. (sbc-id: 1153)

Sercu, B., L. C. Van De Werfhorst, J. Murray and P. A. Holden. 2009. Storm drains are sources of human fecal pollution during dry weather in three urban southern California watersheds. Environmental Science and Technology, 43: 293-298. (sbc-id: 565)

Sercu, B., L. C. Van De Werfhorst, J. L. S. Murray and P. A. Holden. 2011. Cultivation-Independent Analysis of Bacteria in IDEXX Quanti-Tray/2000 Fecal Indicator Assays. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77: 627-633. (sbc-id: 730)

Shields, C. A. and C. L. Tague. 2012. Assessing the role of parameter and input uncertainty in ecohydrologic modeling: implications for a semi-arid and urbanizing coastal California catchment. Ecosystems, 15(5): 775-791. (sbc-id: 827)

Strayer, D. L., R. E. Beighley, L. C. Thompson, S. Brooks, C. Nilsson, G. Pinay and R. J. Naiman. 2003. Effects of Land Cover on Stream Ecosystems: Roles of Empirical Models and Scaling Issues. Ecosystems, 6(5): 407-423. (sbc-id: 181)

Verkaik, I., M. Rieradevall, S. D. Cooper, J. M. Melack, T. L. Dudley and N. Prat. 2013. Fire as a disturbance in Mediterranean climate streams. Hydrobiologia, 719: 353-382. (sbc-id: 841)

Warrick, J., J. M. Melack and B. M. Goodridge. 2015. Sediment yields from small, steep coastal watersheds of California. Journal of Hydrology, 4, part B: 516-534. (sbc-id: 1095)

Theses

Chen, X. . 2017. Factors affecting the streamflow and in-stream nitrate concentration in semi-arid areas: sub-surface flow-generation, vertical distribution of soil nitrate and drainage properties,and the connectivity of impervious areas. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, . (sbc-id: 1297)

Coombs, J. S. 2006. The impact of fire on hydrology and suspended sediment and nutrient export in sourthern California chaparral watersheds. M.S, University of California,  (sbc-id: 330)

Goodman, D. 2008. Effective estuarine management: A case study of a California estuary and its ecological and political characteristics. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara,  (sbc-id: 537)

Goodridge, B. M. 2014. Nitrogen dynamics in coastal California watersheds, beaches, and the nearshore ocean. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, . (sbc-id: 1058)

Hanan, E. 2016. Biogeochemical responses to fire in coastal chaparral ecosystems. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, . (sbc-id: 1163)

Robinson, T. H. 2006. Catchment and sub-catchment scale linkages between land use and nutrient concentrations and fluxes in coastal California streams. Ph.D., Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara. (sbc-id: 280)

Shields, C. 2012. Ecohydrologic model uncertainty and application in an urban environment: the RHESSys model in Mission Creek. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, . (sbc-id: 1057)

Images

Rain gauging station near the top of a watershed

Rain gauging station near the top of a watershed

SBC student sampling stream water for analysis

SBC student sampling stream water for analysis

Stream flowing through an undeveloped canyon

Stream flowing through an undeveloped canyon

Variation in nitrate at the outflow of SBC streams in response to a winter rainfall event

Variation in nitrate at the outflow of SBC streams in response to a winter rainfall event

Sampling runoff in a stream on the Gaviota coast

Sampling runoff in a stream on the Gaviota coast

Sampling runoff in a channelized creek

Sampling runoff in a channelized creek

High flow along the Gaviota Coast

High flow along the Gaviota Coast

SBC Data Catalog