Ensemble modeling of watershed-scale hydrologic effects of short-rotation woody crop production

Kellie Vache; Menberu Bitew Meles; Natalie A. Griffiths; C. Rhett Jackson

doi:10.1002/bbb.2247

Ensemble modeling of watershed-scale hydrologic effects of short-rotation woody crop production

Kellie Vache, Menberu Bitew Meles, Natalie A. Griffiths, C. Rhett Jackson

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) production involves a set of silvicultural practices that aim to produce large volumes of biomass over relatively short time frames. The area over which these practices are employed is likely to increase in the coming decades as the demand for bioenergy increases, but the potential effects of this change in land management, including the hydrologic effects, are largely unknown. Here we outline the results from an ensemble modeling study that was developed to forecast the range of potential hydrological responses to the implementation of SRWC production over areas that are large (>1000 ha) relative to the size of individual clearcuts. The three models, SWAT, MIKE-SHE, and Envision-SRS, a physically based model designed to represent watersheds with dynamic land cover, represent a range of simulation tools that include hydrological response to landcover change. Results suggest that SRWC production will affect the hydrologic balance, primarily through changes in the volume of transpired water associated with the rapidly growing young stands. In particular, average annual actual evapotranspiration (ET) rates tend to decline under SRWC production in response to the less mature vegetation. These reductions in ET are balanced in the hydrological cycle through elevated groundwater recharge, expressed in the model results as elevated annual stream discharge.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1345-1359
Number of pages	15
Journal	Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining
Volume	15
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.2247
State	Published - Sep 1 2021

Funding

Funding and support were provided by the Department of Energy-Savannah River Operations Office through the U.S. Forest Service Savannah River under Interagency Agreement DE-AI09-00SR22188 and from the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Program to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Additional support provided by INFEWS grant no. 2018-67004-24705 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This manuscript has been co-authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). Funding and support were provided by the Department of Energy‐Savannah River Operations Office through the U.S. Forest Service Savannah River under Interagency Agreement DE‐AI09‐00SR22188 and from the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Program to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT‐Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725. Additional support provided by INFEWS grant no. 2018‐67004‐24705 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This manuscript has been co‐authored by UT‐Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE‐AC05‐00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non‐exclusive, paid‐up, irrevocable, world‐wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe‐public‐access‐plan ).

Keywords

bioenergy feedstocks
ensemble modeling
forestry
hydrologic cycle
paired watersheds
short-rotation woody crop

Access to Document

10.1002/bbb.2247

Cite this

@article{78340ff9bab7402299486d6da18ba163,

title = "Ensemble modeling of watershed-scale hydrologic effects of short-rotation woody crop production",

abstract = "Short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) production involves a set of silvicultural practices that aim to produce large volumes of biomass over relatively short time frames. The area over which these practices are employed is likely to increase in the coming decades as the demand for bioenergy increases, but the potential effects of this change in land management, including the hydrologic effects, are largely unknown. Here we outline the results from an ensemble modeling study that was developed to forecast the range of potential hydrological responses to the implementation of SRWC production over areas that are large (>1000 ha) relative to the size of individual clearcuts. The three models, SWAT, MIKE-SHE, and Envision-SRS, a physically based model designed to represent watersheds with dynamic land cover, represent a range of simulation tools that include hydrological response to landcover change. Results suggest that SRWC production will affect the hydrologic balance, primarily through changes in the volume of transpired water associated with the rapidly growing young stands. In particular, average annual actual evapotranspiration (ET) rates tend to decline under SRWC production in response to the less mature vegetation. These reductions in ET are balanced in the hydrological cycle through elevated groundwater recharge, expressed in the model results as elevated annual stream discharge.",

keywords = "bioenergy feedstocks, ensemble modeling, forestry, hydrologic cycle, paired watersheds, short-rotation woody crop",

author = "Kellie Vache and Meles, \{Menberu Bitew\} and Griffiths, \{Natalie A.\} and Jackson, \{C. Rhett\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1002/bbb.2247",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

pages = "1345--1359",

journal = "Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining",

issn = "1932-104X",

publisher = "wiley",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ensemble modeling of watershed-scale hydrologic effects of short-rotation woody crop production

AU - Vache, Kellie

AU - Meles, Menberu Bitew

AU - Griffiths, Natalie A.

AU - Jackson, C. Rhett

PY - 2021/9/1

Y1 - 2021/9/1

N2 - Short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) production involves a set of silvicultural practices that aim to produce large volumes of biomass over relatively short time frames. The area over which these practices are employed is likely to increase in the coming decades as the demand for bioenergy increases, but the potential effects of this change in land management, including the hydrologic effects, are largely unknown. Here we outline the results from an ensemble modeling study that was developed to forecast the range of potential hydrological responses to the implementation of SRWC production over areas that are large (>1000 ha) relative to the size of individual clearcuts. The three models, SWAT, MIKE-SHE, and Envision-SRS, a physically based model designed to represent watersheds with dynamic land cover, represent a range of simulation tools that include hydrological response to landcover change. Results suggest that SRWC production will affect the hydrologic balance, primarily through changes in the volume of transpired water associated with the rapidly growing young stands. In particular, average annual actual evapotranspiration (ET) rates tend to decline under SRWC production in response to the less mature vegetation. These reductions in ET are balanced in the hydrological cycle through elevated groundwater recharge, expressed in the model results as elevated annual stream discharge.

AB - Short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) production involves a set of silvicultural practices that aim to produce large volumes of biomass over relatively short time frames. The area over which these practices are employed is likely to increase in the coming decades as the demand for bioenergy increases, but the potential effects of this change in land management, including the hydrologic effects, are largely unknown. Here we outline the results from an ensemble modeling study that was developed to forecast the range of potential hydrological responses to the implementation of SRWC production over areas that are large (>1000 ha) relative to the size of individual clearcuts. The three models, SWAT, MIKE-SHE, and Envision-SRS, a physically based model designed to represent watersheds with dynamic land cover, represent a range of simulation tools that include hydrological response to landcover change. Results suggest that SRWC production will affect the hydrologic balance, primarily through changes in the volume of transpired water associated with the rapidly growing young stands. In particular, average annual actual evapotranspiration (ET) rates tend to decline under SRWC production in response to the less mature vegetation. These reductions in ET are balanced in the hydrological cycle through elevated groundwater recharge, expressed in the model results as elevated annual stream discharge.

KW - bioenergy feedstocks

KW - ensemble modeling

KW - forestry

KW - hydrologic cycle

KW - paired watersheds

KW - short-rotation woody crop

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85106423841

U2 - 10.1002/bbb.2247

DO - 10.1002/bbb.2247

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85106423841

SN - 1932-104X

VL - 15

SP - 1345

EP - 1359

JO - Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining

JF - Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining

IS - 5

ER -

Ensemble modeling of watershed-scale hydrologic effects of short-rotation woody crop production

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this