|
|
|
Toward Science-Based Forest & Agricultural Management With Minimal Environmental Impact
What is the gap?
Land-use change due to forestry and agricultural practices have negatively impacted our environment. Stump harvesting forestry practice for biomass production in North of Europe is hypothesized to enhance the excessive transport of dangerous solutes (e.g., methyl mercury) toward surrounding aquatic ecosystems. Wetland drainage in North America due to agricultural intensification is hypothesized to enhance the risk of lake Eutrophication (growth of toxic green bacteria) as well as to enhance the risk of drought and flood in local and regional water bodies. These are only two simple examples of unscientifically-designed watershed management planning with catastrophic environmental impacts.
So, how can we maximize forest biomass yield and agricultural productivity, while minimizing their environmental effects?
How do we fill the gap?
UBC's HydroGeoScience for Watershed Management (HGS-WM) research group advances the knowledge on materiel (water & solute) transport and reaction in deep and shallow subsurface as well as over the land surface. We also explore how material transport and reaction processes vary with land developments. This knowledge is critically required for science-based watershed management planing and, particularly, to locate areas where intensive agricultural and forestry practices can be conducted with minimal environmental impacts on local and regional ecosystems. Below read more about four interrelated research questions that HGS-WM research group explores.
Land-use change due to forestry and agricultural practices have negatively impacted our environment. Stump harvesting forestry practice for biomass production in North of Europe is hypothesized to enhance the excessive transport of dangerous solutes (e.g., methyl mercury) toward surrounding aquatic ecosystems. Wetland drainage in North America due to agricultural intensification is hypothesized to enhance the risk of lake Eutrophication (growth of toxic green bacteria) as well as to enhance the risk of drought and flood in local and regional water bodies. These are only two simple examples of unscientifically-designed watershed management planning with catastrophic environmental impacts.
So, how can we maximize forest biomass yield and agricultural productivity, while minimizing their environmental effects?
How do we fill the gap?
UBC's HydroGeoScience for Watershed Management (HGS-WM) research group advances the knowledge on materiel (water & solute) transport and reaction in deep and shallow subsurface as well as over the land surface. We also explore how material transport and reaction processes vary with land developments. This knowledge is critically required for science-based watershed management planing and, particularly, to locate areas where intensive agricultural and forestry practices can be conducted with minimal environmental impacts on local and regional ecosystems. Below read more about four interrelated research questions that HGS-WM research group explores.
