Cuo, Lan; Beyene, Tazebe K.; Voisin, Nathalie; Su, Fengge; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.; Alberti, Marina; Richey, Jeffrey E. (2011). Effects of Mid-Twenty-first Century Climate and Land Cover Change on the Hydrology Of the Puget Sound Basin, Washington. Hydrological Processes, 25(11), 1729 – 1753.
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Abstract
The distributed hydrology-soil-vegetation model (DHSVM) was used to study the potential impacts of projected future land cover and climate change on the hydrology of the Puget Sound basin, Washington, in the mid-twenty-first century. A 60-year climate model output, archived for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), was statistically downscaled and used as input to DHSVM. From the DHSVM output, we extracted multi-decadal averages of seasonal streamflow, annual maximum flow, snow water equivalent (SWE), and evapotranspiration centred around 2030 and 2050. Future land cover was represented by a 2027 projection, which was extended to 2050, and DHSVM was run (with current climate) for these future land cover projections. In general, the climate change signal alone on sub-basin streamflow was evidenced primarily through changes in the timing of winter and spring runoff, and slight increases in the annual runoff. Runoff changes in the uplands were attributable both to climate (increased winter precipitation, less snow) and land cover change (mostly reduced vegetation maturity). The most climatically sensitive parts of the uplands were in areas where the current winter precipitation is in the rain-snow transition zone. Changes in land cover were generally more important than climate change in the lowlands, where a substantial change to more urbanized land use and increased runoff was predicted. Both the annual total and seasonal distribution of freshwater flux to Puget Sound are more sensitive to climate change impacts than to land cover change, primarily because most of the runoff originates in the uplands. Both climate and land cover change slightly increase the annual freshwater flux to Puget Sound. Changes in the seasonal distribution of freshwater flux are mostly related to climate change, and consist of double-digit increases in winter flows and decreases in summer and fall flows. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords
Joaquin River-basin; Water-resources; Change Impacts; Model; Sensitivity; Temperature; Prediction; Streamflow; Forecasts; Humidity; Hydrologic Prediction; Climate Change Impacts; Land Cover Change Impacts
Bailey, David R.; Dittbrenner, Benjamin J.; Yocom, Ken P. (2019). Reintegrating The North American Beaver (castor Canadensis) In The Urban Landscape. Wires Water, 6(1).
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Abstract
In recent decades, ecological restoration and landscape architecture have focused on reintegrating ecological processes in the urban environment to support greater habitat complexity and increase biodiversity. As these values are more broadly recognized, new approaches are being investigated to increase ecosystem services and ecological benefits in urban areas. Ecosystem engineers, such as the North American beaver (Castor canadensis), can create complex habitat and influence ecological processes in natural environments. Through dam building and wetland formation, beaver can create fish habitat, diversify vegetation in riparian zones, and aggrade sediment to increase stream productivity. As beaver populations have increased in urban areas across North America, their presence presents challenges and opportunities. Beaver can be integrated into the design of new and established urban green spaces to improve ecosystem functions. If managed properly, the conflicts that beaver sometimes create can be minimized. In this paper, we examine how landscape architects and restoration ecologists are anticipating the geomorphic and hydrological implications of beaver reintroduction in the design of wetlands and urban natural areas at regional and site levels. We present an urban beaver map and three case studies in Seattle, WA, USA, to identify various approaches, successes, and management strategies for integrating the actions of beaver into project designs. We make recommendations for how designers can capitalize on the benefits of beaver by identifying sites with increased likelihood of colonization, leveraging ecosystem engineers in design conception, designing site features to reduce constraints for the reintroduction and establishment of beaver, and anticipating and managing impacts. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Engineering Water > Planning Water
Keywords
Beavers; Cities & Towns In Art; Nature; Riparian Areas; Municipal Water Supply; Restoration Ecology; Wetland Ecology; United States; Seattle (wash.); North America; Beaver; Biodiversity; Castor Canadensis; Ecological Design; Ecological Restoration; Ecosystem Engineers; Ecosystem Services; Species Richness; Wetland Habitat; River-basin; Dams; Channel; Streams; Impact; Water; Ponds; Ecology; Urban Populations; Habitats; Ecosystem Management; Landscape Architecture; Colonization; Fish; Geomorphology; Habitat; Design; Ecological Monitoring; Landscape; Urban Areas; Restoration; Riparian Environments; Ecosystems; Wetlands; Ecologists; Reintroduction; Case Studies; Environmental Restoration; Open Spaces; Freshwater Mammals; Urban Environments; Aquatic Mammals; Water Conservation; Ecological Effects; Disputes; Design Engineering; Dam Construction; Engineers; Urban Planning; Complexity; Hydrology
Su, Shu; Li, Xiaodong; Zhu, Chen; Lu, Yujie; Lee, Hyun Woo. (2021). Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment: A Review of Research for Temporal Variations in Life Cycle Assessment Studies. Environmental Engineering Science, 38(11), 1013 – 1026.
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Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive and important environmental management tool around the world. However, lacking temporal information has been a major challenge. In the past decade, dynamic LCA (DLCA), which incorporates temporal variations into assessment, has been an emerging research topic with increasing publications. A timely comprehensive review is needed to present current progress and discuss future directions. This article reviews 144 DLCA articles quantitatively and qualitatively. A bibliometric approach is adopted to conduct co-occurrence analysis and cluster analysis of DLCA studies. The research progress, approaches, and limitations of three temporal variation types (i.e., dynamic life cycle inventory, dynamic characterization factors, and dynamic weighting factors) in DLCA studies are systematically analyzed and discussed. It is concluded that: (1) dynamic inventory analysis is usually conducted by collecting time-differentiated data at each time step. Field monitoring, simulation, scenario analysis, and prediction based on historical data are common approaches. (2) Dynamic characterization studies primarily focus on two impact categories: global warming and toxicity. More studies are in need. (3) Various methods and indicators (i.e., dynamic pollution damage cost, temporal environmental policy targets, and discount rates) are used to solve the dynamic weighting issue, and they have specific limitations. Finally, three interesting topics are discussed: comparison between dynamic and static results, the large data amount issue, and the trend of tools development. This review offers a holistic view on temporal variations in DLCA studies and provides reference and directions for future dynamic studies.
Keywords
Literature Reviews; Cluster Analysis (statistics); Global Warming; Environmental Management; Discount Prices; Emission Inventories; Dynamic Characterization; Dynamic Inventory Analysis; Dynamic Weighting; Environmental Impact; Life Cycle Assessment; Temporal Variation; Cluster Analysis; Life Cycle; 'current; Dynamic Inventory Analyse; Dynamic Lca; Environmental Management Tool; Inventory Analysis; Research Topics; Temporal Information; Dependent Climate Impact; Greenhouse-gas Emission; Biogenic Carbon; Assessment Framework; Fresh-water; Electricity-generation; Energy Efficiency; Wheat Production; Embodied Energy; Time
Green Futures Lab is dedicated to supporting interdisciplinary research and design that advances our understanding of, visions for, and design of a vital and ecologically sustainable public realm. The Lab’s goal is to develop green infrastructure solutions within a local and global context.
The Green Futures Lab explores and promotes planning and design for active transportation, including cycling and pedestrian environments; conducts research and design projects that aim to improve the ability of public spaces to build community and provide recreation and revitalization; works to improve the health of our water bodies and sustain our water resources through green infrastructure innovations, ecosystem restoration, and open space protection; innovates strategies for creating quality habitat, particularly within urban environments where it is most limited; and explores low-carbon urban design solutions to mitigate climate change.
Working with the University of Washington, local communities, and international partners, the lab provides planning, design, and education for healthy, equitably accessible, and regenerative urban and ecological systems.
The Circular City + Living Systems Lab (CCLS) is an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students applying principles of research and design to investigate transformative strategies for future cities that are adaptive and resilient while facing climate change.
Synthesizing expertise from architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, planning, biology, and ecology, the Lab’s innovative research spans core topics such as the integration of living systems in the built environment to produce and circulate resources within the food-water-energy nexus, and spatial design responses to COVID-19.
Ongoing work at the CCLS includes research on urban integration of aquaponics, urban and building-integrated agriculture, circular economies in the food industry, algae production, and green roof performance.
Monica Huang is a research engineer for the Carbon Leadership Forum at the University of Washington with expertise in environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). Recent research topics include the environmental impact of housing, optimizing tall wood structures, and developing data on the environmental impact of earthquake damage. She was also the lead author for a guide on the use of LCA in design and construction practice. Past research experience includes diverse topics such as astronomy, electronic waste, and sea level rise. As a graduate student, she developed the Port of Seattle’s first study on the impacts of sea level rise on seaport structures.
Christine Bae is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, Seattle. She received her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern California. Her primary areas of interest are transportation and the environment; land use, growth management and urban sprawl; urban regeneration; environmental equity and justice; and international planning and globalization. She recently co-authored an article on measuring pedestrian exposure to PM2.5 in the Seattle, Washington, International District. She teaches a course “Mega City Planning”, in which she leads a group of students to Seoul, South Korea for two weeks in spring quarter. She is currently the West Representative for the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, and a Board Member for the Western Regional Science Association. She is also the recipient of an on-going Sea Grant for The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Moorage Marinas in the West Coast.
Marina Alberti is Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington. She directs the Urban Ecology Research Laboratory and lead the International Research Network on Urban Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics. She teaches courses in Urban Science, Urban Ecology, Environmental Planning, Research Design, Geographic Information Systems, and Group Dynamic and Conflict resolution. Alberti’s research interests are in urban ecology and evolution. Her studies focus on the interactions between urban patterns and ecosystem function, urban signatures of evolutionary change, and the properties of cities that enhance their resilience and transformative capacity. She also leads research on urban ecological modeling, scenario planning, and urban ecological metrics to monitor progress and inform policy-making and planning. In her book Cities That Think like Planets (UW Press 2016), Alberti advances a science of cities that work on a planetary scale and link unpredictable dynamics to the potential for socio-ecological innovation.
Ken Yocom is the Interim Dean of the College of Built Environments and a Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture. He also has an adjunct appointment in the Department of Urban Design and Planning, serves on the steering committee of the PhD in the Built Environments Program, and is core faculty for the Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and Planning within the College of Built Environments. He primarily teaches seminar and studio courses in theory, ecology, and urban design.
Trained as an ecologist and landscape architect with professional experience in the environmental consulting and construction industries, he is a graduate of our MLA program (2002). Ken also earned his PhD from the Program in the Built Environments (2007), where he researched nature and society relations through the contemporary context of urban ecological restoration practices.
Ken’s current research, teaching, and practice explore the convergence of urban infrastructure and ecological systems through adaptive design approaches that serve to demystify emerging strategies and technologies for sustainable and resilient development. More specifically, he investigates how water –in all its forms- shapes the past to future functions and patterns of our built environments. He has written extensively on the themes developed from his work including two books, Ecological Design (with Nancy Rottle, Bloomsbury, 2012) and NOW Urbanism: The Future City is Here (with Jeff Hou, Ben Spencer, and Thaisa Way (editors), Routledge, 2014). He has also written for professional practice and scholarly publications on issues of global biodiversity, urban environmental governance, ecological design, and contemporary nature and society relations in the urban context.
In his teaching, Ken emphasizes the development of a holistic and integrated approach that embraces the complexity of our built environments, yet discreetly explores the intersections and overlaps that frame our understanding and appreciation of particular places. He has a strong belief that collaboratively, the allied design professions can act as catalysts in recognizing, utilizing, and transforming the inherent potential of our built environments into places that are socially equitable, environmentally just, and economically sustainable.
Professor Nancy Rottle brings over two decades of landscape architecture professional experience to her role at the UW, where she has been teaching since 2001. Her work centers upon design as a means to create places that are ecologically healthy, culturally meaningful, and educationally and experientially resonant. Her recent scholarship, including the co-authored book Ecological Design, has focused on the application of theory and new practices to regenerate the health of urban and urbanizing environments.
Professor Rottle currently directs the UW’s Green Futures Research and Design Lab, which addresses questions and projects related to urban green infrastructure, topics on which Nancy publishes and lectures (www.greenfutures.washington.edu). Collaborative projects and publications include the use of waterfronts to treat and re-use stormwater; urban green infrastructure for city streets and college campuses; public space planning and design; pedestrian and active transport environments; green roofs and walls; metrics to evaluate sustainable design projects; public engagement to envision positive futures; and the role of green infrastructure in mitigating and adapting to climate change. She co-edited the 2007 special journal edition of Places on Climate Change and Place, and researched this topic in New Zealand supported by a Senior Scholar Fulbright Fellowship.
Professor Rottle teaches design studio, theory and technical courses and advises on theses that examine the potential of design to positively affect our urban ecological futures, taking a special focus on public space design, water in the landscape and design for environmental literacy. Professor Rottle regularly teaches courses that integrate water into the planning and design process, from watershed to site scales, integrating knowledge of urban water-based projects from around the world. With support from the ScanlDesign Foundation, she leads urban design study tours to Denmark and Sweden, and collaborates with Gehl Architects of Copenhagen to teach interdisciplinary studios at the UW that merge considerations for ecological, economic, social and physical health. As the UW’s ScanlDesign Endowed Chair in Built Environments she also facilitates internships and exchanges between the UW and Denmark.
A registered landscape architect, Nancy’s professional and academic planning and design projects have won local and national awards, including the acclaimed Cedar River Watershed Education Center, and Open Space Seattle 2100, a multidisciplinary planning process to develop a 100-year vision for Seattle’s green infrastructure. Her studios, thesis students and work of the Green Futures Lab have also won prestigious college, local, national and international awards. Passionate about sharing ecological design approaches and models, Nancy has lectured in the US, New Zealand, China, Canada, Russia and Europe.