Hydrologic Recovery with Prairie Reconstruction at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Jasper County, Iowa, April 2014

(2014) Hydrologic Recovery with Prairie Reconstruction at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Jasper County, Iowa, April 2014. University of Iowa

Preview

PDF 2015-04-30_13-04-00_hydro synthesis report - final (print ver) - 04-23-2014 (2).pdf File Size:9MB

Abstract

This document is the synthesis and interpretation of hydrologic research performed in the 20-year history of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR, refuge) (formerly Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge), and includes implications for natural land managers. Refuge staff and planners recognized hydrology as a driver of ecological function and saw the need to monitor hydrology through time to understand the role of hydrology in ecological restoration, monitor progress made toward ecological goals, and to gain information necessary to make reasonable decisions about stream restoration attempts. Hydrologists recognized a rare and important opportunity to document and understand hydrologic changes as an agricultural landscape was converted to a more natural condition as opposed to the more usual work of documenting hydrology in the unraveling of a natural system or in an agricultural or urban context.