Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Beyond Impervious: Urban Land-Cover Pattern Variation and Implications for Watershed Management

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Impervious surfaces degrade urban water quality, but their over-coverage has not explained the persistent water quality variation observed among catchments with similar rates of imperviousness. Land-cover patterns likely explain much of this variation, although little is known about how they vary among watersheds. Our goal was to analyze a series of urban catchments within a range of impervious cover to evaluate how land-cover varies among them. We then highlight examples from the literature to explore the potential effects of land-cover pattern variability for urban watershed management. High-resolution (1 m2) land-cover data were used to quantify 23 land-cover pattern and stormwater infrastructure metrics within 32 catchments across the Triangle Region of North Carolina. These metrics were used to analyze variability in land-cover patterns among the study catchments. We used hierarchical clustering to organize the catchments into four groups, each with a distinct landscape pattern. Among these groups, the connectivity of combined land-cover patches accounted for 40 %, and the size and shape of lawns and buildings accounted for 20 %, of the overall variation in land-cover patterns among catchments. Storm water infrastructure metrics accounted for 8 % of the remaining variation. Our analysis demonstrates that land-cover patterns do vary among urban catchments, and that trees and grass (lawns) are divergent cover types in urban systems. The complex interactions among land-covers have several direct implications for the ongoing management of urban watersheds.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Alberti M, Booth D, Hill K, Coburn B, Avolio C, Coe S, Spirandelli D (2007) the impact of urban patterns on aquatic ecosystems: an empirical analysis in puget lowland sub-basins. Landsc Urban Plan 80:345–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold CL Jr, Gibbons CJ (1996) Impervious surface coverage: the emergence of a key environmental indicator. J Am Plan Assoc 62(2):243–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey RG (1995) Southern mixed forest province. UDSA Forest Service Descriptions of the Ecoregions of the United States, http://www.fs.fed.us/colormap/ecoreg1_provinces.conf?662,326. Accessed 4 Dec 2012

  • Bannerman RT, Owens DW, Dodds RB, Hornewer NJ (1993) Sources of pollutants in Wisconsin stormwater. Water Sci Technol 28(3):241–259

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bechtel B, Micheal F, Mills G, Ching J, See L, Alexander P, O’Connor M, Albuquerque T, Andrade MF, Brovelli M, Das D, Fonte CC, Petit G, Hanif U, Jimenez J, Lackner S, Liu W, Perera N, Rosni NA, Theeuwes N, Gal T (2015) CENSUS of cities: LCZ classification of cities (Level 0). ICUC9—9th International conference on urban climate jointly with 12th symposium on the urban environment

  • Bigsby K, McHale MR, Hess GR (2013) Urban morphology drives the homogenization of tree cover in Baltimore, MD and Raleigh, NC. Ecosystems 17:212–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolund P, Hunhammar S (1999) Ecosystem services in urban areas. Ecol Econ 29:293–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boone CG, Cadenasso ML, Grove JM, Schwarz K, Buckley GL (2009) Landscape, vegetation characteristics, and group identity in an urban and suburban watershed: why the 60s matter. Urban Ecosyst 13:255–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth DB, Jackson CR (1997) Urbanization of aquatic systems: degradation thresholds, stormwater detection, and the limits of mitigation. J Am Water Resour Assoc 33(5):107–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth DB, Hartley D, Jackson R (2002) Forest cover, impervious-surface area, and the mitigation of stormwater impacts. J Am Water Resour Assoc 38(3):835–845

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brabec E, Schulte S, Richards PL (2002) Impervious surface and water quality: a review of current literature and its implications for watershed planning. J Plan Lit 16:499–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadenasso ML, Pickett STA, Schwarz K (2007) Spatial heterogeneity in urban ecosystems: reconceptualizing land-cover and a framework for classification. Front Ecol Environ 5(2):80–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carle MV, Halpin PN, Stow CA (2005) Patterns of watershed urbanization and impacts on water quality. J Am Water Resour Assoc 41(3):693–708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng Z, McCoy EL, Grewal PS (2014) Water, sediment, and nutrient runoff from urban lawns established on disturbed subsoil or topsoil and managed with inorganic or organic fertilizers. Urban Ecosyst 17:277–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark SE, Kelly SA, Spicher J, Siu CYS, Lalor MM, Pitt R, Kirby JT (2008) Roofing materials’ contributions to storm-water runoff pollution. J Irrig Drain Eng 135(5):638–645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Congalton RG (1991) A review of assessing the accuracy of classifications of remotely sensed data. Remote Sens Environ 37:35–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis AP, Shokouhian M, Ni S (2001) Loading estimates of lead, copper, cadmium, and zinc in urban runoff from specific sources. Chemosphere 44:997–1009

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Environmental Protection Agency (2005) National management measures to control nonpoint source pollution from urban areas (EPA Publication 841-B-05-004). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher D (2012) America’s fastest-growing cities. Forbes Business Online, http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/04/18/americas-fastest-growing-cities/2/. Accessed 4 Dec 2012

  • Göbel P, Dierkes C, Coldeway WG (2007) Storm water runoff concentration matrix for urban areas. J Contam Hydrol 91:26–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grove JM, Cadenasso ML, Burch WR Jr, Pickett STA, Schwarz K (2006) Data and methods comparing social structure and vegetation structure of urban neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland. Soc Nat Resour 19:117–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatt BE, Fletcher TD, Walsh CJ (2004) The influence of urban density and drainage infrastructure on the concentrations and loads of pollutants in small streams. Environ Manage 34(1):112–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones CR, Christopher CC (1987) Impacts of watershed urbanization on stream insect communities. J Am Water Resour Assoc 23(6):1047–1055

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • King RS, Baker ME, Whigham DF, Weller DE, Jordan TE, Kazyak PF, Hurd MK (2005) Spatial considerations for linking watershed land-cover to ecological indicators in streams. Ecol Appl 15(1):137–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li S, Gu S, Liu W, Han H, Zhang Q (2008) Water quality in relation to land use and land-cover in the Upper Han River Basin, China. Catena 75:216–222

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal K, Marks BJ (1995) Fragstats: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure, USDA General Technical Report PNW-GTR-351

  • McGarigal K, Cushman SA, Ene E (2012) FRAGSTATS v4: spatial pattern analysis program for categorical and continuous maps. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. http://umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/fragstats.html

  • Nowak DJ, Greenfield EJ (2012) Tree and impervious cover change in U.S. cities. Urban For Urban Green 11:21–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul JM, Meyer JL (2001) Streams in the urban landscape. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 32:333–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett STA, Cadenasso ML, Grove JM, Groffman PM, Band LE, Boone CG, Burch WR Jr, Grimmond CSB, Hom J, Jenkins JC, Law NL, Nilon CH, Pouyat RV, Szlavecz K, Warren PS, Wilson MA (2008) Beyond urban legends: an emerging framework of urban ecology, as illustrated by the Baltimore ecosystem study. Bioscience 58(2):139–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitt R, Field R, Lalor M, Brown M (1995) Urban stormwater toxic pollutants: assessment, sources, and treatability. Water Environ Res 67(3):260–275

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Potter KM, Cubbage FW, Blank GB (2004) A watershed scale model for predicting non-point pollution risk in North Carolina. Environ Manag 34(1):62–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt B, Chang H (2012) Effects of land-cover, topography, and build structures on seasonal water quality at multiple scales. J Hazard Mater 209–210:48–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridd MK (1995) Exploring a VIS (vegetation-impervious surface-soil) model for urban ecosystem analysis through remote sensing; comparative anatomy for cities. Int J Remote Sens 16(12):2165–2185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohe MM (2011) The research triangle: from tobacco road to global prominence. University of Philadelphia Press, Philadelphia

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • SAS (2012) Principal component analysis, http://support.sas.com/publishing/pubcat/chaps/55129.pdf. Accessed 4 Dec 2012

  • Schiff R, Benoit G (2007) Effects of impervious cover at multiple spatial scales on coastal watershed streams. J Am Water Resour Assoc 43(3):712–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schueler T (1994) The importance of impervious. Watershed Prot Tech 1(3):100–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Schueler TR, Fraley-McNeal L, Cappiella K (2009) Is impervious cover still important? Review of recent research. J Hydrol Eng 14(4):309–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shandas V, Alberti M (2009) Exploring the role of vegetation fragmentation on aquatic conditions: linking upland riparian areas in puget sound lowland streams. Landsc Urban Plan 90:66–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh CJ (2004) Protection of in-stream biota from urban impacts: minimize catchment imperviousness or improve drainage design? Mar Freshw Res 55:317–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh CJ, Papas PJ, Crowther D, Sim PT, Yoon J (2004) Stormwater drainage pipes as a threat to a stream-dwelling amphipod of conservation significance, Austrogammarus Australis, in South-Eastern Australia. Biodivers Conserv 13:781–793

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zampella RA, Procopio NA, Lanthrop RG, Dow CL (2007) Relationship of land-use/land-cover patterns and surface-water quality in the Mullica River Basin. J Am Water Resour Assoc 43(3):594–604

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu WX, Dillard ND, Grimm NB (2004) Urban nitrogen biogeochemistry: status and processes in green retention basins. Biogeochemistry 71:177–196

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the National Science Foundation for their support of this research through the Triangle, NC, Urban Long Term Research Area—exploratory award (BCS-0948229). We thank Gary Blank, Kayleigh Somers, Heather Cheshire, Emily Bernhardt, Kevin Bigsby, and Sarah Bruce for their various contributions to this project. The cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill/Carrboro helped immensely through the sharing of spatial data and resources.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8008, 2820 Faucette Blvd, 4120 Jordan Hall, Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA

    Scott M. Beck, Melissa R. McHale & George R. Hess

Authors
  1. Scott M. Beck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Melissa R. McHale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. George R. Hess
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott M. Beck.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Beck, S.M., McHale, M.R. & Hess, G.R. Beyond Impervious: Urban Land-Cover Pattern Variation and Implications for Watershed Management. Environmental Management 58, 15–30 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0700-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0700-8

Keywords