Watersheds face resource impacts driven by accelerated change related to land use, population, and climate. The Fourth Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds will view watershed science with a
continental perspective including pressing issues of watershed science and management in Alaska. The purpose of the conference is to better understand the processes driving change and help managers incorporate
societal needs and scientific uncertainty in the management of natural resources.
Attendees are invited to present their personal and professional experience with watershed research, management, and user perspectives during the conference. Abstracts for presentations or posters are
invited on the following topics, or other topics that attendees may wish to suggest, related to pristine or altered watersheds:
- Observing Watersheds: Instrumentation, remote sensing, data management, observed trends.
- Studying Watersheds: Research, analysis, and interpretation of data; causes and effects; experimental approaches; cumulative effects; relationships; predictions; models. Drivers of change can include climate, land use, growth in population and water demand, wildfire, disease, insects, agriculture, mining, and energy development. Impacted goods and services include quantity and quality of water, biota, and habitats; controls on carbon, nutrient, and sediment fluxes; aesthetics; and opportunities for education and recreation.
- Managing Watersheds for Change: Approaches to adaptive management, incorporation of uncertainty in decision-making, prioritization of management actions. Collaborative approaches. Ecosystem restoration and strategies for adaptation, mitigation, and enhancement of resiliency.
Abstract submission deadline: Friday, 18 February 2011.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.hydrologicscience.org/icrw/index.html