Simulation of Nutrient and Heavy Metal Transport Capacity of Suspended Sediment

摘要

Transport of nutrients and heavy metals by suspended sediments has commonly been ignored in studies of stream export from small watersheds. A prototypical computer simulation model was developed to aid watershed managers and land use planners in estimating the impact of alternative land management practices on nutrient and heavy metal losses due to transported sediments on forested watersheds. Geology and vegetation of a watershed were used as predictors of chemical constituent concentrations in transported sediments. Combinations of vegetation types and geologies considered in this study include: ponderosa pine forests on soil parent material of basalt, sandstone, granite or limestone, and mixed conifer forests on basalt.