How Present Land Use Affects Karst

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How Present Land Use Affects Karst

• Douglas Boyer, Hydrologist
• Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center
• USDA-ARS
• Beaver, WV
• Doug.Boyer_at_ars.usda.gov
• http//www.ars.usda.gov/naa/afsrc

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30,000 cattle and calves on the karst areas of
Greenbrier County
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Basin Attributes
Basin Area (km2)
Agr. Land () The Hole
14.5 79 Davis Spring
191.4 51 Davis Hollow
11.4 16 The
Portal
0
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NO3-N 0.084 .0433(Agr)
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The limestone areas are rather subject to
typhoid fever, the underground drainage appearing
to scatter the germs of the disease, which,
however, is largely a preventable ailment.
A History of Monroe County, West Virginia" by O.
F. Morton. 1916
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In the Greenbrier karst springs we have
found Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia,
and E. coli O157H7 (Jack-in-the-Box
bacteria). All of these pathogens are zoonotics
meaning they can pass from animals and infect
humans.
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It has been shown that there is a higher
incidence of human E. coli O157H7 infections in
areas with high cattle densities.
e. g., Michel et al., 1999 and Valcour et al.,
2002
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The 30,000 cattle and calves on the
Greenbrier karst areas produce about 71,500 tons
of manure annually and excrete about 130
quadrillion (1.3 x 1017) fecal coliform bacteria.
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Cryptosporidium parvum
Cryptosporidium can cause gastrointestinal
disorders (cryptosporidiosis) in humans. The
disease is characterized by symptoms that include
diarrhea, stomach cramps, fatigue, and loss of
appetite. Cryptosporidiosis can be life
threatening to immunocompromised individuals
including cancer patients, organ transplant
patients, and HIV positive patients, among others.
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Epikarst
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Cryptosporidium peak
Fecal coliform peak
stage
conductivity
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Multiple transport mechanisms may
necessitate various agricultural land management
and livestock health maintenance practices to
control movement of pathogens to karst
groundwater.
Boyer and Kuczynska, 2003
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• Water appearing at the springs is an integrator
  of all impacts within the basins. Voluntary
  programs might not be reaching some of the worst
  offender sites within the basins thus
  inadvertently sabotaging attempts at water
  quality improvement at the watershed scale. In
  order for water quality improvement programs to
  have sustainable positive impacts at the
  watershed scale, it might be necessary to target
  specific sites rather than relying solely on
  voluntary cost-sharing efforts. A careful
  analysis of the balance between agricultural
  production goals, water quality goals, and
  inherent environmental sensitivity is necessary
  in order to maintain an economically viable
  agribusiness while protecting water quality in
  karst areas.

Boyer, 2005
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Thanks

• Douglas Boyer, Hydrologist
• Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center
• USDA-ARS
• 1224 Airport Rd
• Beaver, WV 25813
• Doug.Boyer_at_ars.usda.gov
• http//www.ars.usda.gov/naa/afsrc