Soils of the Loudonville Series are assigned a K-factor value of 0.32 (Ohio Department of Natural Resources). The pond
is assigned a value of zero as this is the sedimentary basin. The watershed, with exception of a small parking lot in its SW-corner and a fringing housing development in the NW (Fig. 1), which combined make up only ∼15% of the surface area, is characterized as ‘developed open space’ (i.e. the lowest-density urban BMS777607 land-cover type) according to USGS land-cover datasets. This land-cover type infers that impervious surfaces account for less than 15% of the area. This cover is referred to as ‘urban forest’ in this study given a relatively high tree density (Fig. 1 and Fig. 5). The aforementioned exceptions to this forested coverage are presented by a ‘low-intensity development’ cover is comprised of 20–50%
impervious surfaces; a housing development to the NW and a parking lot to the SW of the pond are identified as constituting this land-cover type. Given the absence of steep slopes at both locations, their C-factors should do little to influence overall sediment yield and a uniform C-factor is explored based on the urban forest, which makes up ∼85% of the selleck chemicals entire watershed cover. Fig. 5 depicts Lily Pond and its watershed for select timesteps from 1938 to 2004 with little change in the distribution and nature of land-cover types. Variance in tree cover and distribution can be assumed negligible over the timeframe of interest as aerial images show no change in tree spacing and canopy density ( Fig. 5). Whereas soil characteristics (i.e. the K-factor), topography (LS-factor), and, in this case, supporting practice (P-factor) generally remain constant through time and are more closely constrained from empirical measurements, the C-factor is nonetheless highly time-variable as seasonal changes Methane monooxygenase to the deciduous forest may have a large imprint on sediment yields. A time-averaged correlation between sediment yield and an appropriate C-factor for the USLE model should present a suitable long-term C-factor for this forested land-cover type given this uniform spatial distribution and
internal homogeneity. Literature sources provide a range from 0.001 to 0.42 for forest cover ( Table 1). Most studies provide little information regarding forest structure that would help estimate a C-factor suitable for the study area; no local study has resolved a C-factor for the forested land cover. The USLE model is therefore run using the lowest and highest C-values in the range provided by the literature (0.001 and 0.42, respectively; Table 1). An assessment of the sediment sequestered within Lily Pond should provide the information necessary to more accurately define the role of vegetation on sediment yield, from which an appropriate C-factor can be derived. All organics in the pond are assumed to represent intrabasinal deposits (i.e. algae, organic detritus, etc.