How does groundwater affect biodiversity?

Groundwater-dependent species are among the least-known components of global biodiversity, as well as some of the most vulnerable because of rapid groundwater depletion at regional and global scales. Our results uncover cryptic species diversity and refine the borders of several threatened and endangered species.

What is the relationship between groundwater and surface water in a watershed?

Surface water seeps into the ground and recharges the underlying aquifer—groundwater discharges to the surface and supplies the stream with baseflow. USGS Integrated Watershed Studies assess these exchanges and their effect on surface-water and groundwater quality and quantity.

How do surface water and groundwater affect each other?

Surface water (including rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, estuaries, etc.) interacts with groundwater almost everywhere on Earth. This interaction takes place through the loss of surface water to groundwater, seepage of groundwater to surface water body, or a combination of both.

Why is the groundwater important to surface ecosystems?

Groundwater also plays a vital role for nature. Where groundwater reaches the surface, it can provide a reliable source of water for wildlife, which is especially important in places where surface waters are seasonally scarce. For some plant species, groundwater serves as the only source of water year-round.

Is groundwater an ecosystem?

Groundwater-dependent ecosystems are ecosystems that are supported by groundwater. These places include springs and seeps, caves and karst systems, and deep-rooted plant communities (phreatophytes). In many cases, rivers, wetlands, and lakes are also included.

What is a main way surface waters become groundwater?

What is a main way surface waters become groundwater? water flows through the unsaturated zone and into the saturated zone.

What type of water is groundwater?

fresh water
Groundwater is fresh water (from rain or melting ice and snow) that soaks into the soil and is stored in the tiny spaces (pores) between rocks and particles of soil. Groundwater accounts for nearly 95 percent of the nation’s fresh water resources.

How does surface water become groundwater?

Groundwater begins as rain or snow that falls to the ground. This is called precipitation. Only a small portion of this precipitation will become groundwater. Most will run off the land surface to become part of a stream, lake or other body of water.

Are groundwater and surface water the same?

Groundwater. The nation’s surface-water resources—the water in the nation’s rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, and reservoirs—are vitally important to our everyday life. Groundwater is the part of precipitation that seeps down through the soil until it reaches rock material that is saturated with water. …

How does water move between groundwater and surface water when the water table is high?

Under the pull of gravity, groundwater flows slowly and steadily through the aquifer. In low areas it emerges in springs and streams. Both surface water and groundwater eventually return to the ocean, where evaporation replenishes the supply of atmospheric water vapour.

Why groundwater is an important source of water?

Groundwater supplies drinking water for 51% of the total U.S. population and 99% of the rural population. Groundwater helps grow our food. 64% of groundwater is used for irrigation to grow crops. Groundwater is a source of recharge for lakes, rivers, and wetlands.

What is a floodplain in geography?

Native American settlements and early cities of European settlers located along the coasts and rivers in order to have access to water supply, waste disposal, water transportation, and transshipment. Consequently, floodplains include most of the nation’s earliest archeological and historical sites.

How does lack of understanding of the natural system affect floodplains?

In the past, lack of understanding of the overall natural system and its component processes contributed to significant alteration of the natural functions of floodplains, and in many cases to the degradation and destruction of these resources.

What are the different types of floodplain resources?

A document initially prepared by the U.S. Water Resources Council in 1979 titled A Unified National Program for Floodplain Managementdivides riverine and coastal floodplain resources into three categories: 1) water resources, 2) living resources (habitat), and 3) cultural resources.

What is a riparian floodplain ecosystem?

Riparian floodplain ecosystems are distinct associations of soil, flora and fauna occurring along a river, stream, or other body of water and depend for survival upon high water tables and occasional flooding. They are generally more biologically diverse than surrounding uplands.