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Linking urban form, land cover pattern, and hydrologic flow regime in the Puget Sound Lowland

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Abstract

The mismatch between political and watershed boundaries, jurisdictional differences in urban form, and data availability can limit the utility of past research findings that relate measures of urban development to urban stream function. This research complements existing research by building a quantitative link between urban form, land cover pattern, and the resulting hydrologic flow regime. Five land cover pattern measurements responded to urban form and were found to be resistant to the influence of watershed size and shape. Lot coverage had the strongest association with hydrological metrics measuring flashiness. The land cover metrics associated with hydrologic impacts were the interspersion and juxtaposition index for grass, aggregation index of high urban, and percent forest cover.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded through a the Urban Ecology, National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program at the University of Washington.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. City and Regional Planning Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA

    Adrienne I. Greve

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  1. Adrienne I. Greve
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Correspondence to Adrienne I. Greve.

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Greve, A.I. Linking urban form, land cover pattern, and hydrologic flow regime in the Puget Sound Lowland. Urban Ecosyst 15, 437–450 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0233-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0233-8

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