@article{5c7556f79a504e5998aacd8433e3982f,
title = "Legacy effects in material flux: Structural catchment changes predate long-term studies",
abstract = "Legacy effects of past land use and disturbance are increasingly recognized, yet consistent definitions of and criteria for defining them do not exist. To address this gap in biological-and ecosystem-assessment frameworks, we propose a general metric for evaluating potential legacy effects, which are computed by normalizing altered system function persistence with duration of disturbance. We also propose two distinct legacy-effect categories: signal effects from lags in transport and structural effects from physical landscape changes. Using flux records for water, sediment, nitrogen, and carbon from long-term study sites in the eastern United States from 1500 to 2000, we identify gaps in our understanding of legacy effects and reveal that changes in basin sediment dynamics precede instrumented records. These sediment dynamics are not generally incorporated into interpretations of contemporary records, although their potential legacy effects are substantial. The identification of legacy effects may prove to be a fundamental component of landscape management and effective conservation and restoration practice.",
author = "Bain, {Daniel J.} and Green, {Mark B.} and Campbell, {John L.} and Chamblee, {John F.} and Sayo Chaoka and Fraterrigo, {Jennifer M.} and Kaushal, {Sujay S.} and Martin, {Sherry L.} and Jordan, {Thomas E.} and Parolari, {Anthony J.} and Sobczak, {William V.} and Weller, {Donald E.} and Wollheim, {Wilfred M.} and Boose, {Emery R.} and Duncan, {Jonathan M.} and Gettel, {Gretchen M.} and Hall, {Brian R.} and Praveen Kumar and Thompson, {Jonathan R.} and Vose, {James M.} and Elliott, {Emily M.} and Leigh, {David S.}",
note = "Funding Information: This manuscript grew out of a working group sponsored by the Long Term Ecological Research Network Office (National Science Foundation [NSF] Cooperative Agreement no. DEB-0236154), with supplementary funding from NSF Division of Earth Sciences grant no. 0854957 to the City University of New York. This material is based on work at Long Term Ecological Research sites supported by the NSF{\textquoteright}s Long-Term Ecological Research Network under the following grant numbers: DEB-1027188 to the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, DEB-0823293 to the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, DEB-1114804 to the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, DEB-0620443 to the Harvard Forest site, and NSF-OCE-0423565 and NSF-OCE-1058747 to the Plum Island Ecosystem. The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center watershed discharge data were collected with support from the NSF (grant nos. DEB-79-11563, DEB-82072-12, CEE-8219615, BSR-8316948, BSR-8615902, BSR-8905219, BSR-891703, BSR-9085219, DEB-92-06811, and DEB-93-17968), from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Oceans Program (grant no. NA66RG0129), the US Environmental Protection Agency (grant no. 804536), and the Smithsonian Institution Environmental Sciences Program. The careful comments of three anonymous reviewers improved the article.",
year = "2012",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1525/bio.2012.62.6.8",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "62",
pages = "575--584",
journal = "BioScience",
issn = "0006-3568",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "6",
}