%0 Journal Article %J Geophysical Research Letters %D 2017 %T Urban heat island-induced increases in evapotranspirative demand %A Zipper, Samuel C. %A Schatz, Jason %A Kucharik, Christopher J. %A Loheide, Steven P. %K ecohydrology %K plant water use %K reference evapotranspiration %K urban climatology %K urban ecology %K urban heat island %K Urban systems %K Water supply %X Although the importance of vegetation in mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) is known, the impacts of UHI-induced changes in micrometeorological conditions on vegetation are not well understood. Here we show that plant water requirements are significantly higher in urban areas compared to rural areas surrounding Madison, WI, driven by increased air temperature with minimal effects of decreased air moisture content. Local increases in impervious cover are strongly associated with increased evapotranspirative demand in a consistent manner across years, with most increases caused by elevated temperatures during the growing season rather than changes in changes in growing season length. Potential evapotranspiration is up to 10% higher due to the UHI, potentially mitigating changes to the water and energy balances caused by urbanization. Our results indicate that local-scale land cover decisions (increases in impervious cover) can significantly impact evapotranspirative demand, with likely implications for water and carbon cycling in urban ecosystems. %B Geophysical Research Letters %8 2017 %@ 1944-8007 %G eng %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072190 %R 10.1002/2016GL072190 %0 Journal Article %J Ecosystem Services %D 2016 %T Is groundwater recharge always serving us well? Water supply provisioning, crop production, and flood attenuation in conflict in Wisconsin, USA %A Booth, Eric G. %A Zipper, Samuel C. %A Loheide II, Steven P. %A Kucharik, Christopher J. %K Crop production %K Flooding %K Groundwater %K Hydrologic services %K Recharge %K Water supply %X Ecosystem service mapping can provide an avenue for making effective land management decisions in a holistic way. However, mapped quantities do not always appropriately represent the ecosystem services that are used by humans. We highlight this issue with a case study of groundwater recharge, water supply, flooding, and agricultural production in an urbanizing agricultural watershed in southern Wisconsin, USA. Groundwater recharge is typically treated as a beneficial ecosystem service or service indicator whose value to humans monotonically increases with the amount of recharge. While appropriate from a water supply perspective, this relationship breaks down when excess groundwater recharge leads to flooding and crop damage. We suggest moving beyond groundwater recharge as a stand-alone ecosystem service, and instead propose that observations and biophysical models should be used to quantify the final service humans receive from groundwater (e.g. reliability of water supply from a municipal well). Integration of such derived, point-based metrics with other ecosystem services that are more easily represented at the landscape scale remains a challenge for regional ecosystem service inventories and analyses. %B Ecosystem Services %V 21, Part A %P 153 - 165 %@ 2212-0416 %G eng %U http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041616302315 %! Ecosystem Services %R 10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.08.007