Mauricio Arias
Ph.D Candidate (Hydrological and Ecological Engineering)
ME, Environmental Engineering (Systems Ecology/Ecological Engineering Program), University of Florida, USA
BS (Magna Cum Laude), Environmental Engineering, University of Florida, USA
Nationality : From
Colombia/ USA : Bogotá
Contact Details
Room: GIS laboratory, Civil/Mechanical Building, Room E335
Phone: +64 3 364 2987 (internal: 7313)
Fax: +64 3 364 2758
Email: mar152@student.canterbury.ac.nz
Postal Address: Dept of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering,
University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
Interests:
Tramping, soccer, biking, eating good and healthy food.
Supervisor(s):
Funding:
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UC International Student Doctoral Scholarship
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Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Research
Impacts of Anthropogenic-induced Hydrological Changes to Vegetation Production of the Tonle Sap Floodplain, Cambodia
Hydrological changes are expected in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) in response to intensive hydropower development. The Mekong River flow controls the flood pulse hydrology of the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in South East Asia and the most important fishery in Cambodia. This annual flood pulse drives the lake’s ecosystem productivity by controlling the fate and dynamics of habitats, organic matter and nutrients. Understanding how primary producers, in particular terrestrial vegetation, will be affected by changes in the hydrologic pulse is critical information that will help to plan sustainable management of the Tonle Sap Lake Floodplain (TSLF). The objective of this study will be to evaluate how hydrological changes due to hydropower development will affect the vegetation production of the TSLF. Geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing technology will be used to determine historical flooding characteristics and vegetation patterns. Field surveys will be conducted to validate the GIS and remote sensing analysis and to identify hydrological and ecological characteristics of different habitats throughout the lake and its floodplain. A numerical model will be developed to predict ecological changes as a function of the lake’s hydrology and to simulate the impact of a number of potential development scenarios in the MRB. It is expected that this study will contribute quantitative evidence relating the hydrology to the vegetation of the TSLF, information which water and natural resources managers in the region need to assess the impact of hydropower development in this crucial ecosystem.
Recent Publications
Arias, M.E., T.A. Cochrane, K. Lawrence, T. J. Killeen, and T.A. Farrell (2011) Paying the forest for electricity: A modelling framework to market forest management as payment for ecosystem services benefiting hydropower generation. Environmental Conservation. (Submitted)
Arias, M.E., M.T. Brown, and J.J. Sansalone (2011) Characterization of Suspended-Sediments in a Stormwater System during Rainfall-Runoff Events in a Residential Catchment in Florida, USA. Science of the Total Environment. (In preparation)
Cochrane, T.A., Arias, M.E., Teasley, R.L. and Killeen, T.J. (2010) Simulated changes in water flows of the Mekong River from potential dam development and operations on the Se San and Sre Pok tributaries. Montreal, Canada: IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition (IWA 2010), 19-24 Sep 2010. (Conference Contribution - Paper in published proceedings)
Arias, M.E., M.T. Brown (2009) Feasibility of using constructed treatment wetlands for municipal wastewater in the Bogotá Savannah, Colombia. Ecological Engineering 35 (2009) 1070-1078.