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7/28/2019 Using Geospatial Information Systems in Analyzing Urbanization Impacts on Stream Habitats in Southern Mississip
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Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, 5 (2011) 1624-1641
Using Geospatial Information Systems in Analyzing
Urbanization Impacts on Stream Habitats in Southern
Mississippi Coastal Ecosystem
E. Merem1, S. Yerramilli2, C. Richardson1, J. Wesley1, T. Walker3, D. Foster1, J. Williams1, C. Romarno1 and E.
Nwagboso4
1. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, J ackson, MS 39211, USA
2. National Center for Biodefense Communications, J ackson State University, J ackson, MS 39204, USA
3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, J ackson State University, J ackson, MS 39213, USA
4. Department of Political Science, J ackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA
Received: J une 7, 2011 / Accepted: July 18, 2011 / Published: December 20, 2011.
Abstract:The proliferation of urban development with concentration in population and human-environment interaction has intensified
around urban environments. This has resulted in the degradation of urban environments, overuse of natural resources and widespread
pollution of ecosystems. The patterns of design initiatives continue to follow unsustainable path with impacts on stream ecosystems.
Accordingly, the paper adopts geospatial information systems and sustainability principles for the identification and sequential
mapping of stressors impeding natural systems in Southern Mississippi. The results not only reveal that the study area experienced
some significant changes in its watershed environments, but the stream habitat ecosystem remains under stress. The recommendations
for mitigating the problems range from policy considerations to the adoption of ecosystem approach.
Key words: Geospatial information systems, urbanization, ecological design, ecosystem approach, environmental degradation.
1. I ntroduction
Increasing signs demonstrating clear threats to the
sustainability of ecosystems supporting human
societies gave rise to various theories of
human-environment interactions upon which basic
material conditions, such as population, development,
urbanization and other elements all impact the
environment [1]. Compounding these concerns, it isthe pace at which widespread proliferation of urban
development with subsequent concentration of
population and the human-environment interaction has
intensified around stream environments in the last
several years especially around the southern
Corresponding author: E. Merem, Ph.D., associateprofessor, research fields: climate change, GIS, naturalresources management, environmental planning, land use,agriculture, remote sensing and watershed management. E-mail:[email protected].
Mississippi Region coastal counties [2]. Considering
the scale at which growing population and the
competition for limited land resources impede natural
resource bases and habitats in estuarine environments
of the area. The public attention has now been drawn to
the un-sustainability of land use practices in coastal
counties where numerous stressors unleashed from
urbanization continue to ravage sensitive stream
habitats [3].
Accordingly, the mounting pressure from population
growth in urban areas which is occurring at an alarming
proportion continues to put enormous strain on urban
ecosystem and the surrounding stream habitat
environments. This has resulted in the degradation of
stream habitats in urban environments and over
utilization of natural resources to meet the needs of
built up areas. There is also widespread pollution
DDAVID PUBLISHING
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beyond the carrying capacity of the ecosystems. In the
process, the patterns of urban design initiatives
continue to follow unsustainable path leading to
landscape transformations with grave impacts on
stream ecosystems [4]. At the same time, various
development activities have been adopted at the
expense of environmental welfare of communities. The
factors responsible for the problems are not far fetched.
They range from socio-economic variables and policy
elements. This is happening at a time when most stream
ecosystems are impacted by urbanization processes due
to the negation of environmental design principles
based on sustainability and design patterns that are in
sync with nature [5]. There are also concerns about thehazardous effects of such activities as agriculture,
urban and industrial development on freshwater
habitats in built up areas [6, 7].
Some of the most pervasive effects embody the
increase in impervious surface cover within urban
catchments. Such increases not only alter the
hydrology and geomorphology of streams but it leads
to changes in the stream habitat corridors. Existing
literature has shown how runoffs from urbanized
surfaces drive the loading of nutrients, pesticides and
contaminants into ecosystems with resultant decline in
both fish and algae populations. The rising incidence of
non point source chemical pollution also poses
enormous danger to the estuarine and coastal
environments such as those in the southern Mississippi
region [8]. Typically, excess storm water run off
wrecks major havoc in a large number of urban areas
by causing water pollution, ground water recharge
deficits, and ecological damage to urban streams [9].The proliferation of impervious surface allows for rain
to get to a stream faster, creating higher pick flows that
can lead to a stream alteration and habitat degradation.
When impervious surface stops rainfall from
permeating the soil, smaller amount of water is
available for groundwater recharge and this in turn
minimizes stream base flow.
Depending upon the land use in the watershed or
stream corridor, roadways and parking lots nutrients
that move over the surface through major storms often
drain into water ways creating elevated toxic loading of
the stream. In some areas, sensitive wetlands and
various species are endangered because streams are
overstretched by artificial run off from impervious
surfaces and built up areas from urbanization [10, 11].
Similarly, in an earlier study of the little Miami River
Basin, Susanna et al. [12] noted that urban
development in the watershed had caused considerable
change on run off and water quality. In the context of
southern Mississippi, regional statistics and indicators
for building and construction associated with these
problems have grown exponentially over the years inaffected counties. It is evident that the run off from
different types of urban land use carry different kinds
of contaminants. For example, run off from agricultural
land use in the southern Mississippi region are enriched
with nutrients and sediments.
Compounding the matter is the lack of geospatial
information systems and eco-design approach in
current measures. Convinced about the risks, the
current patterns of development pose to the
environment. The World Commission on Environment
and Development stressed the need to factor ecological
and economic variables during decision making [13].
In the urban context, Edwin et al. [14] have noted that
achieving ecosystem sustainability requires mitigation
of some of these problems with the right tools. Clearly,
ecosystem approach often represents the most
appropriate type of model for analyzing human
influences on ecological systems; it can play a central
role in the design and analysis of alternativeagricultural, industrial and residential systems that
could reduce the human footprint on the earth [15]. Just
as the ecosystem approach is a method for sustaining
ecological desired future conditions that integrates
ecological, economic and social factors in development.
It also recognizes the importance of integrating science
and technology, the economy and societys demands in
the management of resources such as urban stream
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habitats. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for the
adoption of ecological design approach based on the
applications of geospatial information systems for the
identification and sequential mapping of urban
stressors impeding the viability of natural systems in
the southern Mississippi region.
In light of that, the assessment of ecosystem health
of stream habitats using Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) to detect change not only enhances our
understanding of the scale of changes occurring in
these systems, but it provides a framework for
evaluating ecosystem decline and the mechanisms for
restoration [16-19]. In the case of GIS, Gaurav [20]
developed the eco-assessor based decision supportsystem for the lower part of the Yazoo river Basin in
Mississippi to help planners and managers determine
the best locations for the restoration of wetlands on
defined ecological and geographic criteria and
probability of success. In the study, potential
restoration area assessment involved data over lays
sorted by hydrology, water quality and habitat.
Elsewhere Joan et al. [2] adopted GIS and remote
sensing in estimating the rates of change along the
Pascagoula River and its tributaries in the Southern
Mississippi area. In considering how modifications
generated by human activities influence the changes.
The authors digitized the larger and mined tributaries
of the system in a GIS using varied sources of data such
as aerial photographs and other types of spatial
information. In a related work, another researcher
adopts remote sensing and geospatial applications in
the delineation of the Upper Pearl River watershed in
the State of Mississippi [21]. The idea behind the studyhinged on the benefits of accurate delineation of stream
habitats (watersheds) using GIS in the management of
the ecosystem [21]. Current remote sensing and
geographic information systems technologies as the
study noted promote rapid collection of field-data and
prompt processing.
Notwithstanding these capabilities, in the past years,
widespread level of development triggered by human
activities has been eroding the environment and
support systems along major stream ecosystems in the
study area. In fact, direct and indirect effects of human
activities continue to ravage estuaries. In the case of
Mississippi, with limited efforts to curb ecological
decline facing major watersheds of the state, Southern
Mississippi River watersheds most notably the
Pascagoula and the Southern streams now have the
appearance of a stressed ecosystem with cases of water
pollution [22]. In the Gulf area of the state, developers
who do not have their property zoned for business and
economic development continually request changes to
the land use plan. They prefer that general use district
such as residential and recreational be rezoned to allowfor casino developments on sensitive coastal
environments. Compounding the issue is the limited
effort to evaluate the cumulative and secondary effects
of these developments [23].
With such pressures, river systems in the area have
experienced cases of water impairment caused by fecal
coliform, mercury, PCBs and other contaminants and
nutrients from agricultural runoff and other types of
land use. A case in point is Turkey Creek in the coastal
streams running through the wetlands of the North
Gulfport in the Bay of Biloxi. The Turkey creek area as
the focus of growth in the past decades attracts
developers seeking permits to dreg hundreds of acres of
wetlands in the area. The pressures from large-scale
development, however, has contributed to the
impairment of water quality along the Turkey creek
area of the Basin [24]. While the other indicators of
change in the Pascagoula basin involve water-body
declines and other variables, using spatial informationsystems in stream habitat management minimizes the
time needed to obtain inputs on water quality models.
This can increase the measurement precision of stream
habitat and watershed conditions [25].
The paper focuses on the issues, theory and practice
of ecosystem design by using geospatial information
technologies in the study of changes in urban
streams/ecosystems in cities, with emphasis on
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ecological and environmental design principles in
alleviating these problems. Adopting such an approach
can provide planners information about the casual
effects of disturbances in ecosystems and help them
contribute to a more effective urban management in
terms of environmental protection and through the
infusion of ecological design principles in practice. The
paper has five objectives. The first objective is to
update the literature on ecosystem restoration, while
the second objective centers on the need to identify
ecological change issues along costal urban
environments. The third objective is to apply spatial
information technology such as GIS in gauging the
pressures of urbanization along stream habitats and thefourth aim is to design decision support tools for
assisting decision makers and resource mangers in
monitoring environmental change. The fifth objective
is to identify appropriate strategies and the efforts for
curbing the threats of ecological change caused by
urbanization. In terms of organization, the paper
contains five sections. The first part covers the
introduction of the paper while section two on methods
and materials highlights the background on the study
area and the methodology. The third part presents the
results and the analysis on environmental change and
the factors fuelling change. Section four contains a
brief discussion of the results and suggestions for
remedying the problems. Section five presents the
conclusions.
2. Methods and Data
2.1 Study Area
The study area located in southern Mississippi along
the coastal plain in the southern portion of the map in
Fig. 1 encompasses 6 selected counties. The six
counties under analysis that consists of Pearl River,
George, Stone, Harrison, Hancock and Jackson have a
combined population 437,408 in 2006 (Table 1). The
study location stretches through major urban areas
along the Gulf coast region of Pascagoula and
Biloxi-Gulfport metro areas. As shown in the table, it
contains major thriving urban areas prone to pollution
and other environmental problems. The major river
basin, the Pascagoula, is Mississippis second largest
basin measuring approximately 164 miles long and 84
miles wide draining an area of about 9,600 miles before
emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. It is also the largest
unimpeded major river system in the continental
United States. The major streams include the
Pascagoula, Leaf and Chicksawhay Rivers as well as
the Black and Red Creeks [26, 27]. The total estimated
land area of the watershed measures about 386,008
acres with non-irrigated cropland and pastureland as
the major land-uses. About 72% of the basin contains
forested area and the other 21% classified asagricultural land.
With the presence of generally well-drained and
moderately drained soil types, the basin contains about
542 farms and an average farm size of 94 acres. The
size of Cropland stretches across an area estimated at
22,100l acres while pastureland consists of 20,800 total
acres [27].
Fig. 1 The study area: southern Mississippi region.
Jackson
GeorgeStonePearl River
Hancock
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Table 1 The population and profile of southern Mississippi costal counties.
County Population Area in square miles CMA
Pearl River 57,099 811 Picayune
George 21,828 478 Pascagoula
Stone 15,608 445 Gulfport-Biloxi
Harrison 171,875 580 Gulfport-Biloxi
Hancock 40,421 476 Gulfport-Biloxi
Jackson 130,577 726 Pascagoula
Total 437,408 3,516 NA
From an economic standpoint, timber use in the
basin generates $325 million dollars to the economy.
The Pascagoula basin accounts for 75% of oil and gas
production in the state and there are about 250 surface
mining operations in the area [28]. While agriculturaland timber activities declined in the region in recent
years, other forms of land use have increased their
impact on the ecosystem. Although in channel mining
was quite rampant in the area until it was banned in
1995. Floodplain sand and gravel mining remain
active on the Bowie River side of the basin as well as
in Thompson creek and Leaf River. At the same time,
simultaneous development has been occurring in
many parts of the basin, including the cities of
Pascagoula, Moss Point, Meridian, Hattiesburg and
Laurel [2, 28].
Some of the threats in the area that require
conservation efforts anchored in sustainability
principles are the threats of sediments entering streams
and rivers in the Pascagoula as well as the issue of
in-stream sedimentation caused by scouring of bed and
bank erosion. The scale of unsustainable silver culture
practices and unparalleled road construction for
development in the area creates sedimentationconcerns as well as interruption of hydrologic flow
along the stream habitats. This has been compounded
by gravel mining sedimentation and the alterations to
hydrologic regimes threatening the migration and the
spawning habitats of the Gulf Sturgeon, Pearl Darter
and Alabama Shad [29]. The extent of these changes
and the ecological impacts caused by development
activities in the basin can be properly assessed using
geospatial information systems.
2.2 Methods
This paper stresses a mix scale approach involving
the use of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and
geospatial technologies of Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) in processing data provided through
government sources and data bases from other
organizations. The raw spatial data made up of maps
and other kinds of digital information used in the
research came from the United States Geological
Surveys (USGS) data procurement unit, USDA and US
EPA, the Government of Mississippi MARIS and
United States Census and other organizations such as
the University of Maryland On line data unit.
2.3 Step 1: Data Acquisition
The first step involves the identification of the
variables needed to assess the environmental impacts
of urbanization on stream habitats in urban areas at the
regional level. The spatial units of analysis consisted of
the counties located in the Gulf region (Table 2). The
variables encompasses socio-economic and
environmental data, including land cover elements (of
the amount of farmland, fertilized areas, impaired
water bodies), population, number of building permits
and the monetary values of construction and sales from
agriculture. This process continued with the design of
data matrices covering the various periods from 1990s
and 2000 and beyond. In addition, to the design stage,
access to databases and abstracts that are presently
available within the Federal and state archives in
Mississippi and the United States Geological Surveys
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Table 2 The results of descriptive statistics.
Acres fertilized
Counties 1992 1997 2002 % Change (1992-1997) % Change (1992-2002)
Pearl River 32,262 28,907 14,234 -10.39 -50.75
George 16,484 11,907 19,395 -27.76 62.88
Stone 8,846 8,671 8,886 -1.978 2.47
Harrison 3,530 4,514 4,323 27.87 -4.23
Hancock 6,135 9,271 7,062 51.11 -23.82
Jackson 3,511 11,882 8,779 238.42 -26.11
Impaired water areas
Counties 1998 2002 2004 % Change (1998-2002) % Change (2002-2004)
Pearl River 2 1 0 -50 -100
George 5 2 1 -60 -50
Stone 1 1 1 0 0
Harrison 2 0 0 -100
Hancock 2 1 2 -50 100Jackson 5 1 1 -80 0
Farm land
Counties 1992 1997 2002 % Change (1992-1997) % Change (1992-2002)
Pearl River 93,180 130,344 120,135 39.88 -7.83
George 43,498 54,645 62,995 25.62 15.28
Stone 32,666 50,862 57,257 55.7 12.57
Harrison 16,665 25,761 25,248 54.58 -1.991
Hancock 30,050 47,548 37,721 58.22 -20.66
Jackson 24,845 43,390 42,890 74.64 -1.152
Agro sales
Counties 1992 1997 2002 % Change (1992-1997) % Change (1992-2002)
Pearl River 9,961,000 9,397,000 11,721,000 -5.66 24.73
George 6,897,000 9,540,000 13,050,000 38.32 36.79
Stone 4,530,000 4,468,000 6,959,000 -1.36 55.75
Harrison 1,951,000 2,803,000 3,336,000 43.66 19.01
Hancock 2,139,000 2,366,000 2,529,000 10.61 6.88
Jackson 4,902,000 5,210,000 6,391,000 6.28 22.66
Population
Counties 1998 2002 2004 % Change (1998-2002) % Change (2002-2004)
Pearl River 46,939 50,381 51,719 7.33 2.65
George 18,592 20,034 20,711 7.75 3.37
Stone 13,223 14,108 14,458 6.69 2.48
Harrison 186,249 189,996 192,129 2.01 1.12Hancock 40,885 44,607 45,821 9.1 2.72
Jackson 128,412 132,895 134,935 3.49 1.53
(USGS), United States National Aeronautical and
Space Agency (NASA) and host of other entities
quickened the search process. The spatial data was
acquired from the USGS and the Mississippi
Automated Resources Information System (MARIS)
covering the southern Mississippi region of
Pascagoula-Biloxi Gulfport area for the separate
periods of 1992 through 2004.
2.4 Step 2: Geo Spatial Data Acquisition and
Processing
For the study area of southern Mississippi region,
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multi-temporal spatial data made up of shape files and
maps were obtained for the study. The data that were
assembled for southern Mississippi Gulf region urban
counties of Stone, Pearl River, Harrison, Hancock,
George, and Jackson along the Pascagoula river basin
region include socio-economic and ecological data,
shape files, paper and digital maps from 1992 to 2004.
All the spatial and temporal data were processed using
ARC-VIEW GIS and SPSS. The outputs which
emerged consist of texts, tables and maps as well as
matrices. The processed data displayed under different
legends makes ecological and stream habitat variables
like water appear as common colors of black and white
while the other socio-economic variables weredistinguished in similar colors as well. Furthermore,
the output was visually compared to see the changes
across time and space along the tributaries of the
southern Mississippi Gulf coast environment. The
remaining procedure involves spatial analysis and
output (maps-tables-text) covering the study period
using ARCVIEW GIS. This process helped show the
extent of temporal-spatial evolution of change induced
by urbanization. It provided opportunities to undertake
the sequential mappings of the stressors impacting the
stream habitats in the south Mississippi Gulf region.
The idea behind the process stems from the
advantages of carrying out precise mapping of stream
habitats using geospatial information systems in the
region. Accordingly, the analysis of ecosystem health
of stream habitats using Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) to capture on going disturbances not
only improves our knowledge of the scale of changes
occurring in these systems, but it provides a frameworkfor evaluating ecosystem decline and the mechanisms
for restoration.
3. Results
This part of the paper presents the results of
descriptive statistics and temporal-spatial analysis of
environmental change with GIS and correlation
analysis on a set of indicators associated with stream
disturbance already outlined in the methodology. It
consists of the snapshot of ecological variables of
fertilized areas, impaired water areas, farmland etc.,
and socio-economic elements from population to
agricultural sales in the region. This would be followed
by a highlight of the factors responsible for change.
3.1 Environmental Analysis: Fertilized Acreages of
Agricultural Land
In terms of the size of acreages of land treated with
fertilizer, the counties of Pearl River and George
appear to have exceeded the other areas in the use of
fertilizer nutrients. The use of fertilizers in Pear River
ranged from about 32,262 acres in 1992, 28,907 during1997 and 14,234 by 2002. Over the years (1992, 1997,
and 2004) at George County, the size of agricultural
land treated with fertilizer stood at 16,484, 11,907 and
19,395 acres. Within the same periods at Stone county,
fertilizer acreages consists of 8,846 in 1992, 8,671 in
1997 and 8,886 in 2002. In 1992 about 3,530 acres
were under the direct applications of fertilizer nutrients
in Harrison county, in the following periods of 1997
and 2002, the size of fertilized areas stayed somewhat
identical at 4,514 in 2002 and 4,323 in 2002. For
Hancock county, land treated with fertilizers was
estimated at 6,135 acres in 1992, 9,271 by 1997 and
7,062 during 2002. Between 1992, 1997 and 2002 in the
Jackson county area, the numbers varied from 3,511 to
11,832 and 8,779 acres respectively (Table 2).
On the percentages of change, it is seen that the
counties were evenly split in terms of declines and
gains in 1992-1997. In fact, three counties (Harrison,
Hancock and Jackson) made gains while three otherareas most notably Pearl River George and Stone saw
their acreages of fertilized land decline. The
breakdown of the figures show fertilized areas grew by
27% at Harrison, 51% at Hancock and by 238% in
Jackson county. With the exception of 62% gains in
fertilized areas for George and 2.4% for Stone county,
the other remaining four counties experienced sizable
declines in the period of 1992 through 2002 (Table 2).
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3.2 Impaired Water Areas
On the other environmental variables, in 1998,
impaired water areas appeared more in the south
Mississippi urban areas with three counties of PearlRiver, Harrison, and Hancock each accounting for the 2
major water areas under impairment. In the same
period, George and Jackson counties led the rest of the
region with 5 impaired water areas while Stone
emerged as the county with the least impaired water
surface. Among the counties, in 2002 and 2004, only
the George county and Hancock areas experienced
water surface impairment in 2 areas while the rest had
either one case of reported impaired surface or none at
all (Table 2).
3.3 Farm Land
The activities involving the use of agricultural shows
Pearl River county had 93,180 acres of farm land in
1992. In the following periods, the size of farmland at
the county reached 130,344 in 1997 and 120,135 in
2002. Within these periods, George county which
opened the 1992 period with 43,498 acres saw its
agricultural land areas jump to 54,645 acres in 1997and 62,995 in 2002. At Stone county, the size of
farmland rose from an initial value of 32,666 in 1992 to
50,862 in 1997 and 57,257 by 2002. In the same period,
Harrison county used nearly 16,665 acres for farming
in 1992, by the subsequent years of 1997 and 2002,
farmland area in the county exceeded the 25,000 acres
mark. Similarly, Hancock contained 30,050 in 1992
and it grew further to 47,548 in 1997 and 37,721 in
2002 while Jackson county which started with 24,845
acres in 1992 experienced increases of 43,390 and
42,890 acres in 1997 and 2002 respectively (Table 2).
With the intense use of agricultural land in the study
area, most of the counties posted double digit gains in
percentages of change. To a great extent, three counties
made up of Stone, Harrison and Hancock had
parentages of change totaling over 53% between
1992-1997 while the rates of change for Pearl River
county and George stood at 39.8% and 25%
respectively. The county of Jackson finished ahead of
the rest with the highest gain of 74% from 1992-1997.
In 1992-2002, the rates of change in terms of decline
were evident in the counties of Pearl River at -7.8%,
Harrison with -1.9%, Hancock at -20%, while the rate
for Jackson county stood at -1.1%. During that period,
the two counties that experienced gains comprised
of George at a rate of 15% and Stone with 12.5%
(Table 2).
3.4 The Correlation Analysis
To buttress linkages to behavior of some of the
variables herein analyzed in contributing to stream
habitat pollution, the simple correlation analysisperformed on the 5 variables shows a positive relation
between impaired waters and fertilized acres (Table 3).
With the increase in fertilized acres, there came a rise
in the number of impaired waters as well. Of all the
counties under analysis, Jackson and George emerged
as the most polluted counties with maximum number of
impaired waters in 1998. This can be attributed to
increases in the fertilized acres variable as both
counties experienced a drastic rise in the acres of farm
land treated with fertilizers resulting in nutrient flow
into the adjacent waters and stream habitats.
3.5 Spatial Analysis
On the spatial aspects of the factors threatening
stream habitats, fertilizer use across space as the maps
in Figs. 2(a)-2(c) show seemed quite pronounced in the
periods of 1992, 1997 and 2002 in some counties. Note
that the northern portion of the study area map
highlighting Pearl River county had fertilized areasexceeding 20000 acres. Fertilizer use not only reached
high levels, but the northern part appeared as the area
with more fertilized areas in the 1992 and 1997, 2002
fiscal years (Figs. 2(a)-2(c)). On the number of
impaired waters over the years, two counties (George
and Jackson) both accounted for maximum levels of 3
and 5 cases of impairment in 1998 than the other
counties in the study area (Fig. 3(a)). While most
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counties each had 1 and 2 cases of impairment in 2002
and 2004, note that the situation in Harrison showed no
cases of impairment in the same periods. The same
thing can be said of Pearl River county where number
of impaired watersheds gradually disappeared in 2004
(Figs. 3(b)-3(c)).
Turning to impaired watersheds from nutrient flow
in the coastal counties, there was a high concentration
of impaired water areas in the 1998 period with much
of it located at George and Jackson, Harrison, Hancock
and Pearl River (Fig. 4(a)). A closer look on the maps
during the year 2002 and 2004 indicates a slight
recurrence of impairment in minute clusters within the
three counties notably Hancock, George and Jackson(Figs. 4(b)-4(c)). In terms of toxic release inventory
sites, there seems to be a high dispersion of toxic
release sites with much of it situated along the lower
part of the study area in 1998. Of all the counties,
Jackson, Harrison and Pearl River known for their
proximity to sensitive watersheds had more toxic
release facilities at the period (Fig. 5). On geographic
diffusion of farming operations, the northern counties
of Pearl River, Stone and George had intense
agricultural activities measured around 30,001 to
50,000 acres in 1992 and over 50,000 acres in the 1997
through 2002 period (Figs. 6(a)-6(c)).
Part of the economic engine fueling ecological
change in the region is evidenced by high growth in the
sales of agricultural products. From the map,
agriculture sales of more than $70000001 occurred
more along the Pearl River and George counties most
of the years while Jackson county also had sizable sales
between 1997 and 2002 (Figs. 7(a)-7(c)). The spatial
distribution of the population shows that in spite of
demographic changes within all counties, the southern
portion of the study area representing the counties of
Jackson and Harrison had more population of and
greater than 100,000 in the periods of 1998, 2002 and
2004. Both areas maintained a steady rise most of the
time (Figs. 8(a)-8(c)).
3.6 Socio-Economic Factors Responsible for Stream
Habitat Disturbance
The extent and nature of environmental change
leading to stream habitat degradation in the study area
did not occur in a vacuum. Several socio-economic
elements that played a role in the process are
highlighted in this section of the paper.
3.6.1 Demography and Urban Growth
The study area boosts of some of the most
urbanizing areas including the city of Pascagoula. The
area has been experiencing one of the most extensive
Table 3 Summary of correlation analysis.
Variables and residuals Population Farmland Fertilized acres Agro sales Impaired waters
Population
Pearson correlation 1 -0.425 -0.438 -0.436 -0.159
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.079 0.069 0.071 0.53
N 18 18 18 18 18
Farmland
Pearson correlation -0.425 1 0.805** 0.752** -0.243
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.079 0 0 0.332
N 18 18 18 18 18
Fertilized acres
Pearson correlation -0.438 0.805** 1 0.725** 0.01
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.069 0 0.001 0.97
N 18 18 18 18 18
Agro sales
Pearson correlation -0.436 0.752** 0.725** 1 -0.055
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.071 0 0.001 0.828
N 18 18 18 18 18
Impaired waters
Pearson correlation -0.159 -0.243 0.01 -0.055 1
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.53 0.332 0.97 0.828
N 18 18 18 18 18
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
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(a)
(b)
(c)Fig. 2 Number of acres fertilized in (a) 1992; (b) 1997; (c)
2002.
(a)
(b)
(c)Fig. 3 The number of impaired watersheds in (a) 1998; (b)
2002; (c) 2004.
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(a)
(b)
(c)Fig. 4 Impaired watersheds due to nutrient flow in (a)
1998; (b) 2002; (c) 2004.
Fig. 5 Spatial location of TRI sites in 1994.
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(a)
(b)
(c)Fig. 6 The farmland (in acres) in (a) 1992; (b) 1997; (c)
2002.
(a)
(b)
(c)Fig. 7 Total sales from agricultural products in (a) 1992;
(b) 1997; (c) 2002.
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(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 8 Population statistics in (a) 1998; (b) 2002; (c) 2004.
forms of urbanization brought about by rapid pace of
economic development, proliferation of oil and gas
activities and casino development. The request for
residential and commercial housing permits as shown
in Table 4 was significant in most of the counties. The
role of residential and construction costs is quite
evident in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.
Table 4 Building indicators.
Hancock county
Year Building permits Construction cost $
1996 55 5,136,900
1997 87 7,850,588
1998 49 5,429,671
1999 55 5,827,324
2000 477 42,218,862
2001 406 39,965,735
2002 384 45,009,570
2003 165 16,704,607
2004 529 66,178,274
2005 285 40,425,890
2006 1,273 116,434,221
Harrison county
Year Building permits Construction cost $
1996 1,022 91,597,071
1997 929 81,702,928
1998 1,119 149,077,587
1999 1,272 145,379,142
2000 1,213 178,633,457
2001 1,010 130,432,922
2002 1,131 147,617,400
2003 1,272 234,714,431
2004 1,364 208,155,303
2005 877 141,498,912
2006 2,223 303,724,452
Jackson county
Year Building permits Construction cost $
1996 650 66,208,7491997 592 28,399,190
1998 721 46,096,814
1999 1,092 84,787,166
2000 767 52,999,124
2001 746 52,651,164
2002 632 43,858,793
2003 896 94,545,439
2004 922 76,096,307
2005 846 78,954,203
2006 1,197 224,140,661
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Looking at those counties between 1996 through 2006,
it is evident that Harrison County had more building
permits with construction costs estimated at tens and
hundreds of million dollars.
The percentage of changes for population from
1998-2002 as Table 2 shows indicate that the Pearl
River and George counties both had growth rates of a
little over 7% estimated at 7.3 and 7.7% while the
population grew at 6.6 % at Stone county in the same
period. Among the remaining counties, Harrison
posted a percentage of change of 2%, Hancocks
population rose by 9.1% while Jackson experienced a
population increase of 3.4%. The growth rates for 2002
to 2004 stayed at under 3% among the counties withtwo counties (Harrison and Jackson) having population
growth rates of 1%. Another three counties (Pearl
River, Stone, and Hancock) experienced growth rates
estimated at slightly over 2% points while George
county posted the highest gains of 3.3% (Table 2).
These increases created high population concentration
along the coasts adjacent to the basin at the expense of
watershed ecosystem protection.
3.6.2 Economic Development and Agricultural
Activities
The economic activities in the basin embody those
types that can impede the natural process of the
watershed ecosystem. With a timber sector that
generates over $300 million dollars in revenues and the
presence of 75% of fossil fuel production, numerous
drilling and mining activities are bound to live indelible
ecological footprints in the form of severe disturbances
on stream habitats all these years. The severity in
channel and floodplain sand and gravel mining alongthe tributaries has raised concerns about the
externalities unleashed from economic development.
High level concentration of pollutants most notably
PCBs, mercury, fecal coliform emanating from
industrial and domestic sources have been reported in
the river systems of the watershed.
Other elements of urban change likely to impact the
quality of habitats in the area can be evidenced from
the pace of agricultural sales in the region. From the
Table 2 Pearl River made sales worth about $9,961,000
in 1992, $9,397,000 in 1997 and $11,721,000 in 2002.
George county followed in the same periods with
$6,897,000 in 1992, $954,000 in 1997 and $13,050,000
in 2002. At Stone county, the amount of tradable goods
from agriculture were 4,530,000 in 1992, 4,468,000 in
1997 and 6,959,000 in 2002. In the other counties, the
Harrison area farm sales stood at $1,951,000,
$2,803,000 and $3,336,000 in 1992, 1997 and 2002
respectively while Hancock made sales estimated at
$2,139,000, 2,366,000 and $2,529,000. The medium
level sales reported in the area include $4,902,000,
$5,211,000 and $6,391,000. The percentages of changein farm sales show very significant gains in 1992-1997
and 1992-2002 most of the time (Table 2). The
externalities from agriculture in the form of nutrient
flow into watersheds threaten the quality of
biodiversity habitats.
4. Discussion
The results not only reveal that the study area
experienced some changes across time and space but
the estuarine environments and stream habitats are
threatened by urbanization elements. In light of that,
the regions adjoining natural areas remain an
ecosystem under stress. Overall, the result of the data
analysis point to signs of growing incidence of
pollution involving extensive fertilizer use and the
impairment of water bodies. The presence of toxic
facilities in the region exposes the regions natural
systems to a great danger. The increases in human
settlement indicators as indicated by population growthand the requests for building permits and the level of
agricultural intensification needed to feed urban
populace led to loss of arable farmland around the
surrounding ecology.
Increased agricultural land use activity known to
precipitate large use of agrochemicals and other type of
nutrients as the analysis showed grew to a great extent
at very significant rates especially in Pearl River, Stone,
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George and Jackson counties. In the process, many of
the study area stream corridors or habitats in the urban
counties were greatly impaired. Under this setting,
indicators like agricultural activities likely to spur
pollution through fertilizer use as well as toxic
inventory release sites were quite visible in the counties.
Although several counties experienced double digit
gains in the use of agricultural land, the downside is
that under current practices, those gains often resulted
into more use of fertilizers to boost agricultural
productivity. This creates further impairment of stream
corridors already over stretched with heavy load of
nutrients and other contaminants beyond their carrying
capacity.The loss of farmland to other land uses most notably
urbanization still does not bode well for sustainability
and ecological design approach and the environmental
welfare or the carrying capacity of the sensitive stream
habitats in the Mississippi Gulf region. The loss of
farmland in such costal areas experiencing conversion
of adjoining wetlands to urbanization seemed to have
aided building construction. This leads to more
impervious surfaces through which the flow of
pollutants and toxic chemicals from roadways empty
directly into sensitive estuarine habitats. Thus, gains
and losses in agricultural land in the study area
symbolizes a double edged sword for stream habitat
planning since the emergent land use activities from
these changes facilitates pollution of open streams in
the region.
With population exceeding over 100,000 in the
Jackson and Hancock areas, it is evident that some of
the counties along the coast have very highconcentration of human populations likely to exert
pressure on the environment and the sensitive natural
habitats in the ecosystem. In an area sprawling with
growth, there are bound to be requests for new
development projects in the form of new housing and
road designs likely to create more impervious surfaces
at the expense of stream habitat health. At the same
time, socio-economic indicators of agricultural sales,
building permits and construction costs as a measure of
the intensity of land activities and transactions seemed
quite pronounced. Large volume of investments
resulting from high agriculture sales and boom in
construction can put some added stress on the sensitive
watersheds as run off from agriculture and construction
sites empty into watersheds already stressed beyond
their carrying capacities. All these point to the role of
socio-economic and human factors fueled by
urbanization in precipitating stream habitat
impediment in an ecosystem. This seemed to reflect the
ecosystem approach that often represents the most
appropriate level of organization for analyzing human
influences on ecological systems. It can play a centralrole in the design and analysis of alternatives and future
lines of action. To buttress the linkages among some of
the variables in fuelling change, a correlation analysis
confirmed a direct relationship between impaired water
surfaces and fertilizer use in the region.
The environmental change analysis using geospatial
information tool of GIS in the area identified a cluster
of counties where land use activities involving
agricultural farming and the widespread applications of
fertilizers threatening urban environments and stream
habitat ecosystem remained very active. From the
spatial and temporal analysis, the regions stream
corridors appear threatened by the gradual pace in the
impairment of water bodies in certain areas and toxic
site inventories. In fact, the proliferation of toxic
inventory sites seem fully concentrated along the
watersheds and the tributaries of rivers along the urban
environments due to intense development and human
activities.In light of this finding, the practical use of a mix
scale approach involving GIS in tracking the extent to
which urbanization had impacted and contributed to
stream habitat change in coastal environments of
southern Mississippi region stands as an update to the
current literature on ecosystem restoration. With the
meager efforts in the past to assess the impacts of
urbanization along the Southern Mississippi River
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stream habitat ecosystem, geospatial technology of
GIS as demonstrated in this project has been quite
effective in ensuring the mapping of change related
information on the watershed with a spatial reference.
As an effective tool for resource management,
integrated data analysis using GIS facilitated the
analysis of the spatial distribution of stream habitat
change involving land use and hydrology and the
demographic issues facing the south Mississippi river
basin environment. Such spatial information
technology is desirable for policy makers in the
Mississippi area as they deal with the emerging
problems threatening the environment along the
regions stream habitats.To deal with the concerns raised in this research, this
section of the paper provides four suggestions
anchored in ecosystem approach and the principles of
sustainability. The recommendations for mitigating
the problems range from policy considerations,
coastal zone planning, and the design of spatial
information systems and the adoption of ecosystem
approach.
4.1 Adopt Effective Policy
The land use regulations and zoning laws
operational in the state have several lapses that threaten
the environmental welfare of citizens and other life
forms along the basins. Just as land developers in the
area constantly gain approvals for switching general
development plans to commercial types with little
recourse to cumulative impacts on the ecosystem. So
are the growing vulnerability of quality of streams,
lakes and the ecosystem health to the impairment andthreats created by mining activities, silver culture and
industrial development. Because current policies have
done little to mitigate the inherent ecological problems
on the estuarine environments, the paper suggests the
adoption of effective policy instruments to ensure
enforcement and a better framework for protecting the
environment. This will go along in straightening the
mitigation measures necessary in containing the
current pressures mounted on the stream corridors by
urbanization in the study area.
4.2 Encourage Urban Costal Zone Planning
Part of the mandate of planning is to promote the
quality of life and the environment in coastal areas by
involving multi-stakeholders including the decision
makers and those whose livelihoods are impacted by
development in the planning process through a set of
goals. Considering the scale of pressures unleashed on
the natural ecosystem by the built environment through
urbanization in study area, the paper suggests the need
for coastal zone planning in the region built on the
conservation of natural areas especially streamcorridors. Sensitive natural areas and habitats for
biodiversity, endangered plants and animals along the
Pascagoula watershed should be zoned as protected
areas. This should be enforced with strict controls
on future development activities along the shores of
the watershed so that erosion and sedimentation
problems experienced in the area can be
minimized.
4.3 Promote Periodic Monitoring and Design ofSpatial Information System
The state of ecological health of the basin calls for
regular monitoring, observation and assessment of land,
sea, atmosphere, and open space in order to create a
data collection network to track earths changing
systems using spatial information. This approach
would not only aid decision makers to understand how
stream habitats and natural systems of the Gulf region
work, but it provides opportunities for counties topartner together through yearly assessments of their
conditions. It will also enable managers assess and
predict change and interactions within natural systems
such as watershed. This could be attained by providing
future information for managing coastal resources in
order to optimize their benefits to the environment,
economy and society in line with ecosystem principles
and sustainability.
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4.4 Support Ecosystem/Watershed Approach
The ecology of aquatic life shares close linkages
with the conditions of a watersheds terrestrial
ecosystems. Yet society does not fully understand howstresses from human activities, such as land
development, pollutant releases, deforestation, river
channelization and agriculture affect these common
linkages in the basin. Under this setting, the Pascagoula
Watersheds as the basic units of land and surface water
in the Southern Mississippi area merit continuous
protection. This approach supports research that cuts
across all disciplines with potentials for applying the
principles of watershed restoration for the common
good of communities at risk. The emphasis should be
on the integration of ecological-socio-economic
studies by taking into account the human factors
associated with watershed stress under the aegis of
ecosystem design approach.
5. Conclusions
From the onset of the paper, the literature rightfully
identified the threats urbanization poses to stream
habitats. Using geospatial technology of GIS, the papershows that human-environment interaction results in
degradation of stream habitat corridors. The
assessment of urbanization impacts on stream corridors
using GIS not only enhances our understanding of the
scale of changes occurring in these systems, but it
provides a framework for evaluating ecosystem decline
and the mechanisms for restoration. Nonetheless, in the
past years, widespread level of urban development
triggered by anthropogenic activities has been eroding
the environment and support systems along the
southern Mississippi study area. The results not only
reveal that the study area experienced some significant
changes in its watershed environments, but the stream
habitat in the area remains an ecosystem under stress.
Overall, the results point to threats to water quality,
growing incidence of pollution, impairment of water
bodies, and increase in human settlement, and
agricultural intensification. Ecological indicators and
stressors made up of fertilizer applications, number of
impaired watersheds, the use of farmlands and
pollution inventory sites were on the rise especially in
areas adjacent to urban watersheds. Other aspects of
the results show that socio-economic factors of
population, income from agricultural sales and
building permits grew in some of the areas. The
pressures unleashed from these variables as the
analysis indicates accentuated the strain on the regions
ecosystem.
The environmental change analysis in the area using
GIS identified a cluster of several land cover types in
the form of agricultural areas under use, size of land
under fertilizer use, impaired water areas and diffusionof socio-economic indicators (stress sources) in space
in affected areas. Accordingly, the application of GIS
as demonstrated in this paper has been quite effective
in ensuring the sequential mapping of stress factors
along the southern Mississippi region. Being a valuable
device for resource management, integrated data
analysis through GIS quickened the assessment of
geographic diffusion of urbanization impacts on stream
habitats and change involving land use anddemographic elements of urbanization threatening
stream habitats. As part of the remedies, the paper
offered four recommendations built on ecosystem
approach and sustainability principles. The suggested
actions for restoration offered here ranging from
effective policy to ecosystem approach would go a long
way in ensuring a speedy mitigation of the problems.
Finally, geospatial information technology as used in
this project would continue its emergence as a valuable
device for policy makers in the state as they confront
stressors threatening the environment along the
southern Mississippi coastal region in the years ahead.
Adopting such an approach can provide planners
information about the casual effects of disturbances in
ecosystems. This would help them contribute to a more
effective urban management in terms of environmental
protection and the infusion of ecological design
principles in practice.
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