Ecosystem Services of New Mexico Acequias

Ecosystem services provided by community irrigation systems known as acequias include extending the area of green space between acequias and streams, a paisaje del agua or water landscape. The traditional gravity flow irrigation methods enhance vegetative cover and diversity within the paisaje, support wildlife habitat, recharge shallow aquifers, sequester carbon, improve air and water quality, retain storm-water flow, control flooding, and provide nutrient cycling and soil formation, ecotourism and environmental education, extension of the irrigation season, and aesthetic enrichment of the landscape. A team of NM EPSCoR researchers and students studying two watersheds in northern New Mexico are currently developing a rating system for evaluating the relative extent of ecosystem services through a combination of GIS and field methods to determine riparian health. Preliminary results indicate that the ecosystem services provided by traditional irrigation systems can be substantial.被称为阿塞基亚渠（acequias）的社区灌溉系统所提供的生态系统服务，涵盖扩大渠系与溪流之间的绿地范围，打造水景观（paisaje del agua）。其传统重力自流灌溉方式可提升该水景观内的植被覆盖度与物种多样性，为野生动物提供栖息生境，补给浅层地下水含水层，实现碳固存，改善空气与水环境质量，滞留暴雨径流、防控洪涝灾害，助力养分循环与土壤形成；同时可开展生态旅游与环境教育，延长灌溉季，并提升景观美学价值。由新墨西哥州EPSCoR（NM EPSCoR）的研究人员与学生组成的团队，目前正对新墨西哥州北部的两个流域展开研究，他们正结合地理信息系统（GIS）与野外调研方法开发一套评级体系，用以评估生态系统服务的相对规模，进而判定河岸带健康状况。初步研究结果表明，传统灌溉系统所能提供的生态系统服务规模可观。