Wondzell et al. (2025) Rethinking Paired‐Catchment Studies: Should We Be Replicating Our Controls?

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-01
• Authors: Steven M. Wondzell, Sherri L. Johnson, Gordon E. Grant, Donald L. Henshaw, Adam S. Ward
• DOI: 10.1029/2024wr038981

Research Groups

[Information not available from the provided abstract.]

Short Summary

This paper addresses the statistical uncertainty in paired-catchment studies by developing a bootstrapped sampling method using reference-by-reference comparisons to determine minimum detectable effect sizes (MDES) for changes in streamflow.

Objective

• To evaluate the minimum detectable effect sizes (MDES) in paired-catchment studies using bootstrapped sampling from reference-by-reference (RxR) comparisons.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Paired catchments.
• Temporal Scale: Long-term studies, annual, and late summer low flow periods.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Bootstrapped sampling, reference-by-reference (RxR) comparisons.
• Data sources: Streamflow data from long-term paired-catchment study sites, specifically applied to the HJA Experimental Forest.

Main Results

• The method generates frequency distributions of potential changes in flow that cannot be attributed to treatment effects.
• Bootstrapped ±95% confidence intervals are estimated from these distributions, which are then used as the MDES.
• The method was applied to reexamine changes in both annual water yields and late summer low flows at the HJA Experimental Forest.

Contributions

• Provides a robust and transferable method to quantify minimum detectable effect sizes (MDES) in paired-catchment studies, addressing the limitations of short calibration periods and unreplicated designs.
• Enables a more statistically sound assessment of treatment effects on hydrologic processes, particularly where multiple reference catchments exist.

Funding

[Information not available from the provided abstract.]

Citation

@article{Wondzell2025Rethinking,
  author = {Wondzell, Steven M. and Johnson, Sherri L. and Grant, Gordon E. and Henshaw, Donald L. and Ward, Adam S.},
  title = {Rethinking Paired‐Catchment Studies: Should We Be Replicating Our Controls?},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2024wr038981},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2024wr038981}
}