"The climate of Kentucky is temperate with moderately cold winters and warm, humid summers. Temperature, rainfall, and humidity remain within limits agreeable to man and are suitable for varied plant and animal life. All seasons are marked by changes in weather that come from passing fronts and associated centers of high and low pressures. This activity is least in late spring and in summer, somewhat greater in fall, and greatest in winter and in early spring. Temperatures depart from the average least during the period of greatest activity. Temperatures at times will be lower-nearer the ground or in local areas subject to extreme air drainage. At times there may be considerable variation in temperature in hilly areas. Since the Forest is oriented north and south, the weather may vary considerably during a frontal passage.
Precipitation is fairly well distributed throughout the year; there are no wet or dry seasons. October has the least rainfall, July the most. Annual free-water evaporation from shallow lakes and farm-ponds averages about 35 inches, which is about 11 inches less than the average annual precipitation. About 74 percent of the evaporation occurs from May to October.
Snowfall is quite variable from year to year, and some winters have relatively little. The greatest annual total recorded for the period of this summary was 44.9 inches in 1960; the least recorded was 3.6 inches in 1949. Thunderstorms average about 46 days each year, most frequently in spring and summer but can occur in any month. They cause most of the short-duration, high intensity rainfall.
The growing season for plants that are killed by temperature of 32° F averages 166 days. The season is 187 days or more in 10 percent of the years, 177 days in 25 percent, 155 days or more in 75 percent, and 145 days or more in 90 percent." from USDA Forest Service
(Best description of the Kentucky climate I've found, though I haven't found any data specifically supporting this historically.)
This is an interesting link to some live graphs of precipitation and wind for various Kentucky counties, so it's nice for recent info, though their historical data only goes back to '07 I believe.
As I was reading through the chapter on climate, I was attempting to locate more information about regional climates online and stumbled across this outlining a council set up by Kentucky to mitigate state effects on possible climate change.There's a pdf in the files on some of the climate mitigations.
This links to a pdf about climate change and how Kentucky's coal industry might affect it. It starts out with pretty basic Greenhouse Effect stuff, but some of the stats listed are pretty interesting.
Parent material (Jones 2005): Link to geologic time scale Inner Bluegrass: Ordovician limestone (at ~450MYA, these are the oldest in this section) Outer Bluegrass: Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian limestones, shales, and shaly limestones Knobs: Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian shales, limestones, and sandstones Appalachian Plateau: Pennsylvanian sandstones, conglomerates, coals, siltstones, and shales
Ridges often capped with resistant sandstone
Entrenched stream beds may have Mississippian limestones, chert, shale, and sandstones
Topography:
Topography is a vastly important factor in Kentucky ecosystems because it varies so greatly throughout the state. Central KY is characterized by rolling hills, while eastern KY has rugged terrain with high relief (Hodgkins & Martin, 2003). Elevations vary widely as well, ranging from 260 ft. above sea level at the Mississippi River to 4,145 ft. at Black Mountain on the KY/Virginia border (McGran and Currens, 1978). These topographic differences directly affect soil type, which determines vegetation type, which influences animal populations. Topography even influences anthropogenic land usage. The mountains of south-eastern KY (region 69 on the map above) are subject to coal mining, the foothills of north-eastern KY (region 70) are subject to logging, and the Bluegrass plains of Central KY (region 71) are utilized for agriculture, particularly equine husbandry.
Vegetation/Organisms: Includes anthropogenic factors, unless we opt for a separate category for humans
Welter & Sollberger compiled a list of mammalian species found in several Eastern KY counties in 1939. Although it is likely that this list has fluctuated since then, it still gives an accurate portrayal of the wildlife in that area. A variety of rodents make up most of the list, along with foxes, bats, bobcats, deer, and a few other species. See Mammals List (1939).pdf for more details. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife (KYDFW) has a more recent and fully comprehensive list of the wildlife throughout Kentucky. This list includes 1,259 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. This list can also be narrowed down by county to provide a more specific portrayal of various regions.
Of course, in any ecosystem, anthropogenic activities tend to impact wildlife populations. The decline in oak tree populations in the forests of Eastern KY due to indiscriminant logging as well as pathogens, pests, and increasing deer populations, is negatively impacting wildlife populations (McShea, et al. 2007) . Nearly 100 species of mammals and birds rely on the acorns produced by oaks for food, especially in winter. As the number of oaks in forests continues to decline, these animals will have more difficulty finding food. See Decline of Oaks and Impact on Wildlife.pdf for more information.
While logging is a big industry in eastern KY, coal mining is even more significant. Both surface mining and deep mining damage habitats and displace hundreds of animal species. Because of this, there is a strong initiative to push mining companies to restore these habitats once they are finished with an area. Indeed there are many papers in scientific literature encouraging and advising reclamation projects (see Reclamation Advisory.pdf). However, some studies have found that these projects are not as effective as initially hoped. One particular study found that reclamation sites actually have relatively low species diversity (Larkin, et al. 2008). This is likely due to poor habitat quality and isolation from source habitats. See Reclamation and Species Diversity.pdf for more details.
A list of threatened, endangered, and candidate species for various Kentucky counties is here.
Hydrology:
The drainage basins of Kentucky all ultimately drain into the Ohio River, the basins and areas they drain are listed (Hodgkins and Martin 2003):
Big Sandy* (eastern Kentucky coalfields and some of bluegrass)
Licking* (bluegrass and eastern Kentucky coalfields)
Kentucky* (bluegrass and eastern Kentucky coalfields)
Salt* (bluegrass)
Cumberland* (eastern Kentucky coalfields)
Green and Tennessee (eastern portion of the state)
Kentucky has more navigable waters than any state in the lower 48...but we have lost more than 80% of our wetlands! Kentucky is one of a few states that regulate wetland loss only with the Clean Water Act (section 401 and 404), which provides no protection for isolated wetlands (Dahl 2000, Environmental Law Institute 2008). Kentucky does offer a fee-based service under a section 404 , the applicant essentially pays for the Forestry department staff to restore or build wetlands (Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources 2011). The US Forest Service has built and restored countless wetlands in the bluegrass and coalfields of Kentucky (Tom Biebighauser, personal communication). EKU's Biology department has staff working to develop a rapid wetland assessment method which could aid in determining the effectiveness of mitigation and identify private property to be set aside under conservation incentives. Please note when viewing maps that although it appears that wetlands cover a large portion of the state, if you look at the close-up you will see that many of these wetlands are farm ponds, and not functionally equivalent to the wetlands that have been lost. The close-up view will also give you an idea of how much non-wetland area is actually between each wetland.
Ecosystem = f(Climate, Parent Material, Topography, Organisms, Time)
Climate:
"The climate of Kentucky is temperate with moderately cold winters and warm, humid summers. Temperature, rainfall, and humidity remain within limits agreeable to man and are suitable for varied plant and animal life. All seasons are marked by changes in weather that come from passing fronts and associated centers of high and low pressures. This activity is least in late spring and in summer, somewhat greater in fall, and greatest in winter and in early spring. Temperatures depart from the average least during the period of greatest activity. Temperatures at times will be lower-nearer the ground or in local areas subject to extreme air drainage. At times there may be considerable variation in temperature in hilly areas. Since the Forest is oriented north and south, the weather may vary considerably during a frontal passage.
Precipitation is fairly well distributed throughout the year; there are no wet or dry seasons. October has the least rainfall, July the most. Annual free-water evaporation from shallow lakes and farm-ponds averages about 35 inches, which is about 11 inches less than the average annual precipitation. About 74 percent of the evaporation occurs from May to October.
Snowfall is quite variable from year to year, and some winters have relatively little. The greatest annual total recorded for the period of this summary was 44.9 inches in 1960; the least recorded was 3.6 inches in 1949. Thunderstorms average about 46 days each year, most frequently in spring and summer but can occur in any month. They cause most of the short-duration, high intensity rainfall.
The growing season for plants that are killed by temperature of 32° F averages 166 days. The season is 187 days or more in 10 percent of the years, 177 days in 25 percent, 155 days or more in 75 percent, and 145 days or more in 90 percent." from USDA Forest Service
(Best description of the Kentucky climate I've found, though I haven't found any data specifically supporting this historically.)
This is an interesting link to some live graphs of precipitation and wind for various Kentucky counties, so it's nice for recent info, though their historical data only goes back to '07 I believe.
As I was reading through the chapter on climate, I was attempting to locate more information about regional climates online and stumbled across this outlining a council set up by Kentucky to mitigate state effects on possible climate change.There's a pdf in the files on some of the climate mitigations.
This links to a pdf about climate change and how Kentucky's coal industry might affect it. It starts out with pretty basic Greenhouse Effect stuff, but some of the stats listed are pretty interesting.
Parent material (Jones 2005): Link to geologic time scale
Inner Bluegrass: Ordovician limestone (at ~450MYA, these are the oldest in this section)
Outer Bluegrass: Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian limestones, shales, and shaly limestones
Knobs: Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian shales, limestones, and sandstones
Appalachian Plateau: Pennsylvanian sandstones, conglomerates, coals, siltstones, and shales
Topography:
Topography is a vastly important factor in Kentucky ecosystems because it varies so greatly throughout the state. Central KY is characterized by rolling hills, while eastern KY has rugged terrain with high relief (Hodgkins & Martin, 2003). Elevations vary widely as well, ranging from 260 ft. above sea level at the Mississippi River to 4,145 ft. at Black Mountain on the KY/Virginia border (McGran and Currens, 1978). These topographic differences directly affect soil type, which determines vegetation type, which influences animal populations. Topography even influences anthropogenic land usage. The mountains of south-eastern KY (region 69 on the map above) are subject to coal mining, the foothills of north-eastern KY (region 70) are subject to logging, and the Bluegrass plains of Central KY (region 71) are utilized for agriculture, particularly equine husbandry.
Vegetation/Organisms: Includes anthropogenic factors, unless we opt for a separate category for humans
Welter & Sollberger compiled a list of mammalian species found in several Eastern KY counties in 1939. Although it is likely that this list has fluctuated since then, it still gives an accurate portrayal of the wildlife in that area. A variety of rodents make up most of the list, along with foxes, bats, bobcats, deer, and a few other species. See Mammals List (1939).pdf for more details. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife (KYDFW) has a more recent and fully comprehensive list of the wildlife throughout Kentucky. This list includes 1,259 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. This list can also be narrowed down by county to provide a more specific portrayal of various regions.
Of course, in any ecosystem, anthropogenic activities tend to impact wildlife populations. The decline in oak tree populations in the forests of Eastern KY due to indiscriminant logging as well as pathogens, pests, and increasing deer populations, is negatively impacting wildlife populations (McShea, et al. 2007) . Nearly 100 species of mammals and birds rely on the acorns produced by oaks for food, especially in winter. As the number of oaks in forests continues to decline, these animals will have more difficulty finding food. See Decline of Oaks and Impact on Wildlife.pdf for more information.
While logging is a big industry in eastern KY, coal mining is even more significant. Both surface mining and deep mining damage habitats and displace hundreds of animal species. Because of this, there is a strong initiative to push mining companies to restore these habitats once they are finished with an area. Indeed there are many papers in scientific literature encouraging and advising reclamation projects (see Reclamation Advisory.pdf). However, some studies have found that these projects are not as effective as initially hoped. One particular study found that reclamation sites actually have relatively low species diversity (Larkin, et al. 2008). This is likely due to poor habitat quality and isolation from source habitats. See Reclamation and Species Diversity.pdf for more details.
A list of threatened, endangered, and candidate species for various Kentucky counties is here.
Hydrology:
The drainage basins of Kentucky all ultimately drain into the Ohio River, the basins and areas they drain are listed (Hodgkins and Martin 2003):
Big Sandy* (eastern Kentucky coalfields and some of bluegrass)
Licking* (bluegrass and eastern Kentucky coalfields)
Kentucky* (bluegrass and eastern Kentucky coalfields)
Salt* (bluegrass)
Cumberland* (eastern Kentucky coalfields)
Green and Tennessee (eastern portion of the state)
Kentucky has more navigable waters than any state in the lower 48...but we have lost more than 80% of our wetlands! Kentucky is one of a few states that regulate wetland loss only with the Clean Water Act (section 401 and 404), which provides no protection for isolated wetlands (Dahl 2000, Environmental Law Institute 2008). Kentucky does offer a fee-based service under a section 404 , the applicant essentially pays for the Forestry department staff to restore or build wetlands (Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources 2011). The US Forest Service has built and restored countless wetlands in the bluegrass and coalfields of Kentucky (Tom Biebighauser, personal communication). EKU's Biology department has staff working to develop a rapid wetland assessment method which could aid in determining the effectiveness of mitigation and identify private property to be set aside under conservation incentives. Please note when viewing maps that although it appears that wetlands cover a large portion of the state, if you look at the close-up you will see that many of these wetlands are farm ponds, and not functionally equivalent to the wetlands that have been lost. The close-up view will also give you an idea of how much non-wetland area is actually between each wetland.
Time: