RT Conference Proceedings
T1 Hydrological and sediment connectivity in three grazed Mediterranean hillslopes.
A1 Martínez-Murillo, Juan Francisco
A1 Hueso-González, Paloma
A1 Ruiz-Sinoga, José Damián
K1 Geomorfología
K1 Geografia Física
K1 Erosión
AB Masselink et al. (2016) addressed the concept of connectivity addresses the spatial and temporal variabilityin runoff, sediment transport and associated substances such as pollutants and how these move through thecatchment. Sediment connectivity explains which sediment sources contribute and where (semi-) permanent sinksand pathways of sediment are (Bracken & Croke, 2007). The Mediterranean eco-geomorphological landscape ishighly dependent on the climatic conditions. Its elements form the spatial patterns of landscapes, which control thestructural connectivity. The existence of rainfall gradients in the Mediterranean region has been well-documented(Lavee et al., 1998) along which those elements are modified by the spatio-temporal variability of rainfalls. Thecharacteristics of those elements are modified from the rainiest to the driest regions following a positive feedbackprocess leading to soil erosion and degradation. As the climate becomes less rainy, the patchy vegetation patternbecomes frequent and bare soil areas can be easily connected whether the magnitude and intensity of rainfallexceed a certain threshold (Cammeraat, 2004). The interaction between topography and processes occurringwithin catchments is key to understanding dynamics of hydrological connectivity (Wainwright et al, 2011).Our study evaluated the hydrological and sediment connectivity between sections (top, middle and bottomchannel)from three grazed hillslopes located under contrasted Mediterranean climatic conditions. Rain-gaugestations and opened-plots were installed in order to register overland flow and sediment concentration fromFeb-2008 to Jan-2010. The results indicated that: i) major volumes of overland flow and sediment transportoccurred more frequently in humid and semiarid sites; ii) the more frequent hydrological connectivity wasobserved between the middle and bottom-channel sections, though the major values of overland flow and sedimentconcentration were registered in the upper sections; iii) it was found very frequent those rainfall events in whichall sections contributed with overland flow and sediment to the channel; iv) the factors controlling hydrologicaland sediment connectivity varied from one site to another depending on the rainfall regime and vegetation cover,though the soil surface conditions were found a key factor in all of them. In summary, the grazing activitycontribute to distance the hydrological and sediment connectivity processes from three hillslopes located undercontrasted Mediterranean climatic conditions from the response expected for the three of them.ReferencesBracken LJ, Croke J. 2007. The concept of hydrological connectivity and its contribution to understandingrunoff-dominated geomorphic systems. Hydrological Processes 21: 1749–1763.Cammeraat ELH. 2004. Scale dependent thresholds in hydrological and erosion response of a semi-arid catchmentin Southeast Spain. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 104: 317–332.Lavee H, Imeson AC, Sarah P. 1998. The impact of climate change on geomorphology and desertification along aMediterranean-arid transect. Land Degrad. Develop. 9: 407-422.Masselink RJH, Keesstra SD, Temme AJAM, Seeger M, Giménez R, Casalí J. 2016. Modelling discharge andsediment yield at catchment scale using connectivity components. Land Degrad. Develop. 27: 933-945.Wainwright J, Turnbull L, Ibrahim TG, Lexartza-Artza I, Thornton SF, Brazier R. 2011. Linking environmentalregimes, space and time: interpretations of structural and functional connectivity. Geomorphology 126: 387–404.
YR 2017
FD 2017-05-02
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10630/13540
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10630/13540
LA eng
NO Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 19 ene 2026