Impact of prescribed burning on blanket peat hydrology

Holden, Joseph; Palmer, Sheila M.; Johnston, Kerrylyn; Wearing, Catherine; Irvine, Brian; Brown, Lee E.

doi:10.1002/2014wr016782

Cited by 39 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The removal of surface vegetation also increases runoff so that in the most intense rainfall events flow peaks downstream are exacerbated (Holden et al . ). In the long term, temperature‐driven drying and wetting cycles near the surface of burned and exposed peat increase the potential of DOC leaching for up to 10−20 years (Holden et al .…”

Section: Environmental Impacts Of Management Practicesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Environmental impacts of high‐output driven shooting of Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica

Thompson

Douglas

Hoccom

et al. 2016

Ibis

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Section: Environmental Impacts Of Management Practicesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Environmental impacts of high‐output driven shooting of Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica

Thompson

Douglas

Hoccom

et al. 2016

Ibis

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“…The impact of prescribed burning on high flows in peatland catchments is not entirely clear. The burnt catchments seem to have deeper water tables and more consolidated peat than similar catchments without burning (Holden et al, ; Holden et al, ). Deeper water tables may reduce the occurrence of saturation‐excess overland flow and river flow peaks in moderate storms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each burning patch in the mosaic is typically burned once every 8–25 years depending on the vegetation productivity and local agreements with government bodies. Normally burning occurs each year within those catchments with prescribed burn mosaics so that there are always some areas of recent burn (Holden et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling impacts of agricultural practice on flood peaks in upland catchments: An application of the distributed TOPMODEL

Gao

Holden

Kirkby

2017

Hydrological Processes

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Upland agricultural land management activities such as grazing, vegetation burning and bare ground restoration impact hydrological elements of headwater catchments, many of which may be important for downstream flood peaks (e.g. overland flow and soil water storage). However, there is poor understanding of how these management practices affect river flow peaks during high magnitude rainfall events. Using the distributed TOPMODEL, spatial configurations of land management were modelled to predict flood response in an upland catchment which contains different regions operating subsidised agricultural stewardship schemes. Heavy grazing leading to soil compaction and loss of vegetation cover in stewardship regions covering 79.8% of the catchment gave a 42 min earlier flow peak which was 82.2% higher (under a 1-hr 15 mm storm) than the current simulated hydrograph. Light grazing over the same regions of the catchment had much less influence on river flow peaks (18 min earlier and 32.9% increase). Rotational burning (covering 8.8% of the catchment), most of which is located in the headwater areas, increased the peak by 3.2% in the same rainfall event. Vegetation restoration with either Eriophorum or Sphagnum (higher density) in bare areas (5.8%) of the catchment provided a reduction of flood peak (3.9% and 5.2% in the 15 mm storm event); while, the same total area revegetated with Sphagnum in riparian regions delivered a much larger decrease (15.0%) in river flow peaks. We show that changes of vegetation cover in highly-sensitive areas (e.g. near-stream zones) generate large impacts on flood peaks. Thus it is possible to design spatially distributed management systems for upland catchments which This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. reduce flood peaks while at the same time ensuring economic viability for upland farmers.

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“…Changes to runoff generation processes (Marshall et al, 2009;Holden et al, 2015), and the spatial distribution and magnitude of erosion (McHugh, 2007), can however result in the enhanced conveyance of bankside and hillslope eroded material into the fluvial networks draining these catchments (Owens et al, 2005). Drivers of these changes in the uplands of the UK include the following: farming and forestry operations (Burt et al, 1983;Tilman et al, 2002); moorland burning (Imeson, 1971;Arnold-Forster, 2002;Holden et al, 2015); peat degradation; metal mining (Macklin et al, 1997); artificial drainage (Ramchunder et al, 2009); and channelization (Brown, 1997;Gilvear and Bradley, 1997), with few catchments remaining that can be described as being in reference condition (Sear et al, 2000(Sear et al, , 2009. Enhanced sediment generation and delivery processes place additional pressure on aquatic habitats, increasing the risk of chemical and biological pollution, and habitat decline (Robinson, 1973).…”

Section: T Perks and J Warburton: Managed Diversion Of An Uplandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced fine sediment flux and channel change in response to the managed diversion of an upland river channel

Perks

Warburton

2016

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Abstract. This paper describes the implementation of a novel mitigation approach and subsequent adaptive management, designed to reduce the transfer of fine sediment (< 2 mm) in Glaisdale Beck, a small, predominantly upland catchment in the UK. Hydro-meteorological and suspended sediment data sets are collected over a 2-year period spanning pre-and post-diversion periods in order to assess the impact of the channel reconfiguration scheme on the fluvial suspended sediment dynamics. Analysis of the river response demonstrates that the fluvial sediment system has become more restrictive with reduced fine sediment transfer. This is characterized by reductions in flow-weighted mean suspended sediment concentrations from 77.93 mg L −1 prior to mitigation, to 74.36 mg L −1 following the diversion. A Mann-Whitney U test found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between the pre-and post-monitoring median suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs). Whilst application of one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the coefficients of sediment rating curves developed before and after the diversion found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001), with both Loga and b coefficients becoming smaller following the diversion. Non-parametric analysis indicates a reduction in residuals through time (p < 0.001), with the developed LOWESS model over-predicting sediment concentrations as the channel stabilizes. However, the channel is continuing to adjust to the reconfigured morphology, with evidence of a headward propagating knickpoint which has migrated 120 m at an exponentially decreasing rate over the last 7 years since diversion. The study demonstrates that channel reconfiguration can be effective in mitigating fine sediment flux in headwater streams but the full value of this may take many years to achieve whilst the fluvial system slowly readjusts.

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Impact of prescribed burning on blanket peat hydrology

Cited by 39 publications

References 64 publications

Environmental impacts of high‐output driven shooting of Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica

Environmental impacts of high‐output driven shooting of Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica

Modelling impacts of agricultural practice on flood peaks in upland catchments: An application of the distributed TOPMODEL

Reduced fine sediment flux and channel change in response to the managed diversion of an upland river channel

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