Muted responses of streamflow and suspended sediment flux in a wildfire-affected watershed

Owens, Philip N.; Giles, Tim; Petticrew, Ellen L.; Leggat, Michael S.; Moore, R. D.; Eaton, Brett C.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.01.001

Cited by 44 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Similar to sediment source variations, complex feedback mechanisms are caused by interactions between landscape disturbances and other drivers (Owens et al, 2013). Changes in hillslope and/or river connectivity due to landslides can cause a shift in the dominant sediment source.…”

Section: Temporal Variability In Suspended Sediment Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, wildfires are often considered as a factor causing an increase in SS transport. However, recent studies show that the effect of wildfires strongly depends on the specific impact of the fire and often only creates the conditions for increased soil erosion, whereby the specific hydrometeorological conditions during recovery of the vegetation are mainly driving any changes in SS transport (Owens et al, 2013;Prosser and Williams, 1998).…”

Section: Temporal Variability In Suspended Sediment Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Vercruysse

Grabowski

Rickson

2017

Earth-Science Reviews

342

181

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Suspended sediment is a natural part of river systems and plays an essential role in structuring the landscape, creating ecological habitats and transporting nutrients. It is also a common management problem, where alterations to sediment quantity and quality negatively impact ecological communities, increase flood hazard and shorten the lifespan of infrastructure. To address these challenges and develop appropriate sustainable management strategies, we need a thorough understanding of sediment sources, pathways and transport dynamics and the drivers that underlie spatial and temporal variability in suspended sediment transport in rivers. However, research to date has not sufficiently addressed the temporal complexity of sediment transport processes, which is limiting our ability to disentangle the hydro-meteorological, catchment, channel and anthropogenic drivers of suspended sediment transport in rivers. This review critically evaluates previously published work on suspended sediment dynamics to demonstrate how the interpretation of sediment sources and pathways is influenced by the temporal scale and methodology of the study. To do this, the review (i) summarizes the main drivers of temporal variation in suspended sediment transport in rivers; (ii) critically reviews the common empirical approaches used to analyze and quantify sediment sources and loads, and their capacity to account for temporal variations; (iii) applies these findings to recent case studies to illustrate how method and timescale affect the interpretation of suspended sediment transport dynamics; and finally (iv) synthesizes the findings of the review into a set of guidelines for a multi-timescale approach to sediment regime characterization. By recognizing a priori that study design and temporal scale have an impact on the interpretation of SS dynamics and employing methods that address these issues, future research will be better able to identify the drivers of suspended sediment transport in rivers, improve sediment transport modelling, and propose effective, sustainable solutions to sediment management problems.

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Section: Temporal Variability In Suspended Sediment Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Temporal Variability In Suspended Sediment Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Vercruysse

Grabowski

Rickson

2017

Earth-Science Reviews

342

181

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Both processes can also dominate at different times. For example, in northern temperate regions, channel erosion often governs mobilization during the snowmelt period, whereas rainfall dominates more widespread mobilization later in the season (Owens et al, 2013;Silins, Stone, Emelko, & Bladon, 2009). Non-erosional processes include the subsurface mobilization of dissolved contaminants such as DOC, phosphorous, and nitrate in some regions, which is also governed by saturation processes (Elliot, Brooks, Traeumer, & Dobre, 2015;Mast & Clow, 2008;Olefeldt, Devito, & Turetsky, 2013).…”

Section: Understanding the Dominant Processes That Govern Contaminamentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing water contamination risk from vegetation fires: Challenges, opportunities and a framework for progress

Nunes

Doerr

Sheridan

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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“…Suspended sediment yield comparison between burned catchments in different environments and unburned catchments in Mediterranean environments with the values reported in this study (adapted fromSmith et al, 2011aSmith et al, , 2011bOwens et al, 2013) …”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

Post‐fire hydrological response and suspended sediment transport of a terraced Mediterranean catchment

García-Comendador

Fortesa

Calsamiglia

et al. 2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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In July 2013, a wildfire severely affected the western part of the island of Mallorca (Spain). During the first three post‐fire hydrological years, when the window of disturbance tends to be more open, the hydrological and sediment delivery processes and dynamics were assessed in a representative catchment intensively shaped by terracing that covered 37% of its surface area. A nested approach was applied with two gauging stations (covering 1.2 km2 and 4.8 km2) built in September 2013 that took continuous measurements of rainfall, water and sediment yield. Average suspended sediment concentration (1503 mg L−1) and the maximum peak (33 618 mg L−1) were two orders of magnitude higher than those obtained in non‐burned terraced catchments of Mallorca. This factor may be related to changes in soils and the massive incorporation of ash into the suspended sediment flux during the most extreme post‐fire event; 50 mm of rainfall in 15 min, reaching an erosivity of 2886 MJ mm ha−1 h−1. Moreover, hysteretic counter‐clockwise loops were predominant (60%), probably related to the increased sensitivity of the landscape after wildfire perturbation. Though the study period was average in terms of total annual precipitation (even higher in intensities), minimal runoff (2%) and low sediment yield (6.3 t km−2 y−1) illustrated how the intrinsic characteristics of the catchment, i.e. calcareous soils, terraces and the application of post‐fire measures, limited the hydrosedimentary response despite the wildfire impact. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Muted responses of streamflow and suspended sediment flux in a wildfire-affected watershed

Cited by 44 publications

References 53 publications

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Assessing water contamination risk from vegetation fires: Challenges, opportunities and a framework for progress

Post‐fire hydrological response and suspended sediment transport of a terraced Mediterranean catchment

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