Post-fire hillslope log debris dams for runoff and erosion mitigation in the semiarid Ebro Basin

Badía, David; Sánchez, Carolina; Aznar, Javier M.; Martí, Clara

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.09.004

Cited by 30 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Some critical spots inside the degraded area are also susceptible to be selected and treated, while the rest of the affected area remains untreated (for example, the bottom part of convergent long hillslopes or intersections of roads and waterlines) but these approaches were not tested in real scenarios. Plot aspect can be used as an indicator for selecting intervention areas in the Mediterranean region (Badía et al, 2015;Cerdà et al, 1995;Marques and Mora, 1998). North-faced swales produced less sediments, which can be attributed to the higher vegetation recovery.…”

Section: Soil Erosion Mitigation With Low Mulch Application Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post‐fire soil erosion mitigation at the scale of swales using forest logging residues at a reduced application rate

Prats

González-Pelayo

Silva

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mulching with forest residues has proved to be highly effective in reducing post‐fire soil losses at the plot scale. However, its effectiveness has not been quantified at the application rates that are typically used in operational post‐fire land management (2–3 Mg ha‐1 using straw), as well as at scales larger than 100 m2. The present study compared post‐fire erosion rates for six convergent hillslopes or swales of 500 to 800 m2, three of which were left untreated while the other three were mulched immediately after the fire with shredded eucalypt bark at a rate of 2.4 Mg ha‐1. Erosion rates were monitored at irregular intervals during the first three post‐fire years, whilst ground cover was assessed yearly. Selected topsoil properties (0–2 cm) such as organic matter content and aggregate stability were determined at a single occasion – two years after the wildfire, for three micro‐environments separately: bare soil, and under mulch/litter and vegetation. Soil losses on the untreated swales decreased with post‐fire year from 2.2 to 0.4 and 0.11 Mg ha‐1 yr‐1 (respectively for the first, second and third post‐fire years), while the mulched swales produced 84%, 77% and 38% less soil losses than the untreated swales. Soil losses also depended on slope aspect, with the north‐facing swales producing less erosion than the west‐facing ones. This could be linked to their significant differences in bare soil, vegetation and stone cover, or a combination thereof. The type of micro‐environment also played a significant role in topsoil properties (stone content, bulk density, resistance to penetration/shear stress, porosity and organic matter content). The present results add to the increasing evidence that forest residues should be duly considered for operational post‐fire land management. Forest residues were highly effective in reducing erosion from swales at application rates as low as the typical 2 Mg ha‐1 of post‐fire straw mulch. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

show abstract

Section: Soil Erosion Mitigation With Low Mulch Application Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post‐fire soil erosion mitigation at the scale of swales using forest logging residues at a reduced application rate

Prats

González-Pelayo

Silva

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More specifically, LEBs are built by felling burned trees, while CFDs consist of branch and small-felling burned trees, and both are laid on the ground along the slope contour. Many studies have assessed the effectiveness of hillslope stabilization treatments on soil hydrological response (namely runoff and erosion) (e.g., [12][13][14][15] as well as reductions in CO 2 emissions and carbon sequestration [16]. In some cases, the impact of these actions in reducing runoff and trapping sediments is limited to the less intense rainfall events (e.g., [11]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Satellite and Drone-Based Images at Two Spatial Scales to Evaluate Vegetation Regeneration after Post-Fire Treatments in a Mediterranean Forest

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evaluation of vegetation cover after post-fire treatments of burned lands is important for forest managers to restore soil quality and plant biodiversity in burned ecosystems. Unfortunately, this evaluation may be time consuming and expensive, requiring much fieldwork for surveys. The use of remote sensing, which makes these evaluation activities quicker and easier, have rarely been carried out in the Mediterranean forests, subjected to wildfire and post-fire stabilization techniques. To fill this gap, this study evaluates the feasibility of satellite (using LANDSAT8 images) and drone surveys to evaluate changes in vegetation cover and composition after wildfire and two hillslope stabilization treatments (log erosion barriers, LEBs, and contour-felled log debris, CFDs) in a forest of Central Eastern Spain. Surveys by drone were able to detect the variability of vegetation cover among burned and unburned areas through the Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI), but gave unrealistic results when the effectiveness of a post-fire treatment must be evaluated. LANDSAT8 images may be instead misleading to evaluate the changes in land cover after wildfire and post-fire treatments, due to the lack of correlation between VARI and vegetation cover. The spatial analysis has shown that: (i) the post-fire restoration strategy of landscape managers that have prioritized steeper slopes for treatments was successful; (ii) vegetation growth, at least in the experimental conditions, played a limited influence on soil surface conditions, since no significant increases in terrain roughness were detected in treated areas.

show abstract

“…Practices such as salvage logging [177,178], cleaning ashes operations, and the use of amendments [179] are typical semi-arid forest soil restoration practices. There are no disagreements, however, on the necessity to improve soil water retention capacity [180] and prevent erosion after fire [168,181].…”

Section: Forest Fire Prevention/restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifaceted Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Drylands: A Review

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biophysical restoration or rehabilitation measures of land have demonstrated to be effective in many scientific projects and small-scale environmental experiments. However circumstances such as poverty, weak policies, or inefficient scientific knowledge transmission can hinder the effective upscaling of land restoration and the long term maintenance of proven sustainable use of soil and water. This may be especially worrisome in lands with harsh environmental conditions. This review covers recent efforts in landscape restoration and rehabilitation with a functional perspective aiming to simultaneously achieve ecosystem sustainability, economic efficiency, and social wellbeing. Water management and rehabilitation of ecosystem services in croplands, rangelands, forests, and coastlands are reviewed. The joint analysis of such diverse ecosystems provides a wide perspective to determine: (i) multifaceted impacts on biophysical and socio-economic factors; and (ii) elements influencing effective upscaling of sustainable land management practices. One conclusion can be highlighted: voluntary adoption is based on different pillars, i.e. external material and economic support, and spread of success information at the local scale to demonstrate the multidimensional benefits of sustainable land management. For the successful upscaling of land management, more attention must be paid to the social system from the first involvement stage, up to the long term maintenance.

show abstract

Post-fire hillslope log debris dams for runoff and erosion mitigation in the semiarid Ebro Basin

Cited by 30 publications

References 26 publications

Post‐fire soil erosion mitigation at the scale of swales using forest logging residues at a reduced application rate

Post‐fire soil erosion mitigation at the scale of swales using forest logging residues at a reduced application rate

Comparison of Satellite and Drone-Based Images at Two Spatial Scales to Evaluate Vegetation Regeneration after Post-Fire Treatments in a Mediterranean Forest

Multifaceted Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Drylands: A Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About