Sediment size variation in torrents with check dams: Effects on riparian vegetation

Bombino, Giuseppe; Gurnell, Angela M.; Tamburino, Vincenzo; Zema, Demetrio Antonio; Zimbone, Santo Marcello

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2007.10.011

Cited by 52 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…There is also a shift from bedrock and cobbles to finer particle size distribution, a decrease in gully depth, and an increase in standing water in gullies with check dams. This is consistent with findings of other field studies that check dams reduce flow velocities, trap fine sediments, change longitudinal gradients, and increase moisture retention (Castillo et al 2007;Boix-Fayos et al 2008;Hassanli et al 2009), leading to greater wetland ephemeral and riparian vegetation cover (Bombino et al 2008(Bombino et al , 2010. Check dams do not influence Puna grassland cover on the immediate banks of the central thalweg; however, the effect of increased soil moisture on grassland productivity November 2016 Restoration Ecology Table 3.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…For example, erosion control and grazing management on slopes increases biomass, productivity, and infiltration (Trimble & Mendell 1995;Preston et al 2002;Alemayehu et al 2009;Mekuria & Veldkamp 2012). Check dams in gullies reduce water flow velocity and increase sediment deposition, soil moisture, and riparian vegetation (Boix-Fayos et al 2008;Bombino et al 2008;Zeng et al 2009). Check dams and other grade control structures can also raise water tables to restore wet meadows incised by gullies (Shields et al 1995;Schilling et al 2003;Loheide & Gorelick 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in carbon storage with land management promoted by payment for ecosystem services

et al. 2016

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SUMMARYAndean grasslands (páramos) are highly valued for their role in regional water supply as well as for their biodiversity and large soil carbon stocks. Several Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes promote either afforestation or alteration of traditional burning regimes under the assumption that these land management strategies will maximize páramo ecosystem services, including carbon storage. However, knowledge of the effects of incentivized land uses is limited. In an evaluation of how afforestation and elimination of burning affect carbon storage at a site in southern Ecuador, we found the highest above-ground biomass carbon levels at afforested sites (99.3–122.0 t C ha−1), while grassland sites reached 23.9 t C ha−1 after 45 years of burn exclusion. Soil carbon storage from 0–20 cm was high across all sites (172.8–201.9 t C ha−1), but was significantly lower with afforestation than with burn exclusion. These findings suggest that, although afforestation is generally favoured when carbon is the primary ecosystem service of interest, grasslands with infrequent burning have important potential as a land management strategy when both above-ground biomass and soil carbon are considered. These results are relevant to the development and adaptation of PES programmes focused on carbon as well as those focused on multiple ecosystem services.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in carbon storage with land management promoted by payment for ecosystem services

et al. 2016

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“…In strongly modified systems, conservation, and restoration strategies need to enhance ecological integrity of the ecosystems (e.g., relative to properties of reference sites), to quantify ecosystem services, and to recognize the human demands and plan for alternative scenarios (Tockner et al, 2003;Bombino et al, 2008;Bertoldi et al, 2009;Sánchez-Montoya et al, 2009;Dufour & Piégay, 2009;Dufour et al, 2011). This requires that we consider various human priorities (e.g., aesthetic, economic, cultural values) along with biophysical functions to address multiple management objectives (Piégay et al, 2005;Santos, 2010;Cottet et al, 2010).…”

Section: Applications To Management Of Med-region Riparian Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management

et al. 2012

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Riparian corridors in Mediterranean-climate regions (med-regions) are resource-rich habitats within water-limited, larger landscapes. However, little is known about how their plant communities compare functionally and compositionally across medregions. In recent decades, research on these ecosystems has expanded in both geographic scope and disciplinary depth. We reviewed 286 riparian-vegetation studies across the five med-regions, and identified common themes, including: (1) high levels of plant biodiversity, structural complexity, and cross-region species introductions; (2) strong physical controls on plant demographics and community structure; and (3) intensive human impacts. European and Californian ecosystems were the most represented among the studies reviewed, but Australia, South Africa, and Chile had the greatest proportional increases in articles published since 2000. All med-regions support distinct riparian flora, although many genera have invaded across regions. Plant species in all regions are adapted to multiple abiotic stressors, including dynamic flooding and sediment regimes, seasonal water shortage, and fire. The most severe human impacts are from land-use conversion to agriculture, streamflow regulation, nutrient enrichment, and climate change. Current knowledge gaps and subjects for future research include cumulative impacts to small, ephemeral streams and large, regulated rivers, as well as understudied ecosystems in North Africa, the western Mediterranean basin, and Chile.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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“…Values of D 84 for the whole transect were estimated from the combined measured particles obtained within the samples collected across the transects. More details about sediment size measuring methods are given in the previous work by Bombino et al (2008).…”

Section: Parameter Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, although the impacts of check dams are not so spatially extensive as those of larger dams, these small structures can have important local effects on channel geomorphology, which in aggregate could have an important influence on stream systems (Bombino et al 2007). Generally most research has focused the impacts of large dams and reservoirs, but less attention has been paid to the effects and efficacy of check dams (Castillo et al 2007;Bombino et al 2008;Lenzi et al 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Evaluation and modeling of scouring and sedimentation around check dams in a Mediterranean torrent in Calabria, Italy

Zema¹,

Bombino²,

Boix‐Fayos³

et al. 2014

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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The effectiveness of check dams on channel morphology of managed torrents is rarely assessed. Therefore, there is a need for studies that focus on the impacts of existing engineering check dams on the planoaltimetric characteristics of the torrent, particularly in Mediterranean areas, where the hydrological regime of ephemeral channels is dynamically unsteady. The quantitative evaluation of the effects of the check dams on channel morphology after many years (i.e., at least four or five decades) helps introduce innovations to the usual analysis of check dam efficacy which have often been limited to qualitative observations for only a few years after installation. As a contribution to make up these shortcomings, this paper investigates the geomorphologic asset of a torrent in southern Italy containing 10 check dams (installed in the 1950s to 1960s) and analyzes the dynamics of the scouring and sedimentation processes upstream and downstream of selected check dams after 8 rainfall events; moreover, the capability of the model by Castillo (2007) to predict scouring/ sedimentation in proximity to these check dams is assessed. Sediment stored upstream of each check dam (where lower channel gradients and wider channel sections formed very long and wide sedimentary wedges) is more than one order of magnitude higher compared to scouring downstream. The morphological analysis revealed that the check dams installed in the headwater reach play a function of bed stabilization (due to the longitudinal slope reduction) and flood lamination (because of the wider channel section) rather than a role of sediment collectors as their sediment storage capacity has already been completed. Scouring/ sedimentation dynamics depend mainly on the channel slope and width in proximity to the check dams rather than on structure height. Finally, Castillo's model showed an acceptable performance in predicting scouring/sedimentation in the channel bed close to check dams after the monitored rainfall events, the model efficiency being satisfactory and the differences between the mean observed and simulated values low. This investigation improves the understanding about morphological effects of check dams in Mediterranean torrents based on field observations and quantitative analysis.

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Sediment size variation in torrents with check dams: Effects on riparian vegetation

Cited by 52 publications

References 29 publications

Changes in carbon storage with land management promoted by payment for ecosystem services

Changes in carbon storage with land management promoted by payment for ecosystem services

Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management

Evaluation and modeling of scouring and sedimentation around check dams in a Mediterranean torrent in Calabria, Italy

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