Premium
WATER MOVEMENT AND VEGETATION PATTERNS ON SHRUBLAND AND AN ABANDONED FIELD IN TWO DESERTIFICATION‐THREATENED AREAS IN SPAIN
Author(s) -
BERGKAMP G.,
CAMMERAAT L. H.,
MARTINEZFERNANDEZ J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9837(199612)21:12<1073::aid-esp640>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - shrubland , surface runoff , infiltration (hvac) , environmental science , desertification , hydrology (agriculture) , vegetation (pathology) , land degradation , soil science , rangeland , water erosion , soil water , land use , geology , agroforestry , ecology , ecosystem , geography , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology , meteorology , biology
Four large‐scale rainfall simulation experiments were conducted in Spain to improve the understanding of the relationship between soil water dynamics, soil erosion and land degradation. On different shrublands and an abandoned field, hydrological characteristics were determined in relation to spatial patterns in soil, vegetation and morphology. During the experiments on shrubland, runoff at fine scales occurred shortly after the start of the experiments. Rapid and non‐uniform infiltration near vegetation clusters, related to preferential flowpaths of water, was observed. This prevented the development of runoff over distances larger than 1 metre. The surface redistribution of water was not observed on the abandoned land. Here, little vegetation structure was present and infiltration rates were high below crusts as well as stones. We suggest that the development of spatial structures in vegetation and soil forms a positive feedback with non‐uniform infiltration and increased soil water retention. The assessment of land degradation could benefit greatly from acknowledging the importance of non‐uniformity in hydrological processes. Furthermore, the presented measurements indicate that in discontinuous environments runoff measurements at fine scales cannot be extrapolated directly. In these environments a scaled approach needs to be adopted emphasizing the importance of different hydrological processes at different scales.