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Effect of Salvage Logging and Check Dams on Simulated Hydrological Connectivity in a Burned Area
Author(s) -
MartínezMurillo Juan F.,
LópezVicente Manuel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.2735
Subject(s) - salvage logging , environmental science , logging , hydrology (agriculture) , siltation , vegetation (pathology) , forestry , physical geography , remote sensing , ecosystem , geology , geography , forest ecology , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , ecology , medicine , pathology , sediment , biology
This study assessed the effect of a wildfire and different post‐fire practices (salvage logging, skid trails and check dams) and vegetation recovery (eight scenarios) on the hydrological connectivity (HC) in 11 sub‐catchments (SubCs; 330 ha) affected by a wildfire (213 ha) in 2012 in Spain. According to the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager/Thermal Infrared Sensor images, moderate, high and extreme burn severity affected 42·1% of the area. HC was calculated with an updated version of the Borselli index. Within the burned area (BA), HC increased in all SubCs after the wildfire ( PostF‐1 ), the salvage logging and the new skid trails ( PostF‐2 ), and the development of new gullies ( PostF‐3 ). Check dams reduced connectivity but did not prevent the general trend. Afterwards, the incipient ( PostF‐4 and PostF‐5 ) and future vegetation recovery made slightly decrease HC. In the three forestry SubCs with check dams and large BA (67% of the study area), connectivity markedly increased (11·4%, 18·2% and 22·9%) during the three first post‐fire scenarios. In the three SubCs with urban areas and small BA (5%), HC decreased a little because the linear elements connected the hillslopes between them. In the three SubCs with urban areas and large BA (12%), HC increased less than in the forestry SubCs (3·0%, 8·2% and 9·1%). In the two forestry SubCs without check dams and small BA (16%), the increment of connectivity was low (2·5%, 4·6% and 6·3%). Monitoring of check‐dam siltation and of the actual vegetation regrowth is necessary to minimize the off‐site consequences of high HC. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.