Factors and interactions controlling infiltration, runoff, and soil loss at the microscale in a patchy Mediterranean semiarid landscape

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
Rainfall simulation experiments were performed on bare-soil and vegetated surfaces, on both wet and dry soils, in semiarid shrub-steppe landscapes of SE Spain to investigate the spatial and temporal factors and interactions that control the fine-scale variation in water infiltration, runoff and soil loss, and hence the water and sediment flows in these areas. Three types of shrub-steppe landscapes varying in plant community and physiography, and four types of plant patches (oak shrub, subshrub, tussock grass, and short grass mixed with chamaephytes) were studied. The study documents quantitatively how bare soils and vegetation patches function as runoff sources and runoff sinks, respectively, for a wide range of soil moisture conditions, and illustrates that landscape-type effects on bare-soil runoff sources may also exert an important control on the site hydrology, while the role of the vegetation patch type is less important.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2009, vol. 34, n°. 12, p. 1702-1711, nombre de pages : 10, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2009

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley