Short-term changes in infiltration between straw mulched and non-mulched soils after wildfire in Mediterranean forest ecosystems
Abstract Water infiltration is a basic parameter to understand the hydrological response of semi-arid or arid soils – where runoff generation is dominated by infiltration-excess – subjected to wildfire. To evaluate the hydrological effects of straw application on a sandy loam soil after wildfire, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, water content and temperature of mulched and nonmulched (considered as control) soils were monitored throughout eight months. Compared to untreated soils, straw maintained higher temperatures and water contents in mulched plots, but reduced their unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, particularly in the drier season. These results suggest that straw release may…
Influence of Site and Check Dam Characteristics on Sediment Retention and Structure Conservation in a Mexican River
Previously, in a large river of Mexico regulated by more than 200 check dams, we demonstrated that vegetation cover and channel characteristics were the dominant factors on the structure conditions and capacity to store sediments. This study focuses on other categorical (i.e., check dam type and location, soil texture and land use) and numerical (i.e. water discharge, check dam dimensions) variables, to whom statistical analysis is applied, in order to assess their influence on sediment filling degree and conditions (functional or destroyed) of the check dams in the same river. ANOVA has shown that: (i) check dam type (gabion or stone) and location (headwater, middle or valley reaches), and…
Exploring the influence of vegetation cover, sediment storage capacity and channel dimensions on stone check dam conditions and effectiveness in a large regulated river in México
Abstract Check dams are widely used for soil conservation at the watershed scale. When structurally sound, these engineering control works retain sediment as planned. However, there is limited information describing the influence of site characteristics on post-construction condition including structural stability and sediment retention capacity. More specifically, the effects of channel morphology, check dam geometry and vegetation characteristics as potentially influencing factors on sediment retention capacity at the watershed level are poorly understood. Thus, an investigation applying field and remotely sensed measurements, multi-regression models, redundancy and sensitivity analysis, …