Gully erosion in Mangatu Forest,New Zealand,estimated from digital elevation models

The methodology and errors involved in determining the amount of sediment produced during two (19·5 and 33·2 year) periods by 11 (c. 0·01 − >0·20 km²) gullies within a 4 km² area in the headwaters of the Waipaoa River basin, New Zealand, using sequential digital elevation models are described. Sediment production from all gullies within the study area was 0·99 ± 0·03 × 10⁶ t a⁻¹ (2480 ± 80 t ha⁻¹ a⁻¹) during the period from 1939 to 1958. It declined to 0·62 ± 0·02 × 10⁶ t a⁻¹ (1550 ± 50 t ha⁻¹ a⁻¹) during the period from 1958 to 1992, when many of the smaller gullies were stabilized by a programme of afforestation, which commenced in 1960. Both figures are very high by global standards. The two largest (the Tarndale and Mangatu) gully complexes together generated 73 and 95 per cent of the sediment in the specified time periods, but the latter amount is equivalent to only c. 5 per cent of the total annual sediment load of the Waipaoa River. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mitigating systematic error in topographic models for geomorphic change detection: accuracy,precision and considerations beyond off-nadir imagery

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and structure-from-motion photogrammetry enable detailed quantification of geomorphic change. However, rigorous precision-based change detection can be compromised by survey accuracy problems producing systematic topographic error (e.g. ‘doming’), with error magnitudes greatly exceeding precision estimates. Here, we assess survey sensitivity to systematic error, directly correcting topographic data so that error magnitudes align more closely with precision estimates. By simulating conventional grid-style photogrammetric aerial surveys, we quantify the underlying relationships between survey accuracy, camera model parameters, camera inclination, tie point matching precision and topographic relief, and demonstrate a relative insensitivity to image overlap. We show that a current doming-mitigation strategy of using a gently inclined (<15°) camera can reduce accuracy by promoting a previously unconsidered correlation between decentring camera lens distortion parameters and the radial terms known to be responsible for systematic topographic error. This issue is particularly relevant for the wide-angle cameras often integrated into current-generation, accessible UAV systems, frequently used in geomorphic research. Such systems usually perform on-board image pre-processing, including applying generic lens distortion corrections, that subsequently alter parameter interrelationships in photogrammetric processing (e.g. partially correcting radial distortion, which increases the relative importance of decentring distortion in output images). Surveys from two proglacial forefields (Arolla region, Switzerland) showed that results from lower-relief topography with a 10°-inclined camera developed vertical systematic doming errors > 0·3 m, representing accuracy issues an order of magnitude greater than precision-based error estimates. For higher-relief topography, and for nadir-imaging surveys of the lower-relief topography, systematic error was < 0·09 m. Modelling and subtracting the systematic error directly from the topographic data successfully reduced error magnitudes to values consistent with twice the estimated precision. Thus, topographic correction can provide a more robust approach to uncertainty-based detection of event-scale geomorphic change than designing surveys with small off-nadir camera inclinations and, furthermore, can substantially reduce ground control requirements. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Ethnohistoric and Geoarchaeological Landscape Chronology at Kawaihae,Leeward Hawai‘i Island

The royal court of the Kamehameha Dynasty in Kawaihae, Hawai‘i Island, presents an unequalled opportunity to examine the ethnohistoric rendering of a cultural landscape, in comparison to the geoarchaeological record of physical transformation of this same landscape. Beneath the surface, earlier occupation layers predate the historic royal precinct of the A.D. 1790s through 1820s. Drawing on results of 19 controlled excavations, point‐specific cultural activities are situated within the last several centuries of natural terrain formation, beginning A.D. 1200–1400 and ending A.D. 1830–present. Geoarchaeological excavations provide the means to place the stratified cultural deposits, occupational horizons, and activity areas in the context of depositional history, environmental transformation, and changing social circumstances in a continuous sequence. The material‐based geoarchaeological landscape chronology and the ethnohistorically defined cultural landscape are combined for a more holistic view than either one could provide independently.     

Dietary niche separation of three Late Pleistocene bear species from Vancouver Island,on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

Competition between taxa related to climate changes has been proposed as a possible factor in Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, and here we present isotope evidence of the diets of three co-existing bear species [black bear (Ursus americanus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), and the now extinct short-faced bear (Arctodus simus)] from a locale in western North America dating to the Late (Terminal) Pleistocene (~14.5–11.7 ka). The three bear species were found at several sites on Vancouver Island, on the western coast of Canada. To examine the chronological overlap and niche partitioning between these species of bear, we used direct radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis and ZooMS proteomic identification methods. Here we present new radiocarbon evidence from Terminal Pleistocene U. americanus, U. arctos and A. simus from several sites on the island, along with both bulk collagen and compound-specific isotope data for these species. Radiocarbon dates confirm the chronological overlap of Arctodus and both Ursus species in the montane regions of the island at the end of the Pleistocene. Stable isotope data reveal niche differentiation between these species, with U. americanus occupying a distinctly lower trophic position than the other two taxa.     

Correlation of environmental and cultural chronology in New Caledonia

A case study in New Caledonia explores the changes in the natural and cultural setting at the end of the Lapita period in the first millennium B.C. After the mid‐Holocene highstand, sea level fell about 1.5 m, thereby enlarging coastal plains, altering previous mangrove and marshy settings, and transforming nearshore marine environments. Many of these changes occurred gradually over several centuries, but the termination of finely decorated Lapita pottery coincided with the first signs of loss of coastal habitat optimal for marine‐based horticulturalists in the first millennium B.C. Organized village compounds and extensively cultivated landscapes emerged much later, in the first millennium A.D. The results suggest that, although the Lapita phenomenon represents the founding ancestry of Oceanic societies, it also represents the end of an era and way of life that eventually could not be maintained in a changing world. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.