Responses of interrill runoff and erosion rates to vegetation change in southern Arizona |
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| Authors: | Anthony J. Parsons Athol D. Abrahams John Wainwright |
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| Affiliation: | aDepartment of Geography, University of Keele, Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK;bDepartment of Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14261, USA;cDepartment of Geography, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK |
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| Abstract: | Vegetation change, fi-om grassland to shrubland, has occurred over much of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts during the past century. The effect of this vegetation change on interrill runoff and erosion was examined by conducting rainfall-simulation experiments on large runoff plots on contemporary grassland and shrubland hillslopes. These experiments show that, compared to the grassland, the interrill portions of shrubland hillslopes (1) have higher runoff rates, (2) experience equilibrium runoff conditions much more frequently, (3) exhibit higher overland flow velocities, and (4) are subject to greater rates of erosion. The environmental change that has led to the vegetation change has been relatively minor, but its geomorphic impact has been substantial. |
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