Watershed Linkages and the Importance of Hydrogeomorphology
The approach we have developed emphasizes hydrogeomorphologic
processes of rangeland watersheds, especially the linkages of erosion processes
in hillslope areas (terrestrial ecosystem) and sedimentation processes
in downstream stream (aquatic ecosystem) and riparian areas (riparian ecosystems).
In western rangeland landscapes, sediment yield is a significant issue
in developing a TMDL process, especially in defining ‘natural’ or background
sediment loading to streams. Sediment yield may be increased by many
anthropogenic activities that affect watershed vegetation and hydrologic
conditions including road and urban construction, grazing, logging, farming,
and rangeland improvement. Our approach seeks to effectively monitor
those indicators that should be most indicative of hydrogeomorphologic
changes in rangeland watersheds. These indicators may be either bioindicators
or geoindicators, and they could be either changes in driving variables
(e.g., vegetation cover density) or indicator variables (e.g., downstream
sediment size). The goal, of course, is to choose a suite of indicators
that is robust in it assessment of environmental change while being economically
implemented. The following figure conceptualizes these linkages.
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