Title: Restoring dense vegetation can slow mountain erosion to near natural benchmark levels
Abstract: Research Article| April 01, 2007 Restoring dense vegetation can slow mountain erosion to near natural benchmark levels Veerle Vanacker; Veerle Vanacker 1Institute for Mineralogy, University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3, 30167 Hannover, Germany Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Friedhelm von Blanckenburg; Friedhelm von Blanckenburg 1Institute for Mineralogy, University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3, 30167 Hannover, Germany Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gerard Govers; Gerard Govers 2Physical and Regional Geography, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Armando Molina; Armando Molina 2Physical and Regional Geography, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jean Poesen; Jean Poesen 2Physical and Regional Geography, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jozef Deckers; Jozef Deckers 3Division of Soil and Water Management, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Peter Kubik Peter Kubik 4Paul Scherrer Institute, Institute of Particle Physics, ETH Hoenggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Veerle Vanacker 1Institute for Mineralogy, University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3, 30167 Hannover, Germany Friedhelm von Blanckenburg 1Institute for Mineralogy, University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3, 30167 Hannover, Germany Gerard Govers 2Physical and Regional Geography, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Armando Molina 2Physical and Regional Geography, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Jean Poesen 2Physical and Regional Geography, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Jozef Deckers 3Division of Soil and Water Management, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium Peter Kubik 4Paul Scherrer Institute, Institute of Particle Physics, ETH Hoenggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 20 Jun 2006 Revision Received: 27 Oct 2006 Accepted: 31 Oct 2006 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2007) 35 (4): 303–306. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23109A.1 Article history Received: 20 Jun 2006 Revision Received: 27 Oct 2006 Accepted: 31 Oct 2006 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Veerle Vanacker, Friedhelm von Blanckenburg, Gerard Govers, Armando Molina, Jean Poesen, Jozef Deckers, Peter Kubik; Restoring dense vegetation can slow mountain erosion to near natural benchmark levels. Geology 2007;; 35 (4): 303–306. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G23109A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Tropical mountain areas may undergo rapid land degradation as demographic growth and intensified agriculture cause more people to migrate to fragile ecosystems. To assess the extent of the resulting damage, an erosion rate benchmark against which changes in erosion can be evaluated is required. Benchmarks reflecting natural erosion rates are usually not provided by conventional sediment fluxes, which are often biased due to modern land use change, and also miss large, episodic events within the measuring period. To overcome this, we combined three independent assessment tools in the southern Ecuadorian Andes, an area that is severely affected by soil erosion. First, denudation rates from cosmogenic nuclides in river sediment average over time periods of 1–100 k.y. and establish a natural benchmark of only 150 ± 100 t km−2 yr−1. Second, we find that land use practices have increased modern sediment yields as derived from reservoir sedimentation rates, which average over periods of 10–100 yr to as much as 15 × 103 t km−2 yr−1. Third, our land cover analysis has shown us that vegetation cover exerts first-order control over present-day erosion rates at the catchment scale. Areas with high vegetation density erode at rates that are characteristically similar to those of the natural benchmark, regardless of whether the type of vegetation is native or anthropogenic. Therefore, our data suggest that even in steep mountain environments sediment fluxes can slow to near their natural benchmark levels with suitable revegetation programs. A set of techniques is now in place to evaluate the effectiveness of erosion mitigation strategies. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 188
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