Bradford P. Wilcox

VEGETATION PATCHES AND RUNOFF–EROSION AS INTERACTING ECOHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES IN SEMIARID LANDSCAPES

Ecological and hydrological processes can interact strongly in landscapes, yet these processes are often studied separately. One particularly important interaction between these processes in patchy semiarid lands is how vegetation patches serve to obstruct runoff and then how this retained water increases patch growth that, in turn, provides feedbacks to the system. Such ecohydrological interactions have been mostly demonstrated for semiarid landscapes with distinctly banded vegetation patterns. In this paper, we use data from our studies and from the literature to evaluate how strongly four ecohydrological interactions apply across other patchy semiarid vegetations, and how these interactions are affected by disturbances. We specifically address four questions concerning ecohydrological interactions: (1) if vegetation patches obstruct runoff flows during rainfall events, how much more soil water is stored in these patches compared to open interpatch areas; (2) if inputs of water are higher in patches, how much stronger is the pulse of plant growth compared to interpatches; (3) if more soil water in patches promotes greater biological activity by organisms such as earthworms that create macropores, how much does this improve soil infiltrability; and (4) if vegetation patches are damaged on a hillslope, how much does this increase runoff and erosion and decrease biomass production? We used the trigger-transfer-reserve-pulse framework developed for Australian semiarid woodlands to put these four questions into a landscape context. For a variety of patchy semiarid vegetation types in Australia, Europe, and North America, we found that patches significantly stored more soil water, produced more growth and had better infiltrability than interpatches, and that runoff and erosion can markedly increase on disturbed hillslopes. However, these differences varied greatly and appeared to depend on factors such as the intensity and amount of input events (rainstorms) and type of topography, soils, and vegetation. Exper- imental and modeling studies are needed to better quantify how these factors specifically affect ecohydrological interactions. Our current findings do support the conclusion that vegetation patches and runoff-erosion processes do strongly interact in many semiarid landscapes across the globe, not just banded landscapes.

ECOHYDROLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF WOODY PLANT ENCROACHMENT

Increases in the abundance or density of woody plants in historically semiarid and arid grassland ecosystems have important ecological, hydrological, and socioeconomic implications. Using a simplified water-balance model, we propose a framework for con- ceptualizing how woody plant encroachment is likely to affect components of the water cycle within these ecosystems. We focus in particular on streamflow and the partitioning of evapotranspiration into evaporation and transpiration. On the basis of this framework, we suggest that streamflow and evaporation processes are affected by woody plant en- croachment in different ways, depending on the degree and seasonality of aridity and the availability of subsurface water. Differences in landscape physiography, climate, and runoff mechanisms mediate the influence of woody plants on hydrological processes. Streamflow is expected to decline as a result of woody plant encroachment in landscapes dominated by subsurface flow regimes. Similarly, encroachment of woody plants can be expected to produce an increase in the fractional contribution of bare soil evaporation to evapotrans- piration in semiarid ecosystems, whereas such shifts may be small or negligible in both subhumid and arid ecosystems. This framework for considering the effects of woody plant encroachment highlights important ecological and hydrological interactions that serve as a basis for predicting other ecological aspects of vegetation change—such as potential changes in carbon cycling within an ecosystem. In locations where woody plant encroach- ment results in increased plant transpiration and concurrently the availability of soil water is reduced, increased accumulation of carbon in soils emerges as one prediction. Thus, explicitly considering the ecohydrological linkages associated with vegetation change pro- vides needed information on the consequences of woody plant encroachment on water yield, carbon cycling, and other processes.

Effects of Woody Plants on Microclimate in a Semiarid Woodland: Soil Temperature and Evaporation in Canopy and Intercanopy Patches

The canopies of woody plants in semiarid ecosystems modify the microclimate beneath and around them, with canopy patches usually having lower soil temperatures than intercanopy patches. However, lacking are studies that have evaluated how heterogeneity in soil temperature, induced by woody plant canopies, influences soil evaporation rates and the consequent effects on plant‐available water. Soil temperatures were measured and soil evaporation rates were estimated for canopy and intercanopy patches in a semiarid piñon‐juniper woodland (Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma) in northern New Mexico. Soil temperature was measured at 2‐cm depths in four canopy and four intercanopy locations during 1994. Maximum soil temperature in intercanopy patches was greater than in canopy patches between May and September, by as much as 10°C, while soil temperatures in intercanopy patches were lower than in canopy patches during colder parts of the day in the fall and winter months. Equations for soil drying rates for sandy loam soil samples were determined in laboratory experiments over a range of temperatures and soil water contents. Drying rates were disproportionately greater at high soil moisture and high soil temperature. Intercanopy patches were predicted to dry more than canopy patches for days in April through September by as much as 2% volumetric soil water content per day. The difference between patches was amplified at lower soil water contents when expressed as soil water potential, which more directly determines plant‐available water. Our results quantify the effects of woody plants on the microclimate with respect to soil temperature and evaporation, which in turn affect herbaceous and woody plants by modifying factors such as germination, the potential for facilitation, and the amount of plant‐available water.

ECOHYDROLOGY OF A RESOURCE‐CONSERVING SEMIARID WOODLAND: EFFECTS OF SCALE AND DISTURBANCE

In semiarid landscapes, the linkage between runoff and vegetation is a par- ticularly close one. In this paper we report on the results of a long-term and multiple-scale study of interactions between runoff, erosion, and vegetation in a pinon-juniper woodland in New Mexico. We use our results to address three knowledge gaps: (1) the temporal scaling relationships between precipitation and runoff; (2) the effects of spatial scale on runoff and erosion, as influenced by vegetation; and (3) the influence of disturbance on these relationships. On the basis of our results, we tested three assumptions that represent current thinking in these areas (as evidenced, for example, by explicit or implicit assump- tions embedded in commonly used models). The first assumption, that aggregated precip- itation can be used as a surrogate for total runoff in semiarid environments, was not verified by our findings. We found that when runoff is generated mainly by overland flow in these systems, aggregated precipitation amounts alone (by year, season, or individual event) are a poor predictor of runoff amounts. The second assumption, that at the hillslope and smaller scales runoff and erosion are independent of spatial scale, was likewise not verified. We found that the redistribution of water and sediment within the hillslope was substantial and that there was a strong and nonlinear reduction in unit-area runoff and erosion with in- creasing scale (our scales were slope lengths ranging fro m1mt o 105 m). Thethird assumption, that disturbance-related increases in runoff and erosion remain constant with time, was partially verified. We found that for low-slope-gradient sites, disturbance led to accelerated runoff and erosion, and these conditions may persist for a decade or longer. On the basis of our findings, we further suggest that (a) disturbance alters the effects of scale on runoff and erosion in a predictable way—scale relationships in degraded areas will be fundamentally different from those in nondegraded areas because more runoff will escape off site and erosion rates will be much higher; and (b) there exists a slope threshold, below which semiarid landscapes will eventually recover following disturbance and above which there will be no recovery without mitigation or remediation.

Scale and the Nature of Spatial Variability: Field Examples Having Implications for Hydrologic Modeling

In this paper we examine how the nature of spatial variability affects hydrologic response over a range of scales using five field studies as examples. The nature of variability was characterized as either stochastic, when random, or deterministic, when due to known, nonrandom sources. We have emphasized how that characterization may change with the scale of hydrologic model. The five field examples, along with corresponding sources of variability, were (1) infiltration and surface runoff affected by shrub canopy, (2) groundwater recharge affected by soil depth, (3) groundwater recharge and streamflow affected by small-scale topography, (4) frozen soil runoff affected by elevation, and (5) snowfall distribution affected by large-scale topography. In each example there was a scale, the deterministic length scale, over which the hydrologic response was strongly dependent upon the specific, location-dependent ecosystem properties. Smaller-scale variability may be represented as either stochastic or homogeneous with nonspatial data. In addition, changes in scale or location sometimes resulted in the introduction of larger-scale sources of variability that subsume smaller-scale sources. Thus recognition of the nature and sources of variability can reduce data requirements by focusing on important sources of variability and using nonspatial data to characterize variability at scales smaller than the deterministic length scale. All the sources of variability described are present in the same watershed and affect hydrologic response simultaneously. Physically based models should therefore utilize both spatial and stochastic data where scale appropriate. Other implications for physically based modeling are that modeling algorithms should reflect larger-scale variability which generally has greater impact and that model and measurement grids should be consistent with the nature of variability.

Viewpoint: Sustainability of piñon-juniper ecosystems - A unifying perspective of soil erosion thresholds

Many pinon-juniper ecosystems in the western U.S. are subject to accelerated erosion while others are undergoing little or no erosion. Controversy has developed over whether invading or encroaching pinon and juniper species are inherently harmful to rangeland ecosystems. We developed a conceptual model of soil erosion in pinon-juniper ecosystems that is consistent with both sides of the controversy and suggests that the diverse perspectives on this issue arise from threshold effects operating under very different site conditions. Soil erosion rate can be viewed as a function of (1) site erosion potential (SEP), determined by climate, geomorphology and soil erodibility; and (2) ground cover. Site erosion potential and cover act synergistically to determine soil erosion rates, as evident even from simple USLE predictions of erosion. In pinon-juniper ecosystems with high SEP, the erosion rate is highly sensitive to ground cover and can cross a threshold so that erosion increases dramatically in response to a small decrease in cover. The sensitivity of erosion rate to SEP and cover can be visualized as a cusp catastrophe surface on which changes may occur rapidly and irreversibly. The mechanisms associated with a rapid shift from low to high erosion rate can be illustrated using percolation theory to incorporate spatial, temporal, and scale-dependent patterns of water storage capacity on a hillslope. Percolation theory demonstrates how hillslope runoff can undergo a threshold response to a minor change in storage capacity. Our conceptual model suggests that pinon and juniper contribute to accelerated erosion only under a limited range of site conditions which, however, may exist over large areas.

Runoff from a semiarid Ponderosa pine hillslope in New Mexico

The mechanisms by which runoff is generated in semiarid forests have been little studied. Over the past 4 years we have been investigating runoff processes in semiarid regions by continuously monitoring runoff, both surface and lateral subsurface, from an 870-m2 ponderosa pine hillslope in northern New Mexico. We have found that runoff accounts for between 3 and 11% of the annual water budget. We have also found that lateral subsurface flow is a major mechanism of runoff generation, especially following periods of above-average fall and winter precipitation. In one winter, lateral subsurface flow was equivalent to about 20% of the snowpack (about 50 mm). When antecedent soil moisture was high, lateral subsurface flow was extremely responsive to snowmelt and rainfall events and was much more dynamic than would be suggested by the low (laboratory determined) hydraulic conductivity of the soil. The rapidity with which lateral subsurface flow follows these events suggests that macropore flow is occurring. In the case of surface runoff, the major generation mechanisms are intense summer thunderstorms, prolonged frontal storms, and snowmelt over frozen soils. Surface runoff at our site took the form of infiltration-excess overland flow; this type of surface runoff has not been found to dominate at other ponderosa pine sites studied. These detailed and continuous investigations are increasing our understanding of runoff processes in semiarid forests and are thereby laying the groundwork for improved predictions, not only of runoff, but also of the concomitant transport of sediment and contaminants within and from these zones.

Lateral subsurface flow pathways in a semiarid Ponderosa pine hillslope

The mechanisms controlling lateral subsurface flow in semiarid environments have received relatively little attention despite the fact that lateral subsurface flow can be an important runoff process in these environments. The objective of the current study is to better understand lateral subsurface flow process in semiarid environments. Natural chloride, dissolved organic carbon, and stable isotope (δD and δ18O) tracers were used to investigate the lateral subsurface flow process and the chemical changes that occur as a result of lateral subsurface flow. Observed differences in chemistry between soil matrix water and lateral subsurface flow were large (for example, chloride concentrations in matrix soil water samples were >200 mg/L, compared with only 2 mg/L in lateral subsurface flow samples obtained at the same time). This difference in chemistry is indicative of a two-domain flow system in which macropores conduct lateral subsurface flow that is not in chemical or hydrological equilibrium with the soil matrix. The size of precipitation events appeared to have a strong influence on the variations in old/new water percentages, and examples of both old and new water dominated events were observed. There were also large variations in the chemistry of lateral subsurface flow with time. For example, chloride and dissolved organic carbon concentrations were 10 and 70 times greater, respectively, under saturated conditions than under unsaturated conditions.

Emerging Issues in Rangeland Ecohydrology: Vegetation Change and the Water Cycle

Abstract Rangelands have undergone—and continue to undergo—rapid change in response to changing land use and climate. A research priority in the emerging science of ecohydrology is an improved understanding of the implications of vegetation change for the water cycle. This paper describes some of the interactions between vegetation and water on rangelands and poses 3 questions that represent high-priority, emerging issues: 1) How do changes in woody plants affect water yield? 2) What are the ecohydrological consequences of invasion by exotic plants? 3) What ecohydrological feedbacks play a role in rangeland degradation processes? To effectively address these questions, we must expand our knowledge of hydrological connectivity and how it changes with scale, accurately identify “hydrologically sensitive” areas on the landscape, carry out detailed studies to learn where plants are accessing water, and investigate feedback loops between vegetation and the water cycle.

Plot-scale effects on runoff and erosion along a slope degradation gradient.

Received 17 February 2009; revised 31 October 2009; accepted 16 November 2009; published 6 April 2010. [1] In Earth and ecological sciences, an important, crosscutting issue is the relationship between scale and the processes of runoff and erosion. In drylands, understanding this relationship is critical for understanding ecosystem functionality and degradation processes. Recent work has suggested that the effects of scale may differ depending on the extent of degradation. To test this hypothesis, runoff and sediment yield were monitored during a hydrological year on 20 plots of various lengths (1–15 m). These plots were located on a series of five reclaimed mining slopes in a Mediterranean‐dry environment. The five slopes exhibited various degrees of vegetative cover and surface erosion. A general decrease of unit area runoff was observed with increasing plot scale for all slopes. Nevertheless, the amount of reinfiltrated runoff along each slope varied with the extent of degradation, being highest at the least degraded slope and vice versa. In other words, unit area runoff decreased the least on the most disturbed site as plot length increased. Unit area sediment yield declined with increasing plot length for the undisturbed and moderately disturbed sites, but it actually increased for the highly disturbed sites. The different scaling behavior of the most degraded slopes was especially clear under high‐intensity rainfall conditions, when flow concentration favored rill erosion. Our results confirm that in drylands, the effects of scale on runoff and erosion change with the extent of degradation, resulting in a substantial loss of soil and water from disturbed systems, which could reinforce the degradation process through feedback mechanisms with vegetation.