Collaborative Research: Sediment connectivity and its morphologic and vegetative controls: Linking soils and streams in mountain landscapes of the northern Rockies

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Sediment movement across mountain watersheds influences landscape evolution, ecosystem function, and resource management, yet quantitative understanding of sediment connectivity between hillslopes, streams, and downstream is limited. This project will advance understanding of the pace and patterns of and controls on sediment routing and connectivity in mountain watersheds. The resulting process knowledge will be relevant to management and restoration in forested, fire-prone mountain landscapes, as well as to assessment of aquatic habitat in mountain streams and vulnerability to sediment-related disturbances and climate change. Outreach efforts will include development and delivery of webinars targeted toward K-12 teachers, an interactive science-museum exhibit, and dissemination via digital educational resources. The project will also educate and train university students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.This project will investigate the influences of topography and vegetation on sediment transfer, residence time, and connectivity between hillslopes, streams, and downstream through river networks. Semiarid, snowmelt-dominated, fire-prone landscapes will be targeted. Measurements of erosion and sediment transport at different scales, using isotopic and physical tracers, will be combined with high-resolution topographic data and modeling of sediment storage, mixing, and routing. The project will fill knowledge gaps surrounding multi-scale erosion rates and processes in mountain landscapes by bridging hillslope and fluvial analyses, combining diverse and cutting-edge tools, and incorporating ecogeomorphic perspectives about the influence of vegetation on sediment transfer.