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

跨山流域的泥沙运动影响景观演变、生态系统功能和资源管理，但对山坡、溪流和下游之间泥沙连通性的定量了解有限。该项目将促进对山区流域泥沙输送和连通性的速度、模式和控制的了解。由此产生的过程知识将与森林覆盖、易发生火灾的山区景观的管理和恢复有关，并与评估山区溪流中的水生生境以及易受与沉积物有关的干扰和气候变化的脆弱性有关。外展工作将包括开发和提供针对K-12教师的网络研讨会、互动的科学博物馆展览以及通过数字教育资源进行传播。该项目还将对本科生和研究生进行教育和培训。该项目将调查地形和植被对泥沙转移、停留时间以及山坡、溪流和下游之间通过河网连接的影响。半干旱、融雪为主、容易起火的景观将成为目标。利用同位素和物理示踪剂在不同尺度上测量侵蚀和泥沙运移，将与高分辨率地形数据和泥沙储存、混合和路线模拟相结合。该项目将通过连接山坡和河流分析，结合各种尖端工具，并纳入关于植被对泥沙转移影响的生态地貌观点，填补有关山区景观中多尺度侵蚀速率和过程的知识空白。

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.