Catchment coevolution: A useful framework for improving predictions of hydrological change?

Abstract

The notion that landscape features have coevolved over time is well known in the Earth sciences. Hydrologists have recently called for a more rigorous connection between emerging spatial patterns of landscape features and the hydrological response of catchments, and have termed this concept catchment coevolution. In this paper we review recent literature on this subject and attempt to synthesize what we have learned into a general framework that would improve predictions of hydrologic change. We first present empirical evidence of the interaction and feedback of landscape evolution and changes in hydrological response. From this review it is clear that the independent drivers of catchment coevolution are climate, geology, and tectonics. We identify common currency that allows comparing the levels of activity of these independent drivers, such that, at least conceptually, we can quantify the rate of evolution or aging. Knowing the hydrologic age of a catchment by itself is not very meaningful without linking age to hydrologic response. Two avenues of investigation have been used to understand the relationship between (differences in) age and hydrological response: (i) one that is based on relating present landscape features to runoff processes that are hypothesized to be responsible for the current fingerprints in the landscape; and (ii) one that takes advantage of an experimental design known as space-for-time substitution. Both methods have yielded significant insights in the hydrologic response of landscapes with different histories. If we want to make accurate predictions of hydrologic change, we will also need to be able to predict how the catchment will further coevolve in association with changes in the activity levels of the drivers (e.g., climate). There is ample evidence in the literature that suggests that whole-system prediction of catchment coevolution is, at least in principle, plausible. With this imperative we outline a research agenda that implements the concepts of catchment coevolution for building a holistic framework toward improving predictions of hydrologic change.

Coevolution of volcanic catchments in Japan

“…Present-day land surface characteristics in pristine landscapes have co-evolved over time through various interactions between the prevailing climates and geological settings (bedrock type, tectonic uplift) Troch et al, 2015). Hydrologists have coined the term catchment coevolution as a theoretical framework that seeks to formulate explanatory hypotheses about spatial patterns of landscape characteristics and the corresponding hydrological response, based on the historical development of catchments (Sivapalan et al, 2012;Troch et al, 2013;Harman and Troch, 2014).…”

“…One is direct control on the water balance by function of available water and energy (e.g., Budyko, 1974;Milly, 1994;Troch et al, 2009;Sivapalan et al, 2011). The other is indirect control on the hydrologic regime as one of four independent factors (climate, bedrock weatherability, tectonic uplift and time) that control the evolution of landscape properties (landforms, soils, and vegetation; Troch et al, 2015). For example, Gentine et al (2012) found that catchment-scale rooting depth was strongly correlated with the seasonal distribution of water and energy availability in 431 catchments in the United States.…”

A scaling approach to Budyko's framework and the complementary relationship of evapotranspiration in humid environments: case study of the Amazon River basin

“…As stated by Troch et al (2015), catchment co-evolution studies the process of spatial and temporal interactions between water, energy, landscape properties such as bedrock, soils, channel networks, sediments and anthropogenic influences that lead to changes of catchment characteristics and responses. In particular, landscape organization determines how a catchment filters climate into hydrological response in time.…”

“…In particular, landscape organization determines how a catchment filters climate into hydrological response in time. For this reason catchment co-evolution is not studied in the time domain, but from a spatial perspective (Perdigão and Blöschl, 2014;Troch et al, 2015).…”

A process-based diagnosis of catchment coevolution in volcanic landscapes: synthesis of Newtonian and Darwinian approaches

“…The results of coevolution that can be captured in the 35 spatial patterns of landscape features including vegetation, geometry of stream networks, soil profiles control the hydrological response of the catchments. Recognizing this interconections, hydrologists have recently proposed the idea of catchment coevolution (Sivapalan et al, 2012;Troch et al, 2013;Harman and Troch, 2014;Troch et al, 2015). In the framework of the catchment coevolution, one seeks to find an empirical relationship between landscape features and the hydrological response, 40 and to decipher the causality of the relationship from the historical development of catchments.…”