Human impacts on headwater fluvial systems in the northern and central Andes

Harden, Carol P.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.021

Cited by 129 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Consequently, the amount of carbon stored in living and dead biomass declines. The net effect of diverse resource uses, including beaver trapping, timber harvest, log floating and flow regulation in western North America and other mountainous regions around the world 33,34 , has been reduction in the extent of old-growth forest and, in North America and Eurasia, the abundance and distribution of beavers (Castor canadensis and Castor fiber, respectively) 35 . The loss of these biotic drivers, along with channelization of multi-thread channels into single channels, levees that reduce or eliminate overbank flooding and removal of instream wood, has substantially reduced the physical complexity of mountainous headwater rivers 16 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mechanisms of carbon storage in mountainous headwater rivers

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Published research emphasizes rapid downstream export of terrestrial carbon from mountainous headwater rivers, but little work focuses on mechanisms that create carbon storage along these rivers, or on the volume of carbon storage. Here we estimate organic carbon stored in diverse valley types of headwater rivers in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA. We show that low-gradient, broad valley bottoms with old-growth forest or active beaver colonies store the great majority of above-and below-ground carbon. These laterally unconfined valley segments constitute o25% of total river length, but store B75% of the carbon. Floodplain sediment and coarse wood dominate carbon storage. Our estimates of riverine carbon storage represent a previously undocumented but important carbon sink. Our results indicate that: not all mountainous rivers rapidly export carbon; not all valley segments are equally important in carbon storage; and historical changes in riverine complexity have likely reduced carbon storage.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A critical consideration with respect to historical changes is that many headwater rivers have lost geomorphic complexity during recent centuries 34 . Alterations associated with land use and manipulation of rivers have simplified channel and riparian features along many headwater river networks 36 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of carbon storage in mountainous headwater rivers

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Significant human effort went into mining and mineral production in ancient Peru; this human activity dominated the landscape of the inter-Andean valleys on a temporal scale ranging from years to centuries (Harden, 2006;Petersen, 2010;Tarras-Wahlberg and Lane, 2003). Ever since the Spanish conquered the Incas, the Andes zone has been known for its deposits of gold, silver, coal and other valuable metals (United Nations, 1990).…”

Section: Land-use Parameters and Mining Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pertinent spatio-temporal scale of observation to understand suspended sediment yield control factors in the Andean region: the case of the Santa River (Peru)

Morera

Condom

Vauchel

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Hydro-sedimentology development is a great challenge in Peru due to limited data as well as sparse and confidential information. This study aimed to quantify and to understand the suspended sediment yield from the westcentral Andes Mountains and to identify the main erosioncontrol factors and their relevance. The Tablachaca River (3132 km 2 ) and the Santa River (6815 km 2 ), located in two adjacent Andes catchments, showed similar statistical daily rainfall and discharge variability but large differences in specific suspended-sediment yield (SSY). In order to investigate the main erosion factors, daily water discharge and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) datasets of the Santa and Tablachaca rivers were analysed.Mining activity in specific lithologies was identified as the major factor that controls the high SSY of the Tablachaca (2204 t km 2 yr −1 ), which is four times greater than the Santa's SSY. These results show that the analysis of control factors of regional SSY at the Andes scale should be done carefully. Indeed, spatial data at kilometric scale and also daily water discharge and SSC time series are needed to define the main erosion factors along the entire Andean range.

show abstract

“…Es por esto que se hace necesaria la reflexión sobre la agricultura sostenible en el Páramo, como referente para mejorar el abordaje de problemáticas como el uso inadecuado de los suelos y la intensificación de actividades agropecuarias que alteran la función socioambiental del ecosistema incidiendo en la calidad de vida de las comunidades y el desarrollo territorial [9,11,12].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified