Prediction of blanket peat erosion across Great Britain under environmental change

Li, Pengfei; Holden, Joseph; Irvine, Brian

doi:10.1007/s10584-015-1532-x

Cited by 14 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…4 over large regions with different possible inputs to include uncertainties in future change (Wainwright and Mulligan, 2013, Li et al, 2016a, Li et al, 2017a, 2017b.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of soil erosion models used to study the Chinese Loess Plateau

Holden

et al. 2017

Earth-Science Reviews

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144

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The Loess Plateau suffers from severe soil erosion that leads to a series of ecological and economic problems such as reduced land productivity, exacerbated rural poverty, decreased biodiversity and sedimentation of the riverbed in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Soil erosion models are commonly used on the Loess Plateau to help target sustainable land management strategies to control soil erosion.In this study, we compared eleven soil erosion models that were previously used on the Loess Plateau. We studied their prediction accuracy, process representation, data and calibration requirements, and potential application in scenario studies. The selected models consisted of a broad range of model types, structures and scales.The comparison showed that process-based and empirical models did not necessarily yield more accurate results over one another for the Loess Plateau.Among the process-based models, Si' model, WEPP and MMF had the highest prediction accuracy. However, some of the selected models were tested with total ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T2 sediment load while others were tested with suspended sediment load (i.e. bedload is not included), which is subject to several drawbacks. Research questions that each of the models can address on the Loess Plateau were suggested. Further improvement of soil erosion models for the Loess Plateau should concentrate on enhancing the quality of data for model implementation and testing, incorporating key processes into process-based models according to their aims and scales, comparing models that address the same research questions, and implementing internal and spatial model testing.

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“…4 over large regions with different possible inputs to include uncertainties in future change (Wainwright and Mulligan, 2013, Li et al, 2016a, Li et al, 2017a, 2017b.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of soil erosion models used to study the Chinese Loess Plateau

Holden

et al. 2017

Earth-Science Reviews

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144

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“…The physical and chemical characteristics of peat can be quite different to those of mineral soils (Hobbs 1986). Many blanket peatlands in the Northern Hemisphere have experienced severe erosion and are under increasing erosion risk from future climate change (Li et al, 2016b;Li et al, 2017a), which will lead to enhanced losses of terrestrial carbon in many regions. As such, blanket peatlands could be more vulnerable to water erosion than other types of peatlands which may occur in landscapes with very little surface gradient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, blanket peatlands could be more vulnerable to water erosion than other types of peatlands which may occur in landscapes with very little surface gradient. Although peatland erosion has been studied for almost 60 years some of the processes remain poorly understood (Bower 1960;Evans and Warburton 2007;Li et al, 2016a;Li et al, 2016b;Li et al, 2017a;Li et al, 2017b). The main blanket peat erosion processes include sediment supply processes (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of rainfall, overland flow and their interactions on peatland interrill erosion processes

Holden

Grayson

2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Interrill erosion processes on gentle slopes are affected by mechanisms of raindrop impact, overland flow and their interaction. However, limited experimental work has been conducted to understand how important each of the mechanisms are and how they interact, in particular for peat soil. Laboratory simulation experiments were conducted on peat blocks under two slopes (2.5° and 7.5°) and three treatments: Rainfall, where rainfall with an intensity of 12 mm h−1 was simulated; Inflow, where upslope overland flow at a rate of 12 mm h−1 was applied; and Rainfall + Inflow which combined both Rainfall and Inflow. Overland flow, sediment loss and overland flow velocity data were collected and splash cups were used to measure the mass of sediment detached by raindrops. Raindrop impact was found to reduce overland flow by 10 to 13%, due to increased infiltration, and reduce erosion by 47% on average for both slope gradients. Raindrop impact also reduced flow velocity (80–92%) and increased roughness (72–78%). The interaction between rainfall and flow was found to significantly reduce sediment concentrations (73–85%). Slope gradient had only a minor effect on overland flow and sediment yield. Significantly higher flow velocities and sediment yields were observed under the Rainfall + Inflow treatment compared to the Rainfall treatment. On average, upslope inflow was found to increase erosion by 36%. These results indicate that overland flow and erosion processes on peat hillslopes are affected by upslope inflow. There was no significant relationship between interrill erosion and overland flow, whereas stream power had a strong relationship with erosion. These findings help improve our understanding of the importance of interrill erosion processes on peat. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…High spatial variability in future erosion increases was forecast with some warmer and lower latitude regions more at risk. However, even within the British Isles Li, Holden, and Irvine () predicted a doubling of sediment yield for some sites by 2100. Global climate change further threatens high‐latitude permafrost peatlands, due to thawing, degradation and slumping (Kokelj et al, ; Swindles et al, ), which may release large quantities of carbon in river systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment deposition from eroding peatlands alters headwater invertebrate biodiversity

Brown

Aspray

Ledger

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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Land use and climate change are driving widespread modifications to the biodiverse and functionally unique headwaters of rivers. In temperate and boreal regions, many headwaters drain peatlands where land management and climate change can cause significant soil erosion and peat deposition in rivers. However, effects of peat deposition in river ecosystems remain poorly understood. We provide two lines of evidence—derived from sediment deposition gradients in experimental mesocosms (0–7.5 g/m2) and headwaters (0.82–9.67 g/m2)—for the adverse impact of peat deposition on invertebrate community biodiversity. We found a consistent negative effect of sediment deposition across both the experiment and survey; at the community level, decreases in density (1956 to 56 individuals per m2 in headwaters; mean 823 ± 129 (SE) to 288 ± 115 individuals per m2 in mesocosms) and richness (mean 12 ± 1 to 6 ± 2 taxa in mesocosms) were observed. Sedimentation increased beta diversity amongst experimental replicates and headwaters, reflecting increasing stochasticity amongst tolerant groups in sedimented habitats. With increasing sedimentation, the density of the most common species, Leuctra inermis, declined from 290 ± 60 to 70 ± 30 individuals/m2 on average in mesocosms and >800 individuals/m2 to 0 in the field survey. Traits analysis of mesocosm assemblages suggested biodiversity loss was driven by decreasing abundance of invertebrates with trait combinations sensitive to sedimentation (longer life cycles, active aquatic dispersal of larvae, fixed aquatic eggs, shredding feeding habit). Functional diversity metrics reinforced the idea of more stochastic community assembly under higher sedimentation rates. While mesocosm assemblages showed some compositional differences to surveyed headwaters, ecological responses were consistent across these spatial scales. Our results suggest short‐term, small‐scale stressor experiments can inform understanding of “real‐world” peatland river ecosystems. As climate change and land‐use change are expected to enhance peatland erosion, significant alterations to invertebrate biodiversity can be expected where these eroded soils are deposited in rivers.

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Prediction of blanket peat erosion across Great Britain under environmental change

Cited by 14 publications

References 31 publications

Comparison of soil erosion models used to study the Chinese Loess Plateau

Comparison of soil erosion models used to study the Chinese Loess Plateau

Effects of rainfall, overland flow and their interactions on peatland interrill erosion processes

Sediment deposition from eroding peatlands alters headwater invertebrate biodiversity

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