Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Boise, Idaho » Northwest Watershed Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #98068
Title: SOURCES OF VARIATION IN INTERRILL EROSION ON RANGELANDS

Author
item Blackburn, Wilbert
item Pierson Jr, Frederick

Submitted to: Soil Science Society of America Special Publication Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/1994
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Current rangeland erosion models do not adequately address the effect of vegetation on erosion processes. Surface soil erosion on rangelands varies in both space and time across a landscape due to different types and amount of vegetation. In addition, precipitation and temperature also vary across a landscape and can affect surface soil properties related to erosion. Erosion in shrub-dominated landscapes seems to vary more in space than time, compared to bunchgrass-and sodgrass-dominated landscapes that exhibit greater variations in time. To improve erosion predictions on rangelands, techniques that estimate parameters that account for such variations are needed.

Technical Abstract: Current rangeland erosion modeling efforts do not adequately account for vegetation induced variability in interrill erosion processes. Research examples are presented that support the premise that rangeland interrill erosion is spatially and temporally distributed because of the influence of different vegetation growth forms, spatially distributed biomass, and a variable climate on surface soil properties. The surface soil parameters of shrub dominated landscapes display greater spatial and temporal variability, but bunchgrass and sodgrass dominated landscapes exhibit greater temporal variability than spatial. Improved model parameter estimating techniques are needed to account for the interrill erosion variability found on rangelands.