How to Make a Barranco: Modeling Erosion and Land-Use in Mediterranean Landscapes

Land

C. Michael Barton³  Isaac Ullah³  Arjun Heimsath¹  James Millington² 

[1] School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE), Arizona State University, PO Box 876004, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; E-Mail:;School of Human Evolution & Social Change and Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity, PO Box 872402 SHESC, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; E-Mail;School of Human Evolution & Social Change and Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity, PO Box 872402 SHESC, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: landscape;    land-use;    modeling;    Spain;    erosion;    surface process;    archaeology;    social-ecological system;    Mediterranean;   

DOI  :  10.3390/land4030578

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

We use the hybrid modeling laboratory of the Mediterranean Landscape Dynamics (MedLanD) Project to simulate barranco incision in eastern Spain under different scenarios of natural and human environmental change. We carry out a series of modeling experiments set in the Rio Penaguila valley of northern Alicante Province. The MedLanD Modeling Laboratory (MML) is able to realistically simulate gullying and incision in a multi-dimensional, spatially explicit virtual landscape. We first compare erosion modeled in wooded and denuded landscapes in the absence of human land-use. We then introduce simulated small-holder (e.g., prehistoric Neolithic) farmer/herders in six experiments, by varying community size (small, medium, large) and land management strategy (satisficing and maximizing). We compare the amount and location of erosion under natural and anthropogenic conditions. Natural (e.g., climatically induced) land-cover change produces a distinctly different signature of landscape evolution than does land-cover change produced by agropastoral land-use. Human land-use induces increased coupling between hillslopes and channels, resulting in increased downstream incision.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.