watersheds
On the occasion of the International Year of Mountains, and in response to the clear consensus reached by the international community regarding the need to ensure harmonious and sustainable development of mountainous areas and watersheds, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners in the subject, undertook a large-scale assessment and global review of...
Long-term monitoring of ecological and hydrological processes is critical to understanding ecosystem function and responses to anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Much of the world's knowledge of ecosystem responses to disturbance comes from long-term studies on gaged watersheds. However, there are relatively few long-term sites due to the large cost and commitment required to establish...
Water is one of the most critical resource and constraint in the semi-arid tropics (SAT). To minimise land degradation and sustain crop productivity in the SAT, management and efficient utilisation of rainwater is important. Watershed-based resource utilisation involves the optimum use of the area’s precipitation for the improvement and stabilization of agriculture on the watershed...
A three-layer TOPMODEL is constructed by integrating diffusion wave approach into surface flow, soil moisture deficit into inter flow and exponential recession curve function into base flow. A subtropical mountainous watershed, Heng-Chi, and 22 rain storms with various rainfall types and wide ranges of total rainfall (from 81 to 1026 mm) were applied. The global best-...
High-resolution topographic data expand the potential of quantitative analysis of the earth surface, improving the interpretation of geomorphic processes. In particular, the morphologies of the channel beds of mountain streams, which are characterised by strong spatial variability, can be analysed much more effectively with this type of data. In this study, the...
This study describes the application of the coupled SAFRAN (meteorological variables), ISBA (soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer) and CROCUS (snow cover evolution) models to simulate daily discharges for the upper Durance catchment (French Alps) from 1981 to 1994. The results are validated by comparison with measurements at three gauging stations located in the watershed. Previous...
Stream flow, nutrient loading, and sediment yield closely reflect land use and management practices in relation to growing seasons in mid-hill watersheds of the central Himalaya. A preliminary study was conducted to determine approximate total water discharge and sediment yields from the Galaundi and Pokhare catchments. Mean discharge and sediment loads during the 2002 rainy season were 2.1 m...
The authors undertook a quantitative investigation of aquatic macrophytes in Beeshazar Tal (Beeshazar Lake) in summer and winter of 2002 and spring of 2003. They found a distinct seasonal variation in the distribution of macrophytes: based on importance value index, Leersia hexandra Sw., Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, Ceratophyllum demursum L. and Trapa quadrispinosa Roxb. were dominant...
Comparative study of vegetation structure and composition of two forests at Tamafok (TF) and Madimulkharka (MM) villages in the Piluwa micro-watershed was undertaken. A total of 20 tree species were reported, with more species in the non-degraded TF forest than in the degraded MM forest. Rhododendron arboreum and Goldfussia penstemonoides were the dominant species in the TF...
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