An approach to assess the impact of landscape connectivity and effective catchment area upon bedload sediment flux in Saco Creek Watershed, Semiarid Brazil

Jonas O P Souza*, Antonio C B Correa, Gary J. Brierley

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sediment flux in semi-arid drainage networks is influenced by landscape connectivity, wherein natural landforms and hydro infrastructure networks such as low order dams impede the downstream transfer of sediment. This study analyzes how drainage impediments affect bedload transport within Saco Creek watershed, in semi-arid northeast Brazil. Geomorphology and land use maps are constructed to assess changes to short term landscape connectivity. Bedload conveyance is appraised for precipitation/runoff events of variable magnitude-frequency relationships. From this, 'effective' rainfall events are determined. Analysis of the type and location/pattern of drainage impediments is used to assess effective catchment area under three distinct runoff scenarios. In the low magnitude event scenario, only 33.8% of the watershed area contributed effectively to sediment flux. In moderate and high magnitude events this value increased to 61.6% and 70.8% respectively. The relatively small variation from moderate to high magnitude events reflects the operation of dams which store bedload sediments. Findings from this study can be used to show how landscape connectivity analysis can support dam management in semiarid agrarian landscapes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13-29
Number of pages17
JournalCatena
Volume138
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Effective catchment area
  • Fluvial geomorphology
  • Landscape connectivity
  • Semiarid environment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An approach to assess the impact of landscape connectivity and effective catchment area upon bedload sediment flux in Saco Creek Watershed, Semiarid Brazil'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this