Sediment Delivery, Flood Control, and Physical Ecosystem Services in Southern California Chaparral Landscapes [chapter]

Peter M. Wohlgemuth, Keith A. Lilley
2018 Springer Series on Environmental Management  
Southern California chaparral environments, with steep mountain slopes, semi-arid climate, and non-cohesive soils, are very erosive landscapes. Wildfre is the dominant ecological disturbance event in chaparral and it greatly accelerates fooding and erosion, which are directly and/or indirectly related to the loss of the protective vegetation. Since the 1920s, dams and debris basins have been constructed by public works agencies to protect the growing population and infrastructure of southern
more » ... ifornia by intercepting and impounding fows of water and debris. Dams also capture stream runoff for supplying water to downstream agriculture and urban populations. Major sediment infows into dams and debris basins following fre can reduce capacity and threaten the ability to provide food control and water supply. Chaparral provides physical ecosystem services that aid in food hazard reduction, sediment retention, and the supply of water as well as protecting habitat for endangered species and soil quality.
doi:10.1007/978-3-319-68303-4_7 fatcat:vuprjbwmazhylkd5s4vyfhnz4y