Is aridity a high-order control on the hydro–geomorphic response of burned landscapes?
Gary J. Sheridan A C D , Petter Nyman A C , Christoph Langhans A , Jane Cawson A , Philip J. Noske A , Akiko Oono B , Rene Van der Sant A C and Patrick N. J. Lane A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie Street, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.
B United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), 5-53-70 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan.
C Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, Level 1, 340 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Vic. 3002, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: sheridan@unimelb.edu.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(3) 262-267 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF14079
Submitted: 7 May 2014 Accepted: 15 March 2015 Published: 28 July 2015
Abstract
Fire can result in hydro–geomorphic changes that are spatially variable and difficult to predict. In this research note we compile 294 infiltration measurements and 10 other soil, catchment runoff and erosion datasets from the eastern Victorian uplands in south-eastern Australia and argue that higher aridity (a function of the long-term mean precipitation and net radiation) is associated with lower post-fire infiltration capacities, increasing the chance of surface runoff and strongly increasing the chance of debris flows. Post-fire debris flows were only observed in the more arid locations within the Victorian uplands, and resulted in erosion rates more than two orders of magnitude greater than non-debris flow processes. We therefore argue that aridity is a high-order control on the magnitude of post-wildfire hydro–geomorphic processes. Aridity is a landscape-scale parameter that is mappable at a high resolution and therefore is a useful predictor of the spatial variability of the magnitude of post-fire hydro–geomorphic responses.
Additional keywords: debris flow, erosion, overland flow, runoff, water quality.
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