The coupled development of terrain and vegetation : the case of semiarid grasslands

The distribution of vegetation in semiarid landscapes organizes as a function of moisture availability, which is often mediated by the form of the land surface. Simultaneously the processes that shape the land surface are influenced by vegetation, mainly because vegetation reduces fluvial erosion. This thesis presents the study of the bidirectional interaction between vegetation and the land form in semiarid grasslands. Remotely sensed data and digital elevation maps are used to infer the relationship between vegetation cover and topographic attributes at two field sites in the semiarid southwestern United States. A positive relationship between drainage area (a proxy for water accumulation) and vegetation, and a negative relationship between solar radiation incidence and vegetation, are identified. The Channel-Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development (CHILD) model is modified to include a detailed representation of soil moisture dynamics, vegetation dynamics, seasonality of the solar forcing and rainfall, spatial variability of the incidence angle of solar radiation, and intrastorm variability of rainfall intensity.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Flores Cervantes, Javier Homero, 1977-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rafael L. Bras.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57783

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/57783