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Pre/Post-Fire Soil Erosion and Evaluation of Check-Dams Effectiveness in Mediterranean Suburban Catchments Based on Field Measurements and Modeling

Author

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  • Stella Margiorou

    (Laboratory of Mountainous Water Management and Control, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Aristeidis Kastridis

    (Laboratory of Mountainous Water Management and Control, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Marios Sapountzis

    (Laboratory of Mountainous Water Management and Control, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

The present study was conducted in the suburban forest of Thessaloniki city (Seich Sou), which constitutes one of the most significant suburban forests in Greece. In 1997, more than the half of the forest area was destroyed by a wildfire, after which soil erosion and flood control works (check-dams) were constructed in the burned areas. The aim of the study is to estimate the annual soil erosion rate for the last 30 years (pre- and post-fire periods) applying the WaTEM/SEDEM model, in order to investigate the impact of this wildfire on soil erosion, the effectiveness of the flood- and erosion-control works and the level of forest regeneration. It is the first time that WaTEM/SEDEM was calibrated and validated in Greece, taking into account soil erosion records from the 18 check-dams that were constructed in the study area in 2001. The mean annual erosion rate was 0.0419 t/ha/year, 0.998 t/ha/year and 0.08 t/ha/year for the pre-fire period, the first 3 years and 20 years after the fire, respectively. The results showed a very low erosion rate for the pre-fire period, an expected significant increase 3 years after the wildfire and a gradual decrease in the subsequent years until 2021. However, it seems that the post-fire regeneration of the forest has not been fully achieved, since the annual soil erosion rate at the long-term post-fire period is double compared with the pre-fire period. Concerning the check-dams’ effectiveness, it was observed that after 20 years of operation, they were non-silted, and most of them retained a small amount of sediments. This fact could be attributed to multiple factors such as the very thin soil depth, fire severity and catchment geomorphology, though the main reason seems to be the time elapsed between fire occurrence and the check-dams’ construction. The results of this study advance/strengthen the knowledge concerning the pre/post-fire soil erosion processes in already degraded ecosystems, while the calibrated model could serve as a useful tool able to be applied in other Mediterranean catchments of similar characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Stella Margiorou & Aristeidis Kastridis & Marios Sapountzis, 2022. "Pre/Post-Fire Soil Erosion and Evaluation of Check-Dams Effectiveness in Mediterranean Suburban Catchments Based on Field Measurements and Modeling," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:10:p:1705-:d:931199
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chao Liu & Kanghong Wang & Linhai Gao & Yarong Sun & Qinxia Yang & Bozhao Cao & Lin Chen & Dong Xue & Jian Wang, 2022. "Influence of Rainfall Intensity and Slope on Runoff and Sediment Reduction Benefits of Fine Mesh Net on Construction Spoil Deposits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Žiga Malek & Anna Scolobig & Dagmar Schröter, 2014. "Understanding Land Cover Changes in the Italian Alps and Romanian Carpathians Combining Remote Sensing and Stakeholder Interviews," Land, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-22, January.
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    1. Aristeidis Kastridis & Stella Margiorou & Marios Sapountzis, 2022. "Check-Dams and Silt Fences: Cost-Effective Methods to Monitor Soil Erosion under Various Disturbances in Forest Ecosystems," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Kamal Elbadaoui & Soukaina Mansour & Mustapha Ikirri & Kamal Abdelrahman & Tamer Abu-Alam & Mohamed Abioui, 2023. "Integrating Erosion Potential Model (EPM) and PAP/RAC Guidelines for Water Erosion Mapping and Detection of Vulnerable Areas in the Toudgha River Watershed of the Central High Atlas, Morocco," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, April.
    3. Sirisha Adamala & Ayyam Velmurugan & Nikul Kumari & T. Subramani & T. P. Swarnam & V. Damodaran & Ankur Srivastava, 2023. "Application of RMMF-Based GIS Model for Soil Erosion Assessment in Andaman Ecosystem," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-26, May.
    4. Nan Jiang & Fojun Yao & Tao Liu & Zhuo Chen & Chen Hu & Xinxia Geng, 2023. "Estimating the Soil Erosion Response to Land-Use Change Using GIS-Based RUSLE and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.

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