Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:48:46.214Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Forestry effects on suspended sediment and bedload yields in the Balquhidder catchments, Central Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

R. I. Ferguson
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, U.K.
T. A. Stott
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, U.K.

Abstract

Outputs of suspended sediment and bedload from the 7·7 km2 moorland Monachyle basin and the 6·8 km2, 40%-forested Kirkton basin near Balquhidder, and inputs from tributary streams and mainstream bank erosion, are compared. Sediment yield is about three times higher in the forested basin and varies more sensitively with streamflow, suggesting greater availability of erodible sediment. The output is predominantly of suspended sediment and is derived mainly from tributary streams. Initial observations following partial moorland ploughing and forest clearfelling in 1986 indicate that erosion of timber loading areas and logging roads is the main sediment source.

Type
Sediment transport
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Battarbee, R. W., Appleby, P. G., Odell, K. & Flower, R. J. 1985. 210Pb dating of Scottish lake sediments, afforestation and accelerated soil erosion. EARTH SURF PROCESSES LANDFORMS 10, 137–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackie, J. R. 1987. The Balquhidder catchments, Scotland: the first four years. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH EARTH SCI 78, 227–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackie, J. R. & Newson, M. D. 1986. The effects of forestry on the quantity and quality of runoff in upland Britain. In Solbe J. F. de, L. G. (ed.) Effects of land use on fresh waters, 398412. Chichester: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Krygier, J. T. 1971. Clear-cut logging and sediment production in the Oregon coast range. WATER RESOUR RES 7, 1189–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, T. P., Donohoe, M. A. & Vann, A. R. 1984. A comparison of suspended sediment yields from two small upland catchments following open ditching for forestry drainage. ZEITSCH GEOMORPHOL N F SUPPL 51, 5162.Google Scholar
Duck, R. W. 1985. The effect of road construction on sediment deposition in Loch Earn, Scotland. EARTH SURF PROCESSES LANDFORMS 10, 401–06.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duck, R. W. & McManus, J. 1987. Sediment yields in lowland Scotland derived from reservoir surveys. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH EARTH SCI 78, 369–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, R. I. 1986. River loads underestimated by rating curves. WATER RESOUR RES 22, 7476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, L. A. 1987. The effect of catchment afforestation on public water supplies in Strathclyde Region, Scotland. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH EARTH SCI 78, 335–40.Google Scholar
Lawler, D. 1986. River bank erosion and the influence of frost: a statistical examination. TRANS INST BR GEOGR NS 11, 227242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, D. H. 1986. The effects of afforestation on salmon and trout rivers and suggestions for their control. In Solbe J. F. de, L. G. (ed.) Effects of land use on fresh waters, 422–31. Chichester: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Moore, R. J. & Newson, M. D. 1986. Production, storage and output of coarse upland sediments: natural and artificial influences as revealed by research catchment studies. J GEOL SOC LONDON 143, 921–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newson, M. D. 1980. The erosion of drainage ditches and its effect on bed load yields in mid Wales: reconnaissance case studies. EARTH SURF PROCESSES 5, 275–90.Google Scholar
Newson, M. D. & Leeks, G. 1985. Mountain bedload yields in the United Kingdom: further information from undisturbed fluvial environments. EARTH SURF PROCESSES LANDFORMS 10, 413–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newson, M. D. & Leeks, G. 1987. Transport processes at the regional scale: a regional study of increasing sediment yield and its effects in mid Wales, U.K. In Thome, C. R., Hey, R. D. & Bathurst, J. C. (eds) Sediment transport in gravel bed rivers (in press). Chichester: Jphn Wiley.Google Scholar
Reid, L. M. & Dunne, T. 1984. Sediment production from forest road surfaces. WATER RESOUR RES 20, 1753–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, M. & Blyth, K. 1982. The effect of forestry drainage operations on upland sediment yields: a case study. EARTH SURF PROCESSES LANDFORMS 7, 8590.Google Scholar
Stott, T. A., Ferguson, R. I., Johnson, R. C. & Newson, M. D. 1986. Sediment budgets in forested and unforested basins in upland Scotland. In Hadley, R. F. (ed.) Drainage basin sediment delivery, INT ASSOC HYDROL SCI PUBL 159, 5768.Google Scholar
Walling, D. E. & Webb, B. W. 1981. Water quality. In Lewin, J. (ed.) British rivers, 126–69. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar