IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v103y2020i1d10.1007_s11069-020-04002-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Vegetation evolution by ecological succession as a potential bioindicator of landslides relative age in Southwestern Mediterranean region

Author

Listed:
  • Luís Filipe Lopes

    (Universidade de Lisboa)

  • Sérgio Cruz Oliveira

    (Universidade de Lisboa)

  • Carlos Neto

    (Universidade de Lisboa)

  • José Luís Zêzere

    (Universidade de Lisboa)

Abstract

Landslides have a direct impact in the ecosystems dynamics being considered one of the main vegetation perturbation processes. Our objective is to determine the relation between vegetation cover evolution and time period after landslide disturbance, and therefore to assess the potential use of vegetation evolution within landslide areas as temporal bioindicators of landslide activity, in order to determine landslide relative age. Four rotational slides of known relative age, located in the Grande da Pipa River basin (Arruda dos Vinhos, Portugal) were selected. The methodology includes four main steps: (1) to identify the flora and vegetation differences between the main landslide sectors (scarp, body, foot); (2) to find out if the differences in floristic composition and vegetation structure are reflected in the succession process; (3) to find out if the succession process has produced different seral stages along the longitudinal gradients; (4) to compare the succession process in landslide affected areas with the undisturbed adjacent areas. The data points towards a slow evolution of the vegetation in the period following the disturbance, being necessary long periods for the perturbed area reach vegetation characteristics similar to the ones of the unperturbed areas. The progressive succession is rapid in the foot, slow in the body and extremely slow in the scarp. The presence of orchids in the body may be considered as an age bioindicator of more than 15 years since landslide disturbance. In the case of the older landslide (> 50 years), it corresponds to the evolved stage close to the potential natural vegetation.

Suggested Citation

  • Luís Filipe Lopes & Sérgio Cruz Oliveira & Carlos Neto & José Luís Zêzere, 2020. "Vegetation evolution by ecological succession as a potential bioindicator of landslides relative age in Southwestern Mediterranean region," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(1), pages 599-622, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:103:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-020-04002-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-020-04002-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-020-04002-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-020-04002-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. Zêzere & S. Pereira & A. Tavares & C. Bateira & R. Trigo & I. Quaresma & P. Santos & M. Santos & J. Verde, 2014. "DISASTER: a GIS database on hydro-geomorphologic disasters in Portugal," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 72(2), pages 503-532, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. José Leandro Barros & Alexandre Oliveira Tavares & Pedro Pinto Santos, 2021. "Land use and land cover dynamics in Leiria City: relation between peri-urbanization processes and hydro-geomorphologic disasters," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(1), pages 757-784, March.
    2. T. Vaz & J. Zêzere, 2016. "Landslides and other geomorphologic and hydrologic effects induced by earthquakes in Portugal," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 71-98, March.
    3. Dominik Paprotny & Michalis I. Vousdoukas & Oswaldo Morales-Nápoles & Sebastiaan N. Jonkman & Luc Feyen, 2020. "Pan-European hydrodynamic models and their ability to identify compound floods," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 101(3), pages 933-957, April.
    4. Pedro Pinto Santos & Alexandre Oliveira Tavares & Paula Freire & Ana Rilo, 2018. "Estuarine flooding in urban areas: enhancing vulnerability assessment," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 93(1), pages 77-95, September.
    5. T. Vaz & J. L. Zêzere, 2016. "Landslides and other geomorphologic and hydrologic effects induced by earthquakes in Portugal," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 71-98, March.
    6. Miguel Leal & Catarina Ramos & Susana Pereira, 2018. "Different types of flooding lead to different human and material damages: the case of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 91(2), pages 735-758, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:103:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-020-04002-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.