Monitoring and Modelling Dynamic Environments: (A Festschrift in Memory of Professor John B. Thornes)

ISBN-13: 9780470711217 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 352 str.

Alan Dykes; John Wainwright; Mark Mulligan

Opis

"Monitoring and Modeling Geomorphological Environments" is a comprehensive overview of the latest research in the field with a focus on the advantages and benefits of integrating different methodological approaches to geomorphological research. The chapters in the book reflect both the geographical range and the thematic focus of the late John Thornes, and include contributions from many of his former research students, research assistants and project co-investigators alongside some of the most senior practitioners in the discipline.

This book focuses on an integrative approach to geomorphological, environmental or indeed wider geographical studies through the presentation of new research encompassing a wide variety of geomorphological environments but with an emphasis on Mediterranean and other semi-arid environments within the context of environmental dynamics, so critical to management in an era of global change.

The chapters in this volume reflect both the geographical range and the thematic focus of John Thornes, being written by his former research students, research assistants and project co-investigators including some of the most senior colleagues in the discipline. The contents of the book divide into three distinct sections:

- Mediterranean environments- Hydrology and environmental management- Landform development

The first section encompasses a wide range of studies of soil erosion and runoff processes, vegetation influences on soil hydrology and erosion, impacts and management of land-use change and the development of new integrated models and monitoring strategies. Together, these chapters demonstrate the progressive adoption of integrated research approaches and highlight the improved understanding of these environments that has resulted from these approaches. Some of the chapters also examine implications of the research findings for future management by local farmers and national governments.

The second section contains a much wider variety of topics that reflect John Thornes' range of interests and expertise in hydrology and related environmental management issues, and the range of applications of his ideas and approaches to new theoretical and applied problems by the authors of the respective chapters. Some of the chapters in this section focus on the validity and benefits of the same integrative methodological philosophy to consultancy problems and projects, with particular emphasis on the minimisation of adverse environmental impacts on productive activities. The chapters in the short final section present landform studies dominated by landslides and/or tectonic influences. They highlight in particular the integration of field data with conceptual models to provide a theoretical framework for subsequent validation of the models through the application of appropriate monitoring strategies.

The book will also contain three short reflective commentaries on the contributions of John Thornes to particular areas of geomorphological research, written by senior authors who knew him well and worked with him over many years. These commentaries will place the importance of his research, and his influence on the subsequent generation of geomorphologists that have contributed to this book, in the context of the discipline of geomorphology over recent decades.

An obituary in The Times described John Thornes as 'one of the most eminent and influential physical geographers of his generation', particularly with respect to his monumental contributions to investigations of the complex problems of land-use change and erosion leading to desertification in the Mediterranean region, this work being achieved through lasting Anglo-Spanish and wider European collaborations. His work and influence extended much wider, however, encompassing tropical rainforests, sub-Arctic environments, archaeology, theoretical tectonic geomorphology and temperate grazing systems. Throughout all of these activities he championed the integration of monitoring and modelling, field and laboratory experimentation, theoretical and empirical approaches, and remote sensing.

This will be a forward-looking volume that reports new research undertaken by John's former associates subsequent to his involvement, thus reflecting his interests and influences but also demonstrating the significance of these influences as those associates work to address increasingly important environmental issues arising from geomorphological systems and processes. The book is intended to have a dominant theme - the integrative approach to theoretical and applied geomorphology - but is not based around a single subject in the traditional sense (particularly as that would be counter to the spirit of interdisciplinarity inherent in Professor Thorne's work).The overview chapters will provide the overall context of John's contributions in geomorphological research related to environmental change, with the new research reported in the main collection of chapters presenting examples of how John's approaches to these types of studies have been put into wider practice in subsequent research and management. All of the authors of the main collection of chapters will be instructed to incorporate into their chapters some reflections on the broader impact of their work with respect to the 'bigger picture' that Professor Thornes espoused.

• A comprehensive overview and essential reference of the latest geomorphological research
• Focuses on the advantages and benefits of integrating different methodological approaches and the advantages and benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to geomorphology in memory of the renowned expert in the field, John B.

Spis treści

List of contributors, ix

About the editors, xi

Acknowledgements, xiii

1 Introduction Understanding and managing landscape change through multiple lenses: The case for integrative research in an era of global change, 1
Alan P. Dykes, Mark Mulligan and John Wainwright

PART A

2 Assessment of soil erosion through different experimental methods in the Region of Murcia (South ]East Spain), 11
Asunción Romero Díaz and José Damián Ruíz Sinoga

3 Shrubland as a soil and water conservation agent in Mediterranean ]type ecosystems: The Sierra de Enguera study site contribution, 45
Artemi Cerdà, Antonio Giménez ]Morera, Antonio Jordan, Paulo Pereira, Agata Novara, Saskia Keesstra, Jorge Mataix ]Solera and José Damián Ruiz Sinoga

4 Morphological and vegetation variations in response to flow events in rambla channels of SE Spain, 61
Janet Hooke and Jenny Mant

5 Stability and instability in Mediterranean landscapes: A geoarchaeological perspective, 99
John Wainwright

6 Desertification indicator system for Mediterranean Europe: Science, stakeholders and public dissemination of research results, 121
Jane Brandt and Nichola Geeson

7 Geobrowser ]based simulation models for land degradation policy support, 139
Mark Mulligan

8 Application of strategic environmental assessment to the Rift Valley Lakes Basin master plan, 155
Carolyn F. Francis and Andrew T. Lowe

9 Modelling hydrological processes in long ]term water supply planning: Current methods and future needs, 179
Glenn Watts

10 Changing discharge contributions to the Río Grande de Tárcoles, 203
Matthew Marsik, Peter Waylen and Marvin Quesada

11 Insights on channel networks delineated from digital elevation models: The adaptive model, 225
Ashraf Afana and Gabriel del Barrio

12 From digital elevation models to 3 ]D deformation fields: A semi ]automated analysis of uplifted coastal terraces on the Kamena Vourla fault, central Greece, 247
Thomas J.B. Dewez and Iain S. Stewart

13 Environmental change and landslide hazards in Mexico, 267
Alan P. Dykes and Irasema Alcántara ]Ayala

PART B

14 John Thornes and palaeohydrology, 299
Ken Gregory and Leszek Starkel

15 John Thornes: Landscape sensitivity and landform evolution, 307
Tim Burt

16 John Thornes and desertification research in Europe, 317
Mike Kirkby, Louise J. Bracken and Jane Brandt

17 John Thornes: An appreciation, 327
Denys Brunsden

Index, 331

O autorze

Alan Dykes undertook a PhD on tropical rainforest landforms in Brunei, supervised by Professor John Thornes, then took up his first academic post lecturing in geomorphology at Huddersfield University. Now a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Kingston University, he continues his research into all aspects of landslide science from geotechnical controls to landform evolution and specialising in peatland instability.
 
John Wainwright has researched questions of soil erosion, ecogeomorphology, land degradation and landform evolution across a range of space and time scales, originally inspired by the supervision of Professor John Thornes in his PhD on the erosion of prehistoric archaeological sites. He has subsequently lectured at the universities of Southampton, King s College London, Sheffield and Strasbourg, and is now at Durham University, where he is Professor of Physical Geography.

Mark Mulligan is currently a Reader in Geography at King s College London. Professor John Thornes supervised Mark′s PhD at King′s College London from 1991.  Mark has remained there as a member of the academic staff since 1994 and in 2004 was awarded the Gill Memorial Award of the Royal Geographical Society Institute of British Geographers for innovative monitoring and modelling of environmental systems. Mark works on a variety of topics in the areas of environmental spatial policy support, ecosystem service modelling and understanding environmental change, at scales from local to global and with a particular emphasis on tropical forests in Latin America and semi–arid drylands in the Mediterranean.

Blurb

The Times (Obituaries, 4 August 2008) reported that John Thornes was one of the most eminent and influential physical geographers of his generation. John s keen interest in understanding landform processes and evolution was furthered through a variety of methods and informed across a range of disciplinary boundaries. In particular he pushed for better integration of monitoring, theoretical and simulation modelling, field and laboratory experimentation and remote sensing techniques. Although dominated by an interest in the Mediterranean region and problems of land degradation, his research activities ranged across a number of time scales and with other environmental perspectives.

This collection of papers reflects this wide range of John s interests through the recent work of scientists and professionals most strongly influenced by his rigorous training or leadership. The thematic focus of the book, which runs through all of the main contributions, is the integration of different methodologies and the application of this approach to improved understanding of natural systems and the development of appropriate strategies for environmental and resource management. Short overviews of John s contributions to geomorphological research are also presented to provide context for the origins of this book.