(Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, 2007) Schnabel, Susanne; Gómez Gutiérrez, Á.; Sanjosé Blasco, J.J.
Valley bottom gullies are a common feature in rangelands.
Although these gullies are found in the bottom of drainage
lines, information about the relationship between discharge
and gullying is scarce (Crouch, 1990; Thomas et al., 2004).
This may in part be due to the large temporal variation of this
phenomenon making necessary monitoring of runoff and
erosion for a large number of years. Since 1990 research is
carried out on the development of valley bottom gullies in
small wooded rangeland catchments in southwest Spain.
Erosion varies strongly along the gully section with high
losses related to headcut retreat (Schnabel et al., 1999). The
importance of extreme events producing exceptional sediment
losses has also been demonstrated (Schnabel, 1997). In the
year 2000 investigation started in the Parapuños experimental
basin. The present paper aims at understanding the
relationship between gully erosion and catchment hydrology.