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Monitoring the formation of structures and patterns during initial development of an artificial catchment

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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present observations, results from monitoring measurements, and preliminary conclusions about the development of patterns and structures during the first 5 years of development of an artificial catchment starting from point zero. We discuss the high relevance of initial system traits and external events for the system development and draw conclusions for further research. These investigations as part of a Collaborative Research Center, aim to disentangle and understand the feedback mechanisms and interrelationships of processes and their co-development with spatial and temporal structures and patterns by studying an initial, probably less complex ecosystem. Therefore, intensive measurements were carried out in the catchment with regard to the development of surface structures, hydrological patterns, vegetation dynamics, water chemistry, and element budgets. During the first 5 years, considerable changes within the catchment were observed. Both internal and external factors could be identified as driving forces for the formation of structures and patterns in the artificial catchment. Initial structures formed by the construction process and initial substrate characteristics were decisive for the distribution and flow of water. External factors like episodic events triggered erosion and dissection during this initial phase, promoted by the low vegetation cover, and the unconsolidated sandy substrate. The transformation of the initial geosystem into areas with evolving terrestrial or aquatic characteristics and from a very episodic to a more permanent stream network and discharge, together with the observed vegetation dynamics increased site diversity and heterogeneity with respect to water and nutrient availability and transformation processes compared with the more homogenous conditions at point zero. The processes and feedback mechanisms in the initial development of a new landscape may deviate in rates, intensity, and dominance from those known from mature ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to understand these early phases of ecosystem development and to disentangle the increasingly complex interactions between the evolving terrestrial and aquatic, biotic, and abiotic compartments of the system. Long-term monitoring of initial ecosystems may provide important data and parameters on processes and the crucial role of spatial and temporal structures and patterns to solve these problems. Artificially created catchments could be a suitable tool to study these initial developments at the landscape scale under known, designed, and defined boundary conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (CRC/TR) 38 “Structures and Processes of the Initial Ecosystem Development Phase in an Artificial Water Catchment” (www.tu-cottbus.de/sfb_trr) funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and by the Brandenburg Ministry of Science and Research was established in July 2007 as an initiative of three universities (BTU Cottbus, TU München, and ETH Zurich). The artificial catchment “Chicken Creek” was constructed with the technical and financial support provided by Vattenfall Europe Mining. We thank Silvio Vogt, Gunter Bormann, Uwe Enke, Patrick Willner, Ralph Dominik, and Marin Dimitrov for their help with the fieldwork, microdrone programming, routine sampling, and maintenance. Many thanks to Gabi Franke, Regina Müller, Helga Köller, Evi Müller, and Anita Maletzki for the analyses of the samples together with Nonka Markova, Natasha Beltran, Ina Hovy, Carmen Schulze, and Tsvetelina Dimitrova. Detlef Biemelt (Hydrology and Water Resources Management, BTU Cottbus) provided the meteorological and hydrological data. Thomas Seiffert carried out the georeferencing of the drone images.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Protection and Recultivation, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany

    Wolfgang Schaaf

  2. Research Centre Landscape Development and Mining Landscapes, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany

    Michael Elmer, Werner Gerwin & Rossen Nenov

  3. Geobotany, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Anton Fischer, Susanne Winter & Markus Klemens Zaplata

  4. Chair of Forest Growth and Yield Science, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Hans Pretzsch & Stefan Seifert

  5. Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Stefan Seifert

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  1. Wolfgang Schaaf
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  2. Michael Elmer
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  9. Markus Klemens Zaplata
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Schaaf.

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Schaaf, W., Elmer, M., Fischer, A. et al. Monitoring the formation of structures and patterns during initial development of an artificial catchment. Environ Monit Assess 185, 5965–5986 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2998-x

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