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Environmental Impact of Landslides

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Landslides – Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract

Landslides affect the following elements of the environment: (1) the topography of the earth’s surface; (2) the character and quality of rivers and streams and groundwater flow; (3) the forests that cover much of the earth’s surface; and (4) the habitats of natural wildlife that exist on the earth’s surface, including its rivers, lakes, and oceans. Large amounts of earth and organic materials enter streams as sediment as a result of this landslide and erosion activity, thus reducing the potability of the water and quality of habitat for fish and wildlife. Biotic destruction by landslides is also common; widespread stripping of forest cover by mass movements has been noted in many parts of the world. Removal of forest cover impacts wildlife habitat.

The ecological role that landslides play is often overlooked. Landslides contribute to aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. Debris flows and other mass movement play an important role in supplying sediment and coarse woody debris to maintain pool/riffle habitat in streams. As disturbance agents landslides engender a mosaic of seral stages, soils, and sites (from ponds to dry ridges) to forested landscapes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Columbia Forest Service, British Columbia, Canada

    Marten Geertsema

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA

    Lynn Highland

  3. Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA 98504-7012, USA

    Laura Vaugeouis

Authors
  1. Marten Geertsema
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  2. Lynn Highland
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  3. Laura Vaugeouis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNITWIN Headquarter Building Kyoto University Uji Campus Gokasho Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan

    Kyoji Sassa (Prof. Dr.) (Prof. Dr.)

  2. Università di Firenze Dipto. Scienze della Terra via G, La Pira, 4, Firenze 50121, Italy

    Paolo Canuti (Prof. Dr.) (Prof. Dr.)

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Geertsema, M., Highland, L., Vaugeouis, L. (2009). Environmental Impact of Landslides. In: Sassa, K., Canuti, P. (eds) Landslides – Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69970-5_31

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