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EXPERIMENTAL AND MODELLING APPROACHES TO WATERSHED RESPONSE IN MEDITERRANEAN AND MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEMS

Objective

THIS PROJECT IS BASED ON THE THESIS THAT NUTRIENT FLUXES DEPEND CRITICALLY ON THE FLOW PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SOIL AND THAT IN THE STRUCTURED SOILS FOUND IN THE FIELD, THESE FLOW PATHWAYS ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD.

CHANNELLING AND DISPLACEMENT PROCESSES MAY BE IMPORTANT IN CONTROLLING THE OUTFLOWS OF WATER AND NUTRIENTS FROM HILLSLOPES AND CATCHMENTS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH AIMS TO EVALUATE THESE PROCESSES UNDER EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS AND TO PROVIDE A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR WATER AND NUTRIENT FLUXES AT THE HILLSLOPE AND CATCHMENT SCALES. THE PROPOSED MODEL WILL BE INNOVATIVE IN DEALING EXPLICITY WITH THE HETEROGENEITY OF INPUTS DUE TO THE VEGETATION CANOPY; IN TREATING FLOW OF WATER THROUGH CHANNELS IN A STATISTICAL FRAMEWORK; IN MODELLING CHANNELLING FLOWS AT THE HILLSLOPE AND CATCHMENT SCALES; AND IN USING RANDOM PARTICLE TECHNIQUES IN MODELLING SOLUTE FLUXES. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE RESEARCH EFFORT TO DEFINE AND CREATE SUCH A MODEL WILL HAVE IMPORTANT BENEFITS BOTH IN FORMALISING UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF WATER FLUXES IN NUTRIENT CYCLING ARISING FROM THE ASSOCIATED FIELD STUDIES, AND ALSO IN PREDICTING THE EFFECTS OF DISTURBANCE AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON NUTRIENT FLUXES.

Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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Coordinator

University of Lancaster
EU contribution
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Address
Bailrigg
LA1 4YW Lancaster
United Kingdom

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Total cost
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