Runoff Generation on Semiarid Karst Landscapes

Runoff generation from karst landscapes is a complex and poorly understood phenomena. Complicating the matter further is that we do not fully understand the influence of vegetation, in particular woody plants. The extent and density of woody plants has expanded significantly on many semiarid karst landscapes and a commonly held, but poorly documented, perception is that reducing woody plants would result in higher runoff or recharge. In an attempt to address this question we and others have engaged in a number of experimental and modeling studies, including historical streamflow analysis, small catchment monitoring, micrometeorological assessments, large scale rainfall simulation at the hillslope scale and cave recharge studies. In this presentation we present a syntheses of this work and provide an overview of runoff generation on semiarid karst terrain and evaluate the influence of woody plant cover.