Variable Sources of Suspended Sediment and Nutrients from Small Watersheds

摘要

A stream channel classification procedure was developed to delineate and characterize the channel networks of watersheds in terms of factors affecting production of fluvial sediment and nutrients. The procedure was applied to 10 small watersheds in the east-central Sierra Nevada where yield of suspended sediment and nutrients (notably nitrate nitrogen, organic nitrogen, and orthophosphate) had been measured during the snowmelt period. The relationship and significance of these channel characteristics to the yield of the above parameters was tested with multiple regression techniques.