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Impacts of unpaved roads on runoff and erosion in a dry tropical setting: Isla De Culebra, Puerto Rico

  • Sediments, Sec 3 • Hillslope and River Basin Sediment Dynamics • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Unpaved road erosion represents a key source of terrigenous sediment threatening Caribbean coral reefs, yet no empirical data existed to document this in Culebra, Puerto Rico. Here, we compared unpaved road erosion to that from undisturbed hillslopes and evaluated the effects of road grading frequency and slope on erosion.

Methods

A total of 46 plot-scale rainfall simulation experiments were used to measure runoff response and erosion rates from undisturbed hillslopes and unpaved roads with varying slopes and time since grading. Rainfall rates recorded over a one-year period combined with empirically derived infiltration capacity curves and erosion rates allowed for annualizing runoff and sediment production for natural hillslopes and four road types representing different grading frequencies and slopes.

Results

Infiltration rates from roads were between a tenth and a quarter of those from natural hillslopes and that lead to roads generating runoff five times more frequently than natural hillslopes annually. Road erosion rates were between 330 and 760 times greater than those from undisturbed hillslopes, depending on slope and grading. Roads represent a dominant source of sediments responsible for increasing watershed-scale erosion rates from 1.1 to 25 times above background rates.

Conclusion

Unpaved roads represent a major source of the sediment that threatens the coral reefs of Culebra. Therefore, future new road building must be kept to a minimum and unpaved roads must be the focus of coral reef protection efforts.

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Data Availability

Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Acknowledgements

Our most sincere gratitude to Protectores de Cuencas personnel who provided the logistical support that allowed conducting the rainfall simulation experiments.

Funding

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-Coral Reef Conservation Program (Grant/Agreement No. NA17NMF4630295).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and the Environment, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    C. E. Ramos-Scharrón & P. McLaughlin

  2. Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    C. E. Ramos-Scharrón

  3. Protectores de Cuencas Inc., Yauco, Puerto Rico

    Y. Figueroa-Sánchez

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  1. C. E. Ramos-Scharrón
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  3. Y. Figueroa-Sánchez
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Correspondence to C. E. Ramos-Scharrón.

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Ramos-Scharrón, C.E., McLaughlin, P. & Figueroa-Sánchez, Y. Impacts of unpaved roads on runoff and erosion in a dry tropical setting: Isla De Culebra, Puerto Rico. J Soils Sediments 24, 1420–1430 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-024-03749-2

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