Sediment response to catchment disturbances

Abstract

As scientists, managers and policy makers interested in sediment, we are concerned with understanding and mitigating how sedimentary systems respond to environmental changes or disturbances. The examples presented in this thematic issue of the Journal of Soils and Sediments help to advance our understanding of such issues and show that the link between disturbance and response may not be straightforward. Indeed, one area of research that requires further attention is how landscapes respond to cumulative effects (Gunn and Noble 2009) because, in reality, most landscapes are affected by multiple stressors (both in time and space) which are unlikely to act in complete isolation from one another.