Land Cover Dynamics and Geomorphic Processes in Hillslope Environments: From Data Acquisition to Modelling and Management Practices

Dear Colleagues,

Land cover is a key factor in geomorphic processes in steep land environments. It exhibits both beneficial and adverse effects on hillslope denudation and substantially influences landscape evolution. Land cover information becomes of fundamental importance in many applications for assessing soil erosion and landslide activity at difference scales, from local to global. Apparent changes in land cover affect the accuracy of most investigations that aim to detect, observe, analyse, model, or predict geomorphic and landform-shaping processes. Such processes can alter soil properties, such as soil reinforcement and soil aggregation, causing landscape denudation, which has a strong impact on both natural ecosystems and cultivated land and leads to increasing environmental diversity and/or economic damage. This topic is of great interest, despite uncertainty and complexity, and requires accurate modeling and prediction, in particular, in the context of changing climate conditions.

The present Special Issue is designed to cluster the most recent scientific research dealing with the improvement and enhancement of knowledge on soil erosion and landslide processes directly linked to land cover dynamics.

Studies on the impact of land cover changes on shallow or deep-seated and transient or long-term slope instabilities as well as surface water flow and related soil erosion processes are welcome. Research abstracts are invited to address the following:

1. observation and detection of different land cover types, land use changes, and occurrences of erosion or landslides using a wide spectrum of technologies, from field measurements to remote sensing techniques;
2. analyses on the relationship between land cover and geomorphic processes from local to regional and supraregional scales;
3. prediction of impacts on surface water flow, erosion, and slope stability due to land cover changes;
4. innovative modeling approaches for assessing soil instabilities (statistical, physically based, numerical) that focus on model implementation, parameterisation, uncertainties, and simulation of land cover evolution; and
5. development of conceptual frameworks for scientists and guidelines and regulations for practitioners, technicians, and policy and decision makers.

Pioneering research from all fields, especially from geomorphology, agricultural science, soil science, geotechnics, and environmental engineering, are highly welcome. In particular, young career scientists are encouraged to contribute to the session with original and advanced studies.

Dr. Elmar M. Schmaltz
Dr. Alessio Cislaghi
Dr. Stefan Steger
Guest Editors

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• land management
• land use
• landscape dynamics
• landslide dynamics
• soil erosion