TY - CONF A1 - Hinz, Christoph A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Gerwin, Werner T1 - Competing feedbacks drive state transitions during initial catchment evolution: Examples from post-mining landscape and ecosystems evolution T2 - European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2014, Vienna, Austria, 27 April – 02 May 2014 N2 - Within the context of severely disturbed landscapes with little or no ecological memory, such as post-mining landscapes, we propose a simple framework that explains the catchment evolution as a result of competing feedbacks influenced by the initial conditions and the atmospheric drivers such as rainfall intermittency and intensity. The first stage of the evolution is dominated by abiotic feedbacks triggered by rainfall and subsequent fluid flow causing particle mobilisation on the surface and in the subsurface leading to flow concentration or in some instances to densification of surface and subsurface substrates. Subsequently, abiotic-biotic feedbacks start to compete in the sense that biological activity generally stabilizes substrate by preventing particle mobilisation and hence contribute to converting the substrate to a habitat. We suggest that these competing feedbacks may generate alternative stable states in particular under semi-arid and arid climatic conditions, while in temperate often energy limited environments biological process “outcompete” abiotic processes leading to a stable state, in particular from the water balance point of view for comparable geomorphic situations. Y1 - 2014 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-UBICO/frontdoor/index/index/docId/10678 UR - http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/EGU2014-12609.pdf N1 - EGU2014-12609 PB - European Geophysical Society CY - Katlenburg-Lindau ER -