Impacts of land-use and land-cover changes on rockfall propagation: Insights from the Grenoble conurbation

The Science of the Total Environment
Jérôme Lopez-SaezFrédéric Berger

Abstract

Several studies have debated the incidence of global warming on the probability of rock instability, whereas the impacts of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on rockfall propagation and associated hazards have received comparably little interest. In this study we evaluate the impacts of LULC changes on rockfall hazards on the slopes above the village of Crolles (Chartreuse massif, Grenoble conurbation, French Alps) through a three-level approach: (i) diachronic landscape analysis for four different periods of the past (i.e. 1850, 1956, 1975, and 2013), (ii) computation of 3D rockfall simulations taking explicitly account of reconstructed LULC changes, and (iii) resulting changes in rockfall hazards over time. We reveal that the disappearance of viticultural landscapes (relating to the decline of cropping areas during the interwar period) and intense afforestation of the steepest upper portion of the slope resulted in a significant increase of rockfall return period associated to a gradual decrease of mean kinetic energy at the level of the urban front of Crolles. According to the Eurobloc methodology, the degree of hazard decreased significantly despite the continuous and rapid urban sprawl on the slopes. These results und...Continue Reading

References

Oct 6, 2005·Tree Physiology·Luuk K A Dorren, Frédéric Berger
Mar 19, 2014·The Science of the Total Environment·M StoffelC Huggel
Apr 8, 2014·The Science of the Total Environment·F A L PachecoR F Valle Junior

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