Abstract
The effect of non-uniform solar radiation over opposing hillslopes leads
to aspect-controlled vegetation patterns in semi-arid ecosystems. It
creates a differentiation in soil properties and vegetation
characteristics. In mid- to high-latitudes where available soil moisture
is a limiting factor for vegetation growth, slopes with polewardfacing
aspect tend to develop denser vegetation cover that provides more
erosion protection than on the equatorward-facing hillslopes. The
variation in erosion rates across opposing hillslopes causes the
topographic asymmetry of hillslopes over long timescales. The magnitude
of this asymmetry is measured by the hillslope asymmetry index (HAI), a
metric given as the ratio of the median slope angles of opposite
hillslopes. In this study, we present a novel approach to investigate
the relationships of HAI with climatological, geomorphic, and ecologic
variables at a global scale. Here, we analyzed these relationships using
DEM data to compute HAI for 80 different catchments across the world, in
which aspect-controlled vegetation has been reported in the literature.
We used the CHILD landscape evolution model (LEM), which uses the
continuity equation for water, sediment, and biomass, in order to
investigate the control of climatological, geomorphic, and ecologic
variables on the development of hillslope asymmetry. Preliminary results
show that latitude and mean topographic gradient are the two dominant
factors affecting hillslope asymmetry due to their vital role in
controlling vegetation density through the modulation of incoming solar
radiation. These results improve our understanding on how different
climatic variables and geographic properties affect the magnitude of
hillslope asymmetry and their implications on landform evolution
modelling.