Hello everyone,
I wanted to ask if adding avoided export and avoided erosion values is the right approach for quantifying total sediment retention service or if some other approach is better.
Hi @Atul -
Have you checked out the User Guide section Evaluating Sediment Retention Services? Does it help answer your question?
~ Stacie
I have gone through the user guide, and as per the user guide definition of avoided export (i.e., Vegetation’s contribution to avoided erosion from a pixel, as well as trapping of sediment originating upslope of the pixel, so that neither of these proceed downslope to enter a stream. This may also be thought of as the total sediment retained on the pixel) it provides the total sediment retention services. Am I interpreting it right, or both services are different? In my study area, avoided export is way less than avoided erosion (due to low SDR, I think). So I wondered if avoided export alone represents the actual sediment retention or if I should consider both services separately or as one (addition).
Yes, “avoided export” provides the total sediment retention services - retention on the pixel itself, plus retention from upslope pixels. Avoided export includes avoided erosion, as you can see in the User Guide section Ecosystem service indicators.
We provide both because they can be used for different purposes, depending on whether you’re concerned with the impacts of erosion at the source/on pixel (as farmers are concerned about erosion on their land) or you’re concerned with the impact of erosion downstream.
~ Stacie
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