Natural and artificial linkages and discontinuities in a Mediterranean landscape: Some case studies from the Durance Valley, France

Morphological linkages and discontinuities have been defined in both natural and anthropogenic terms. Such terms are considered useful in understanding the spatial and temporal roles of erosion from source areas, as indicated by linkages, when they are in operation, and by discontinuities, which act as storages or buffers in stabilizing landscapes. The latter slow erosion and promote conservation particularly in Mediterranean areas, where human impacts are thought to be more important than natural processes. These concepts are illustrated by reference to three case studies in the Durance Valley: in a part of a Mediterranean landscape, on a floodplain segment and along of the main channel. While there are major concerns in more semiarid parts of these seasonally dry zones, present conditions in the more humid south of France, supplied also by exotic upper catchments, are under less threat of degradation. This is until such times when water shortages may occur, due to changed regimes, as anticipated in the predicted global warming climate changes, and by the continuing development in this area.