Hydrologic connectivity between landscapes and streams: Transferring reach- and plot-scale understanding to the catchment scale

The relationship between catchment structure and runoff characteristics is poorly understood. In steep headwater catchments with shallow soils the accumulation of hillslope area (upslope accumulated area (UAA)) is a hypothesized first-order control on the distribution of soil water and groundwater. Hillslope-riparian water table connectivity represents the linkage between the dominant catchment landscape elements (hillslopes and riparian zones) and the channel network. Hydrologic connectivity between hillslope-riparian-stream (HRS) landscape elements is heterogeneous in space and often temporally transient. We sought to test the relationship between UAA and the existence and longevity of HRS shallow groundwater connectivity. We quantified [...]