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Although elephants may exert various impacts on the environment, no data are available on the effects of elephant trails on runoff, soil erosion, and sediment transport to streams during storms. We monitored water and sediment fluxes from an elephant trail in northern Thailand during seven monsoon storms representing a wide range of rainfall energies. Runoff varied from trivial amounts to 353 mm and increased rapidly in tandem with expanding contributing areas once a threshold of wetting occurred. Runoff coefficients during the two largest storms were much higher than could be generated from the trail itself, implying a 4.5- to 7.9-fold increase in the drainage areas contributing to storm runoff. Clockwise hysteresis patterns of suspended sediment observed during most storms was amplified by a "first flush" of sediment early on the hydrograph in which easily entrained sediment was transported. As runoff areas expanded during the latter part of large storms, discharge increased but sediment concentrations declined. Thus, sediment flux was better correlated to kinetic energy of rainfall on the falling limbs of most storm hydrographs compared to rising limbs. Based on a power function relationship between sediment flux and storm kinetic energy, the estimated annual sediment yield from the trail for 135 storms in 2005 was 308 to 375 Mg ha(-1) yr(-1), higher than from most disturbed land surfaces in the tropics. The eight largest storms (30% of total storm energy) in 2005 transported half of the total annual sediment. These measurements together with site investigations reveal that highly interconnected elephant trails, together with other source areas, directly link runoff and sediment to streams.

We determined the extent that a riparian buffer reduces stream suspended sediment concentrations by filtering road runoff during 18 rain events in a 2.5-ha, multi-use watershed in northern Thailand. The dominant buffer species was the perennial sedge Fimbristylis aphylla Zoll. ex Steud. (Cyperaceae). We monitored stream sediment concentration for situations where road runoff either flowed into the riparian buffer or was diverted directly into the stream (buffer and no buffer scenarios). These data were used to develop the following relationships between instantaneous stream sediment concentration (Ci) and discharge (Qi): Ci= 28.329Qi(0.851) (buffer scenario) and Ci= 22.265Qi(1.579) (no buffer scenario). Using these functions to calculate total event suspended concentrations, we determined that the buffer reduced suspended sediment concentration by 34 to 87%, for the range of events monitored. Removal of sediment from runoff generated on a 2.4-m-wide, 165-m-long unpaved road section was achieved principally via ponding, which reduced the transport capacity as flow entered the relatively flat, saturated buffer. Sediment deposition occurred primarily within the first 10 m of the buffer. Some sediment was also deposited on the fillslope leading to the buffer. Maximum road sediment concentration during the largest buffer event approached 100,000 mg L(-1). Meanwhile, the corresponding maximum stream suspended sediment concentration was <4000 mg L(-1). In contrast, maximum stream concentrations when flow bypassed the buffer during smaller events were commonly 4000 to 7000 mg L(-1). Naturally occurring buffers represent an economical means of mitigating road-related impacts in upland basins in Southeast Asia, particularly if combined with measures limiting sediment and runoff production on contributing road sections.