Assessing landscape disturbance and recovery across a WWI battlefield: Verdun, France

Warfare and the physical environment have always shared a close and interconnected relationship. While a large body of literature examines the ability of the physical environment to influence battle outcomes, a limited degree of research explores the inverse relationship, that is, the various effects of warfare upon the environment. The destruction associated with modern warfare is particularly catastrophic due to the extent, magnitude, and duration of contemporary wars. These large magnitude disturbances radically alter the shape of the landscape, limiting the ability of the landscape to revert back to its original state. By pursuing two research objectives, this dissertation research examines landscape disturbance and recovery across the World War I battlefield of Verdun, France. The first research objective was to characterize the varying magnitudes of disturbance. Five study sites were surveyed that best reflected the varying degrees of disturbance, while maintaining similar environmental characteristics. Disturbance magnitude was determined by counting craters and measuring their dimensional attributes in two quarter hectare plots at each of the five study sites. Additionally, a survey of microtopography was performed at each of the five study sites. The microtopographic survey recorded changes in elevation to the nearest centimeter at 0.5 meter intervals along 50 meter transects. The second research objective was to characterize, describe, and explain soil development within the disturbances created by explosive munitions. This objective is based primarily on parameters associated with soil development data. Soil development was ascertained by examining the degree of leaching of various cations from the soil profile and the character/amount of organic matter that has accumulated to form the O and A horizons.; This study provides insight into the ability of a landscape to recover following a catastrophic anthropogenic disturbance. Given the controversy surrounding the environmental implications of modern military operations around the world, it is important to examine the impact military disturbances exert on the landscape. Additionally, humans are increasingly reshaping the face of the earth through activities such as mining, logging, intensive agriculture, and warfare. An understanding of landscape recovery through the holistic approach of studying geomorphic, soil, and bio-ecologic factors will help to better manage and restore severely disturbed landscapes in the future. Such work serves to provide society with a better understanding of how and to what degree landscapes recover, following a catastrophic anthropogenic disturbance such as war.