Spatiotemporal Response Research Articles

Synaptic network structure shapes cortically evoked spatio-temporal responses of STN and GPe neurons in a computational model.

The basal ganglia (BG) are involved in motor control and play an essential role in movement disorders such as hemiballismus, dystonia, and Parkinson's disease. Neurons in the motor part of the BG respond to passive movement or stimulation of different body parts and to stimulation of corresponding cortical regions. Experimental evidence suggests that the BG are organized somatotopically, i.e., specific areas of the body are associated with specific regions in the BG nuclei. Signals related to the same body part that propagate along different pathways converge onto the same BG neurons, leading to characteristic shapes of cortically evoked responses. This suggests the existence of functional channels that allow for the processing of different motor commands or information related to different body parts in parallel. Neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease are associated with pathological activity in the BG and impaired synaptic connectivity, together with reorganization of somatotopic maps. One hypothesis is that motor symptoms are, at least partly, caused by an impairment of network structure perturbing the organization of functional channels. We developed a computational model of the STN-GPe circuit, a central part of the BG. By removing individual synaptic connections, we analyzed the contribution of signals propagating along different pathways to cortically evoked responses. We studied how evoked responses are affected by systematic changes in the network structure. To quantify the BG's organization in the form of functional channels, we suggested a two-site stimulation protocol. Our model reproduced the cortically evoked responses of STN and GPe neurons and the contributions of different pathways suggested by experimental studies. Cortical stimulation evokes spatio-temporal response patterns that are linked to the underlying synaptic network structure. Our two-site stimulation protocol yielded an approximate functional channel width. The presented results provide insight into the organization of BG synaptic connectivity, which is important for the development of computational models. The synaptic network structure strongly affects the processing of cortical signals and may impact the generation of pathological rhythms. Our work may motivate further experiments to analyze the network structure of BG nuclei and their organization in functional channels.

Using the InVEST-PLUS Model to Predict and Analyze the Pattern of Ecosystem Carbon storage in Liaoning Province, China

Studying the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of carbon storage, balancing land development and utilization with ecological protection, and promoting urban low-carbon sustainable development are important topics under China’s “dual carbon strategy” (Carbon emissions stabilize and harmonize with natural carbon absorption). However, existing research has paid little attention to the impact of land use changes under different spatial policies on the provincial-scale ecosystem carbon storage. In this study, we established a carbon density database for Liaoning Province and obtained the spatial and temporal distribution of carbon storage over the past 20 years. Then, based on 16 driving factors and multiple spatial policies in Liaoning Province, we predicted land use and land cover changes (LUCC) under three scenarios for 2050 and analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and response mechanisms of carbon storage under different scenarios. The results showed that (1) LUCC directly affected carbon storage, with a 35.61% increase in construction land and a decrease in carbon storage of 0.51 Tg over the 20-year period. (2) From 2020 to 2050, the carbon storage varied significantly among the natural trend scenario (NTS), ecological restoration scenario (ERS), and economic priority scenario (EPS), with values of 2112.05 Tg, 2164.40 Tg, and 2105.90 Tg, respectively. Carbon storage in the ecological restoration scenario exhibited positive growth, mainly due to a substantial increase in forest area. (3) The spatial pattern of carbon storage in Liaoning Province was characterized by “low in the center, high in the east, and balanced in the west”. Therefore, Liaoning Province can consider rationally formulating and strictly implementing the spatial policy of ecological protection in the future land planning so as to control the disorderly growth of construction land, realize the growth of ecological land area, effectively enhance carbon storage, and ensure the realization of the goal of “dual carbon strategy”.

Rotational grazing with cattle‐free zones supports the coexistence of cattle and wild herbivores in African rangelands

Abstract African wildlife populations are declining at an alarming rate. To stop further population declines and restore ecosystems, more areas for wildlife are needed. Community‐based conservation with wildlife‐livestock coexistence in the vast rangelands of Africa presents a major opportunity. However, the efficacy of wildlife conservation in mixed land‐use areas remains an outstanding question. To assess the ecological outcomes of land‐sharing between regulated livestock herds and wildlife populations in African savannas, we test how rotational cattle grazing affects spatiotemporal dynamics of 15 large herbivore species in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. First, we tested how wild herbivore distributions across the Greater Mara Ecosystem (the Mara, ~2600 km2) are related to cattle density and environmental variables using 584,561 observations of wild herbivores (ecosystem scale). In a second analysis, we tested how rotational cattle grazing affects wild herbivore distributions in a 300 km2 subsection of the Mara using 30,583 observations (landscape scale). Finally, we tested how functional traits of wild herbivores affect species‐level spatiotemporal responses to cattle grazing. At the ecosystem scale, the presence of five wild herbivore species was positively correlated with cattle density, while cattle effects on wild herbivore abundances were species‐dependent with both increases and decreases. At the landscape scale, rotational cattle grazing strongly impacted the spatiotemporal habitat selection of wild herbivores, resulting in distinct lag periods with which different species are attracted to areas previously grazed by cattle. These lag periods were linked to functional traits, with body mass and herd size explaining 35% of the interspecific differences. Small to medium‐sized herbivores with large herds select areas recently grazed by cattle, whereas large species with large herd sizes and small species with small herd sizes avoid recently grazed areas. Synthesis and applications: Our results revealed that the effect of cattle on wild herbivores varies considerably among species, suggesting that cattle‐wildlife interactions range from facilitation to competition. To maintain species that strongly avoid cattle, designated livestock‐free zones remain essential, also in rotational grazing systems. Rotational grazing systems with regulated livestock densities present an important opportunity to better manage wildlife‐livestock coexistence and thus improve wildlife conservation in African rangelands.

Harnessing asymmetry to reprogram nonlinear metamaterials on-the-fly with no moving parts

Various two-dimensional fabrication methods, such as deposition, etching, milling, laser cutting, and water jetting, suffer from asymmetry between the top and the bottom surface of fabricated parts. Such asymmetry is usually undesirable and can compromise functionality, or at least add uncertainty to fabricated components. The common practice is to assume symmetry between the top and the bottom surfaces by using average dimensions. In this study, we harness such asymmetry to realize metamaterials with dynamically tunable (i.e., re-programmable) properties. Our metamaterial is composed of identical unit cells with two concentric Archimedean spiral cuts and a permanent magnet embedded in the unit cell's center. By utilizing external electromagnets, we further amplify the fabrication asymmetry, through the inherent asymmetry between a repulsive vs attractive state between the permanent magnets and the electromagnets. We demonstrate the utility of our metamaterials by programming its spatiotemporal response in both time and frequency even in the presence of high amplitude harmonic excitation. Our findings can be utilized for broad range of applications, from seismic sensing at low frequency to ultrasonic imaging at higher frequencies.

Effects of noise and noise reduction on audiovisual speech perception in cochlear implant users: An ERP study

ObjectiveHearing with a cochlear implant (CI) is difficult in noisy environments, but the use of noise reduction algorithms, specifically ForwardFocus, can improve speech intelligibility. The current event-related potentials (ERP) study examined the electrophysiological correlates of this perceptual improvement. MethodsTen bimodal CI users performed a syllable-identification task in auditory and audiovisual conditions, with syllables presented from the front and stationary noise presented from the sides. Brainstorm was used for spatio-temporal evaluation of ERPs. ResultsCI users revealed an audiovisual benefit as reflected by shorter response times and greater activation in temporal and occipital regions at P2 latency. However, in auditory and audiovisual conditions, background noise hampered speech processing, leading to longer response times and delayed auditory-cortex-activation at N1 latency. Nevertheless, activating ForwardFocus resulted in shorter response times, reduced listening effort and enhanced superior-frontal-cortex-activation at P2 latency, particularly in audiovisual conditions. ConclusionsForwardFocus enhances speech intelligibility in audiovisual speech conditions by potentially allowing the reallocation of attentional resources to relevant auditory speech cues. SignificanceThis study shows for CI users that background noise and ForwardFocus differentially affect spatio-temporal cortical response patterns, both in auditory and audiovisual speech conditions.

Routing stemflow water through the soil via preferential flow: a dual-labelling approach with artificial tracers

Abstract. Stemflow and its belowground funnelling along roots and macropores may play an important role in the soil moisture redistribution in forest environments. In this study, a stemflow experiment on Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) used artificial tracers to view and quantify preferential flow after stemflow infiltration into the soil. A total of 41 L of water labelled with enriched deuterium and brilliant blue FCF were applied at a flow rate of 7 L h−1 to the stem of a pine tree, which corresponds to the stemflow caused by about 50 mm of rainfall. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) probes were installed around the tree trunk to measure the high-resolution volumetric water content. A total of 1 d after the stemflow discharge, soil pits were dug in the different cardinal directions and at varying distances from the tree. Photographs were taken for imaging analysis to quantify preferential flow metrics. Soil samples were taken from the different profiles to analyse the dye concentrations and isotopic compositions. We found that stemflow infiltrated through an annulus-shaped area around the tree base. We observed a heterogenous spatiotemporal soil moisture response to stemflow and the occurrence of shallow perched water tables around the tree trunk. Dye staining demonstrated that stemflow infiltrated primarily along the surface of coarse roots and through macropores. The dye coverage was less extensive close to the soil surface and increased with depth and with proximity to the tree trunk. Lateral flow was also observed, mainly in the shallow soil layers. Our analyses demonstrate the prevalence of preferential flow. Deuterium and brilliant blue FCF concentrations were significantly correlated. The tracer concentrations decreased with increasing distance from the tree trunk, indicating dilution and mixing with residual soil water. Macropores, coarse roots (living or decayed) and perched water tables produced a complex network regulating the preferential flow. Our results suggest that stemflow affects soil moisture distribution, and thus likely also groundwater recharge and surface runoff. Our study provides insights into the soil hydrological processes that are regulated by stemflow belowground funnelling and improves our understanding of forest–water interactions.

Where do we manage? Uncovering the hidden impact of human presence on mammal conservation in northern Myanmar

Species spatiotemporal responses to human presence and prioritizing conservation areas are essential for effective management and conservation planning. To address this information, we conducted a long-term large mammal survey in both protected areas (PAs) and outside of PAs (non-PA) in Northern Mountain Forest Complex (NMFC), Myanmar by using 174 camera traps from 2015 to 2019. We selected 14 common species for the single species occupancy model and activity pattern analysis to evaluate their spatiotemporal responses to different anthropogenic and environmental variables. Results showed that human presence did not have a significant impact on mammal occupancy, whereas at the community level, it had a significant influence on mammal abundance. Some variables, including distance to settlements, proximity to water sources and forest cover, shaped the habitat occupancy of mammals in NMFC. Regarding the temporal axis, only three out of 14 species had higher temporal activity overlap with humans, while the remaining species showed lower to medium overlap in both PAs and non-PA, confirming that most mammals avoided human presence through temporal rather than spatial scale. Moreover, our priority analysis revealed that non-PA supported a significant proportion of medium- to high-priority areas, particularly in the south-eastern part of NMFC. We concluded that preserving both PAs and non-PA are crucial and human activities have an implicit influence on large mammal conservation in NMFC. The government should prioritize the south-eastern region of outside of the current PAs network and adopt community-based conservation strategies to ensure the efficacy of PA networks and biodiversity conservation in NMFC.

Spatiotemporal evolution and relationship between construction land expansion and territorial space conflicts at the county level in Jiangsu Province

In rapidly urbanizing areas, intense human development activities and fierce competition for spatial resources have led to apparent territorial space conflicts. This paper selects Jiangsu Province as the study area to explore the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and response relationship between the expansion of county-level construction land and territorial space conflicts from 1985 to 2020 to provide a reference for regional territorial space optimization. The results show that the construction land expansion intensity (CEI) at the county level showed a spatial characteristic of greater power in the southeast than in the northwest. The spatial expansion mode (SEI) was mainly characterized by spread type, with construction land experiencing marginal expansion, the emergence of new independent expansion points, and then the expansion process of agglomeration distribution. From 1985 to 2020, there was a significant increase in territorial space conflicts and an increase in spatial aggregation at the county level. The regions with high space conflicts intensity index (SCII) values and high increase in space conflicts intensity changes (SCIIC) were mainly located in Xuzhou, Nanjing, and at the junction of Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, and Zhenjiang. There was a positive correlation between CEI and SCIIC, and the correlation of positive correlation units increased from south to north. There was a positive correlation between SEI and SCIIC, and the units with a strong positive correlation were mainly located in Xuzhou, Nantong, Changzhou, and Wuxi. The changes in population density and GDP also affect SCIIC. This paper strengthens the understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and related relationships of construction land expansion and territorial space conflicts at the county level over a long time, which can provide a decision-making basis and reference for the regulation of county construction land expansion, territorial space optimization in Jiangsu Province.

Interpreting the retinal neural code for natural scenes: From computations to neurons

Understanding the circuit mechanisms of the visual code for natural scenes is a central goal of sensory neuroscience. We show that a three-layer network model predicts retinal natural scene responses with an accuracy nearing experimental limits. The model's internal structure is interpretable, as interneurons recorded separately and not modeled directly are highly correlated with model interneurons. Models fitted only to natural scenes reproduce a diverse set of phenomena related to motion encoding, adaptation, and predictive coding, establishing their ethological relevance to natural visual computation. A new approach decomposes the computations of model ganglion cells into the contributions of model interneurons, allowing automatic generation of new hypotheses for how interneurons with different spatiotemporal responses are combined to generate retinal computations, including predictive phenomena currently lacking an explanation. Our results demonstrate a unified and general approach to study the circuit mechanisms of ethological retinal computations under natural visual scenes.

Spatiotemporal responses of net primary productivity of alpine ecosystems to flash drought: The Qilian Mountains

Understanding the impact of high-altitude flash droughts on vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) is crucially important for ecosystem management. Here, we investigated the response of NPP to flash drought with a case of the Qilian Mountains (QLMs). Our results indicated that the intensity of flash drought in the QLMs increased significantly during 1982–2018, and NPP was highly sensitive to flash drought, with 64.3 % (124,245 km2) of the region showing highly negative responses. The partial correlation analysis between NPP and meteorological factors in terms of different drought intensities showed that intensified flash drought enhanced the coupling between NPP and temperature/VPD. In the short-duration flash drought events with positive temperature anomalies, temperature increase will promote the accumulation of NPP; however, the carbon uptake of plants was significantly compromised by VPD in the flash drought events with negative temperature anomalies. Our study may provide valuable information for drought monitoring and comprehensive ecosystem management.

Spatiotemporal of ecosystem service values response to land use/cover change based on geo-informatic Tupu – A case study in Tianjin, China

Revealing the spatiotemporal evolution of ecosystem service value (ESV) is a prerequisite for regional ecosystem management. This paper integrates the Geo-informatic Tupu method, the Markov transfer model, and the Barycenter model to propose an analytical method for the spatiotemporal response of ESV to land use/cover change(LUCC). Taking Tianjin as the empirical study area, we estimated its ESV and spatiotemporal transfer, rise and fall changes, and migration of the barycenter. The results showed that: (1) The land use composite index of Tianjin increased, and land use changes tended to level off throughout the study period. (2) From 2000 to 2020, ESV rose and then fell, with a total decrease of 8.03 billion RMB. (3) The change of Tupu is most dramatic in Xiqing, Binhai New Area, and Dongli, where economic and social growth is rapid. The barycenter of transfer Tupu shifts from centralized distribution to decentralized distribution around Dongli, and the ESV tends to increase to the south. (4) LUCC, NDVI, and DEM mainly drive the spatial heterogeneity of ESV in Tianjin. This research offers new insights into the spatiotemporal evolution analysis of ESV and could provide scientific references for regional ecological management and policy formulation.

Hydrologic-geotechnical modelling of shallow landslide and flood hazards caused by heavy rainfall

Landslides and flooding are two of the most common hazards associated with heavy rainfall. Most studies, however, tackle the occurrence of these hazards separately or independently. Therefore, this study introduces a catchment-scale, multihazard approach that unifies the assessment of both phenomena through a combination of hydrological and geotechnical principles. By incorporating surface flow, infiltration, and slope stability analyses, the spatio-temporal response of both landslides and flooding during intense or heavy rainfall is characterized. To improve computational efficiency, a hybrid approach, consisting of the zero- and local-inertia flow models, is introduced to approximate the surface flow. Additionally, rainfall infiltration is estimated using the one-dimensional Green-Ampt model, and the results are incorporated in a deterministic slope stability analysis whose failure mechanism is generated from the forces arising from the effects of surface flow and the downward propagation of water along the assumed failure surface. The model is applied in the catchment of Marumori Town, Japan which suffered numerous landslide and flooding disasters during Typhoon Hagibis in 2019. The results indicate that the proposed model successfully simulates the hydrologic and geotechnical response of the catchment showing the distribution of both unstable slopes and inundated areas indicative of landslide and flooding hazards. The model’s capability to identify the timing and location of potential landslide and flood-prone areas could provide a practical framework for a unified early warning system, enhancing emergency planning and response efforts during heavy rainfall.

Extraction of transient signal from GPS position time series by employing ICA

Transient deformation, such as post-seismic slip, slow slip and pre-seismic slip events, is a limited low-frequency deformation that can last for hours to months, in contrast to a sudden slip on a fault caused by earthquakes. Continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS), one of the most common geodetic techniques for continuously monitoring crustal deformation, is capable of capturing transient deformation signals. A critical point in characterizing transient deformation signals is the development of extracting and deciphering transient deformation signals from a huge and messy data set of position time series. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), one of the data-driven methods, has been employed to derive transient deformation signals from position time series combing with Kalman filtering. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) performs well in recovering and separating the sources of observed data, however, it is rarely used in extracting transient deformation signals. We aim to decompose the transient deformation signals from the daily GPS observation deployed in Akutan Island from 2007 to 2015 with the ICA method and obtain the spatiotemporal responses to the source signals of transient deformation. Our results indicate that ICA method can also characterize effectively transient deformation signals spatially and temporally. Additionally, the independent relationship between sources obtained by ICA allows for flexibility in linearly combining different sources.

A histochemical reporter system to study extracellular ATP response in plants.

When cells experience acute mechanical distress, they release ATP from their cellular compartment into the surrounding microenvironment. This extracellular ATP (eATP) can then act as a danger signal-signaling cellular damage. In plants, cells adjacent to damage detect rising eATP concentrations through the cell-surface receptor kinase, P2K1. Following eATP perception, P2K1 initiates a signaling cascade mobilizing plant defense. Recent transcriptome analysis revealed a profile of eATP-induced genes sharing pathogen- and wound-response hallmarks-consistent with a working model for eATP as a defense-mobilizing danger signal. To build on the transcriptional footprint and broaden our understanding of dynamic eATP signaling responses in plants, we aimed to i) generate a visual toolkit for eATP-inducible marker genes using a β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter system and ii) evaluate the spatiotemporal response of these genes to eATP in plant tissues. Here, we demonstrate that the promoter activities of five genes, ATPR1, ATPR2, TAT3, WRKY46, and CNGC19, were highly sensitive to eATP in the primary root meristem and elongation zones with maximal responses at 2h after treatment. These results suggest the primary root tip as a hub to study eATP-signaling activity and provide a proof-of-concept toward using these reporters to further dissect eATP and damage signaling in plants.

The spatiotemporal response of photosynthetic accumulation per leaf area to climate change on alpine grassland

The spatiotemporal response of photosynthetic accumulation per leaf area to climate change on alpine grassland

Physics-guided identification of Euler–Bernoulli beam PDE model from full-field displacement response with SimultaNeous basis function Approximation and Parameter Estimation (SNAPE)

Full-field measurements of the continuous spatiotemporal response of the physical processes such as structural vibration or fluid flow generate large datasets. In many scientific fields, such continuous spatiotemporal dynamic models are represented by partial differential equations (PDEs). In the past, attempts have been made to identify the PDE models from the measured response by inferring its parameters by the use of either regression or deep learning-based techniques. But the previously presented regression-based methods fail to estimate the parameters of the higher-order PDE models in the presence of moderate noise. Likewise, the deep learning-based methods lack the much-needed property of repeatability and robustness in the identification of PDE models from the measured response. The authors introduced the method of SimultaNeous Basis Function Approximation and Parameter Estimation (SNAPE) in a recent paper which addresses such drawbacks by fitting basis functions to the measured response and simultaneously infer the parameters of the PDE model. In this paper the theory and formulation of SNAPE is presented to perform physics-guided identification of the Euler–Bernoulli beam PDE model which is widely applied in the modeling of large scale infrastructures to nanoscale structures.The domain knowledge of the physics is used as a constraint in the formulation of the optimization framework. The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithm is used to simultaneously optimize the loss function over the parameter space of the PDE model and coefficient space of the basis functions. The proposed method not only infers the parameters but also estimates a continuous function that approximates the solution to the PDE model. The efficacy of the method is both numerically and experimentally validated on noise corrupted full-field vibration response. The method neither requires the knowledge of the initial or boundary conditions of the beam nor comprises of model discretization error as in the case of finite element model updating. SNAPE demonstrates its applicability on various homogeneous and time-varying nonhomogeneous boundary conditions.

The spatiotemporal responses of phytoplankton to environmental variables in 7 coastal lagoons of Kızılırmak Delta (Samsun, Türkiye)

The spatiotemporal responses of phytoplankton to environmental variables in 7 coastal lagoons of Kızılırmak Delta (Samsun, Türkiye)

The morphodynamic response of a gravel barrier to unimodal and bimodal storm wave conditions

Gravel barrier beaches can offer natural protection to coastlines from adverse storm conditions. Understanding the morphodynamics of gravel barrier beaches is vital for the effective and sustainable management of these systems. Here, we use a synthetic dataset to investigate the morphodynamic response of the gravel barrier beach at Hurst Castle Spit, located on the Southwest coast of the United Kingdom, to both unimodal and bimodal storms. This spit is exposed to wind and swell waves propagating up the English Channel from the Southwest approaches and has suffered repeated storm erosion. The results are analyzed to identify the key drivers that govern the spatio-temporal gravel barrier morphodynamic responses to storms and to explore the morphodynamic states of the barrier. We found that the morphodynamic response of the barrier beach is strongly influenced by the combination of storm wave height and still water level. Further, the presence of swell waves can be a controlling factor in the barrier response.

Scrutinizing the Hydrological Responses of Chennai, India Using Coupled SWAT-FEM Model under Land Use Land Cover and Climate Change Scenarios

This study implemented a coupled SWAT-FEM simulation model to evaluate the impacts of land use land cover and climate change scenarios (LCS) on the water resources of river catchments in Chennai, India. The land use land cover data were obtained by merging the source data from National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Climate change simulations were obtained from four global climate models (GCM), including GFDL Baseline Scenario (1981–2000), GFDL A1B Scenario (2081–2100), CCSM4 Baseline Scenario (1986–2005), and CCSM4 A1B Scenario (2081–2100). The LCS predicted temperature increases of 2.32 °C and 1.74 °C for GFDL and CCSM4, respectively, by the end of the century. The water use predictions suggested increases above 20% in the utilization of water by 2100, inferring the noticeable dynamics of inter-annual as well as inter-month variability in water resources in the river basins of Chennai soon. The study is novel through its implementation of a coupled modeling approach to improve the practicality of the SWAT-FEM model and to deliver useful projections of land and climate change impacts on hydrological responses. The results provide useful insights into how the variability in climate conditions alters the spatiotemporal water responses in catchment scales.

Analyzing the influence of changes in land use and management practices on the lag time of peak flows for tropical watersheds of Ethiopia

AbstractChanges in peak flow response time governed by rainfall and physical configurations of watersheds have been the topic of many studies, but other factors are also important. We aimed to analyze the dynamics in the lag time (TL) of peak flow for a tropical watershed (Kecha) and its sub‐watersheds (Dokmit, Zenjero Maderia, and Wotit Minch) in Ethiopia, as influenced by land‐use changes from 1982 to 2017 and the implementation of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices since 2011. Layered maps of land use, soil type, and SWC practices were used to determine the curve number, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service hydrologic model was used to estimate TL. We compared the estimated values against measured median values of TL for 30 rainfall–runoff events. The estimated TL of 1982, 2005, and 2017 varied from 9 to 19 min, 8 to 18 min, and 10 to 22 min, respectively, in the Dokmit, Zenjero Maderia, and Wotit Minch sub‐watersheds. The smallest (8 min) and greatest (22 min) values of TL were observed during 2005 and 2017, respectively. These results are likely attributable to the increased amount of cultivated area at the expense of bushland and forest in 2005 as compared to 1982, and the implementation of SWC practices in 2011–2017. Dokmit had the lowest TL values of the three sub‐watersheds, most likely because of its greater coverage of grazing and cultivated lands and degraded Nitic Luvisol. The variation in TL values among the sub‐watersheds was related to changes in both land use and SWC practices but also to the presence of degraded areas inherited from past human activities. Overall, such spatiotemporal flow response time analysis can provide useful information for the proper design of sustainable development strategies for particular niches in tropical regions of Ethiopia and elsewhere.