Although the effects of land use changes on hydrological functioning are widely addressed, issues such as which components of the hydrological system are affected, how and on what time scales are still poorly understood. In this context, we evaluated whether forest restoration improves soil water conditions in a Cerrado area, and whether the combined effects of forest structure and hydrological variables influence soil attributes. For this, we monitored three areas in different stages of natural succession over seven months, and evaluated vegetation structure indicators, hydrological indicators and soil indicators. Vegetation structure variables were analyzed with Principal Components Analysis, and to evaluate the direct and indirect effects among the variables we used structural equations modelling. Each successional stage differed in relation to forest structure, affecting the hydrological processes and causing the improvement of soil attributes with forest development. In the initial stage, throughfall was higher due to the more open vegetation, and the soil was more resistant to penetration. With the development of the vegetation, stemflow and interception also increased. As a result of the structural and hydrological changes, the model indicated that soil moisture was influenced directly by throughfall and stemflow, as well as by soil resistance to penetration and infiltration rates, and indirectly by forest structure, which influenced these variables, except infiltration rates. These results suggest that hydrological variables can be good indicators of forest restoration monitoring, providing a direct link to changes in soil conditions.
In order to contribute to the discussion on how forest development interacts with hydrological processes related to rainfall partitioning, we aimed to characterize the rainfall interception (RI), throughfall (Tf), stemflow (Sf), and net precipitation (NP) in three Cerrado areas at different stages of natural regeneration conduction: treatment 1 = area with 4 years without human intervention; treatment 2 = 10 years; and treatment 3 = 43 years. In all areas, three 400-m2 plots were established, in each of which 12 rain gauges and stemflow collectors were installed on all trees having Diameter at Breast High (DBH) > 5 cm. Data was recorded from December 2015 through November 2016. At treatment 1, Tf corresponded to 100% of gross precipitation (GP) in the micro-basin, while Sf corresponded to 0.01%, RI to 0%, and NP to 100% of GP. At treatment 2, Tf corresponded to 96% of GP, whereas Sf corresponded to 0.19%, RI to 4%, and NP to 96% of GP. At treatment 3, Tf corresponded to 87% of GP, while Sf corresponded to 1.15%, RI to 12%, and NP to 88%. The results revealed significant differences among the study areas. Both RI and Sf increased with advancing natural regeneration, while Tf and NP decreased. Data varied according to vegetation features, like the number and density of individuals and species in each plot, and according to characteristics related to weather and precipitation in the area.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.