Can rainfall seasonality trigger soil water repellency in a tropical riparian forest?

Abstract

Though riparian areas generally have a shallow water table and higher soil moisture compared to upslope areas, climatic seasonality may trigger water repellency in tropical riparian forests, which, if persistent, could negatively affect essential ecosystem functions related to water resources protection such as reduced overland-flow, sediment transport, and nutrient filtration. The objective of this study was to answer the following: can tropical riparian forests develop water repellency? If so, does water repellency affect infiltration on a seasonal basis? For this, water repellency and infiltration were measured in a grid of 72 points during a dry and a wet month of a tropical riparian forest with a shallow water table in a region with highly marked climatic seasonality. Water repellency and infiltration were significantly different between the wet and dry months. Water repellency affected negatively infiltration in the dry month, its effect in the wet month was insignificant. As a result, a higher infiltration capacity was observed over the wet period. Previous research has claimed that the development and persistence of repellency in soils could promote other hydrological processes such as overland flow. The findings shown here demonstrate that such phenomenon does not persist longer than the dry season.

Exploring the Association between Changing Crop Types and Water Scarcity: A Case Study over West-Central India

“…The years 1982, 1987, 2002, 2009, 2014, and 2015 were noticed as severe drought years from 1981 to 2018 (Table 3). The monthly variations in rainfall play a significant role in agricultural activities and society's water demand [36]. Therefore, we have also studied monthly (JJAS) disparities in monsoon rainfall over Marathwada.…”

“…Parbhani (−0.024 mm/year), Nanded (−0.280 mm/year), and Hingoli (−0.072 mm/year) were the districts with decreasing rainfall trends, but the rate of decreasing trends was negligible. In September, all the districts were under a decreasing rainfall The monthly variations in rainfall play a significant role in agricultural activities and society's water demand [36]. Therefore, we have also studied monthly (JJAS) disparities in monsoon rainfall over Marathwada.…”

Soil water repellency in the Brazilian neotropical savanna: first detection, seasonal effect, and influence on infiltrability

“…In Brazil, researchers have observed SWR in virtually all biomes, including the Amazon (Johnson et al, 2005), Pampa (Vogelmann et al 2010), Atlantic Forest (Bezerra et al, 2019;Lozano-Baez et al, 2020), and Cerrado (Brito et al, 2022;Mendonça Filho et al, 2022). However, publications in the latter are limited to riparian ecosystems dominated by organic soils that are more prone to the development of soil water repellency (Brito et al, 2022;Mendonça Filho et al, 2022). On the other hand, these effects may occur similarly in other physiognomies, such as ecosystems in elevated positions away from rivers and streams.…”

Efeito da reabilitação de áreas de mineração de bauxita na infiltração e na repelência do solo à água

“…A repelência do solo à água está associada ao recobrimento das partículas do solo por substâncias orgânicas hidrofóbicas que interagem de forma complexa com a arquitetura porosa e partículas minerais dificultando o molhamento do solo (VOGELMANN, 2014;MAO et al, 2019). Podendo variar no perfil do solo, apresentando alterações tanto a curto prazo quanto em períodos sazonais (DOERR;THOMAS, 2000;BRITO et al, 2022) afetando drasticamente as funções do solo (HERMANSEN et al, 2019).…”

“…Em condições secas, o solo pode se tornar hidrofóbico em decorrência das pequenas áreas de solos onde a matéria orgânica e as substâncias hidrofóbicas acumulam (KEESSTRA, et al, 2017). Brito et al, (2022), abordam em seu trabalho a influência da sazonalidade das chuvas na repelência do solo a água em florestas tropicais ribeirinhas, concluindo que há maior repelência no solo nos meses secos diminuindo a infiltração em comparação aos meses chuvosos que possui uma menor repelência já que os solos estão bem úmidos.…”