The impact of forest use and reforestation on soil hydraulic conductivity in the Western Ghats of India: Implications for surface and sub-surface hydrology

Bonell, M.; Purandara, B. K.; Venkatesh, B.; Krishnaswamy, Jagdish; Acharya, HS; Singh, UP; Jayakumar, R.; Chappell, Nick A.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.07.004

Cited by 150 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…In particular, the lower K s compared to the remnant forest plot (F5M) with a similar soil texture clearly indicates that the full return to pre-disturbance conditions is still far off [22]. On the other hand, the sandy clay loam texture did not include pasture plots; however, pasture K s in this soil texture could be assumed to be similar to the pasture sites (P1 and P2), considering the low spatial K s variability observed in the pasture land cover.…”

Section: Variablementioning

confidence: 98%

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Lozano-Baez

Cooper

Ferraz

et al. 2018

Water

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Knowledge of soil hydraulic properties after forest restoration is essential for understanding the recovery of hydrological processes, such as water infiltration. An increase of forest cover may improve water infiltration and soil hydraulic properties, but little is known about the response and extent to which forest restoration can affect these properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of forest restoration on surface-saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (K s ), and to verify the K s recovery to the pre-disturbance soil conditions. We sampled field K s at the surface in Campinas municipality, São Paulo State, Brazil, at 18 plots under three land-cover types: (i) a pasture; (ii) a restored forest using a high-diversity mix of plantings (85 regional native species) of 9 years of age; and (iii) a remnant forest patch. We used the Beerkan method for soil hydraulic characterization. Bulk density (ρ b ), soil organic carbon content (OC), soil porosity and particle size data were also sampled. We found considerable differences in soil hydraulic properties between land-cover classes. The highest K s were observed in remnant forest sites and the lowest K s were associated with pasture sites. The K s recovery differs markedly between restored forests. Our results strongly suggest that soil attributes and K s recovery are influenced by the duration and intensity of land use prior to forest restoration. Attention needs to be given to management activities before, during and after forest restoration, especially where the soil is still compacted and K s is low.

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Section: Variablementioning

confidence: 98%

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Lozano-Baez

Cooper

Ferraz

et al. 2018

Water

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“…FAO, 2005;Bradshaw et al, 2007;Van Dijk et al, 2009) whereas the effect of forestation on tropical dry-season flows is also under debate (Calder, 2005;Scott et al, 2005). The general contention is that the net effect of an increase in forest cover on dryseason flow depends on the "trade-off" between increases in Q due to enhanced soil water recharge on the one hand (as forestation generally increases soil macro-porosity and infiltration characteristics; Ilstedt et al, 2007;Bonell et al, 2010;Zimmermann et al, 2006Zimmermann et al, , 2010Hassler et al, 2011), and decreases in soil water reserves and Q on the other hand due to the higher water use of trees compared to crops, pasture, or scrubs (Bruijnzeel, 1989(Bruijnzeel, , 2004Jackson et al, 2005;Scott et al, 2005). Reviews of micro-scale (< 1 km 2 ) experimental catchment studies (e.g.…”

Section: H E Beck Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jackson et al, 2005;Brown et al, 2005) -mostly conducted outside the tropics and in non-degraded settings where soil infiltration characteristics are not likely to be improved substantially by forestation -suggest that the increase in vegetation water use is indeed more important, and thus an increase in forest cover commonly leads to a decrease in both total and dry-season Q. However, although direct experimental evidence of the "infiltration trade-off hypothesis" (Bruijnzeel, 1989;Bonell et al, 2010) is missing due to a lack of comprehensive studies, demonstrated reductions in amounts of headwater-or hillslope stormflow production after reforesting severely degraded land in various parts of the tropics (e.g. Chandler and Walter, 1998;Zhou et al, 2002;Zhang et al, 2004) should be large enough to overcome the associated increases in forest water use (Chandler, 2006;cf.…”

Section: H E Beck Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of forest regeneration on streamflow in 12 mesoscale humid tropical catchments

Beck

Bruijnzeel

Dijk

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

106

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Abstract. Although regenerating forests make up an increasingly large portion of humid tropical landscapes, little is known of their water use and effects on streamflow (Q). Since the 1950s the island of Puerto Rico has experienced widespread abandonment of pastures and agricultural lands, followed by forest regeneration. This paper examines the possible impacts of these secondary forests on several Q characteristics for 12 mesoscale catchments (23-346 km 2 ; mean precipitation 1720-3422 mm yr −1 ) with long (33-51 yr) and simultaneous records for Q, precipitation (P ), potential evaporation (PET), and land cover. A simple spatially-lumped, conceptual rainfall-runoff model that uses daily P and PET time series as inputs (HBV-light) was used to simulate Q for each catchment. Annual time series of observed and simulated values of four Q characteristics were calculated. A least-squares trend was fitted through annual time series of the residual difference between observed and simulated time series of each Q characteristic. From this the total cumulative change (Â) was calculated, representing the change in each Q characteristic after controlling for climate variability and water storage carry-over effects between years. Negative values ofÂ were found for most catchments and Q characteristics, suggesting enhanced actual evaporation overall following forest regeneration. However, correlations between changes in urban or forest area and values ofÂ were insignificant (p ≥ 0.389) for all Q characteristics. This suggests there is no convincing evidence that changes in the chosen Q characteristics in these Puerto Rican catchments can be ascribed to changes in urban or forest area. The present results are in line with previous studies of mesoand macro-scale (sub-)tropical catchments, which generally found no significant change in Q that can be attributed to changes in forest cover. Possible explanations for the lack of a clear signal may include errors in the land cover, climate, Q, and/or catchment boundary data; changes in forest area occurring mainly in the less rainy lowlands; and heterogeneity in catchment response. Different results were obtained for different catchments, and using a smaller subset of catchments could have led to very different conclusions. This highlights the importance of including multiple catchments in land-cover impact analysis at the mesoscale.

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“…When rainfall intensity (mm hr -1 ) exceeds the measured Kfs value, the threshold of infiltration overland flow (IOF) has been breached. By comparing the Kfs value with rainfall intensity, the occurrence and location of IOF can be inferred (Bonell, 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the local scale, infiltrability and soil hydraulic conductivity (Ks) are key soil properties as they activate surface and near-surface flow paths that influence runoff generation (Bonell et al, 2010;Elsenbeer, 2001), which could provoke dominant storm flows and impact upon soil erosion (Bonell and Bruijnzeel, 2005). When considering planting woodlands for NFM it is important to have an understanding of baseline infiltration rates, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship of forest and improved grassland to soil water storage and its implication on Natural Flood Management in the Scottish Borders

Archer

Bonell²,

Coles³

et al. 2012

Hydrology for a Changing World

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The impact of forest use and reforestation on soil hydraulic conductivity in the Western Ghats of India: Implications for surface and sub-surface hydrology

Cited by 150 publications

References 81 publications

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

The impact of forest regeneration on streamflow in 12 mesoscale humid tropical catchments

The relationship of forest and improved grassland to soil water storage and its implication on Natural Flood Management in the Scottish Borders

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