Effects of trees on infiltrability and preferential flow in two contrasting agroecosystems in Central America

Benegas, Laura; Ilstedt, Ulrik; Roupsard, Olivier; Jones, Julia P. G.; Malmer, Anders

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2013.10.027

Cited by 105 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This soil order is characterized as having at least 60% andic soil properties in the upper 60 cm of the soil profile (United States Department of Agriculture, 1999), with high levels of soil organic content (Kinoshita et al, 2016). Andisols in the study region tend to have very high infiltration capacity, therefore resulting in almost no overland run-off (Benegas, Ilsted, Roupsard, Jones, & Malmer, 2013;Gómez-Delgado et al, 2011;Spaans et al, 1989). In addition, macropores enhance rapid water movement by preferential flow through subsurface soils (Benegas et al, 2013;Spaans et al, 1989).…”

Section: Mejías Creek Watershedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotope hydrology of a tropical coffee agroforestry watershed: Seasonal and event‐based analyses

Welsh

Boll

Sánchez‐Murillo

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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Stable isotope variations are extremely useful for flow partitioning within the hydrologic cycle but remain poorly understood throughout the tropics, particularly in watersheds with rapidly infiltrating soils, such as Andisols in Central America. This study examines the fluctuations of stable isotope ratios (δ18O and δ2H) in the hydrologic components of a tropical coffee agroforestry watershed (~1 km2) with Andisol soils in Costa Rica. Samples were collected in precipitation, groundwater, springs, and stream water over 2 years. The local meteoric water line for the study site was δ2H = 8.5 δ18O + 18.02 (r2 = 0.97, n = 198). The isotope ratios in precipitation exhibited an enriched trend during the dry season and a notable depletion at the beginning of the wet season. The δ18O compositions in groundwater (average = −6.4‰, σ = 0.7) and stream water (average = −6.7‰, σ = 0.6) were relatively stable over time, and both components exhibited more enriched values in 2013, which was the drier year. No strong correlation was observed between the isotope ratios and the precipitation amount at the event or daily time‐step, but a correlation was observed on a monthly scale. Stream water and base flow hydrograph separations based on isotope end‐member estimations showed that pre‐event water originating from base flow was prevalent. However, isotope data indicate that event water originating from springs appears to have been the primary driver of initial rises in stream flow and peak flows. These results indicate that isotope sampling improves the understanding of water balance components, even in a tropical humid location, where significant variations in rainfall challenge current modelling efforts. Further research using fine‐scale hydrometric and isotopic data would enhance understanding the processes driving spring flow generation in watersheds.

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Section: Mejías Creek Watershedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotope hydrology of a tropical coffee agroforestry watershed: Seasonal and event‐based analyses

Welsh

Boll

Sánchez‐Murillo

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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“…The decline in surface runoff can be attributed to increased infiltration (Brown et al, 2005;Benegas et al, 2014) and canopy interception (Ghazavi et al, 2008). Establishment of trees on land formerly under cultivated agriculture improves the infiltration conditions of the soil, thereby absorbing more rainfall and reducing the surface runoff.…”

Section: Impact Of Agroforestry On Catchment Water Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Mwangi

Jülich

Patil

et al. 2016

Hydrological Processes

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Land‐use change is one of the main drivers of watershed hydrology change. The effect of forestry related land‐use changes (e.g. afforestation, deforestation, agroforestry) on water fluxes depends on climate, watershed characteristics and spatial scale. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was calibrated, validated and used to simulate the impact of agroforestry on the water balance in the Mara River Basin (MRB) in East Africa. Model performance was assessed by Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Kling–Gupta Efficiency (KGE). The NSE (and KGE) values for calibration and validation were: 0.77 (0.88) and 0.74 (0.85) for the Nyangores sub‐watershed, and 0.78 (0.89) and 0.79 (0.63) for the entire MRB. It was found that agroforestry in the watershed would generally reduce surface runoff, mainly because of enhanced infiltration. However, it would also increase evapotranspiration and consequently reduce baseflow and overall water yield, which was attributed to increased water use by trees. Spatial scale was found to have a significant effect on water balance; the impact of agroforestry was higher at the smaller headwater catchment (Nyangores) than for the larger watershed (entire MRB). However, the rate of change in water yield with an increase in area under agroforestry was different for the two and could be attributed to the spatial variability of climate within the MRB. Our results suggest that direct extrapolation of the findings from a small sub‐catchment to a larger watershed may not always be accurate. These findings could guide watershed managers on the level of trade‐offs that might occur between reduced water yields and other benefits (e.g. soil erosion control, improved soil productivity) offered by agroforestry. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…Thus, soil porosity and water aggregate stability increased, while bulk density decreased over time during vegetation restoration. Moreover, the generation of macropores and channels by root penetration through soil tends to form preferential flow paths, thus enhancing soil infiltration and reducing runoff and soil erosion (Li et al, 2011;Benegas et al, 2014).…”

Section: Changes In Soil Hydraulic Conductivity Under Different Vegetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil hydraulic conductivity as affected by vegetation restoration age on the Loess Plateau, China

et al. 2016

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Abstract:The Loess Plateau of China has experienced extensive vegetation restoration in the past several decades, which leads to great changes in soil properties such as soil bulk, porosity, and organic matter with the vegetation restoration age. And these soil properties have great effect on the soil infiltration and soil hydraulic conductivity. However, the potential changes in soil hydraulic conductivity caused by vegetation restoration age have not been well understood. This study was conducted to investigate the changes in soil hydraulic conductivity under five grasslands with different vegetation restoration ages (3, 10, 18, 28 and 37 years) compared to a slope farmland, and further to identify the factors responsible for these changes on the Loess Plateau of China. At each site, accumulative infiltration amount and soil hydraulic conductivity were determined using a disc permeameter with a water supply pressure of -20 mm. Soil properties were measured for analyzing their potential factors influencing soil hydraulic conductivity. The results showed that the soil bulk had no significant changes over the initial 20 years of restoration (P>0.05); the total porosity, capillary porosity and field capacity decreased significantly in the grass land with 28 and 37 restoration ages compared to the slope farmland; accumulative infiltration amount and soil hydraulic conductivity were significantly enhanced after 18 years of vegetation restoration. However, accumulative infiltration amount and soil hydraulic conductivity fluctuated over the initial 10 years of restoration. The increase in soil hydraulic conductivity with vegetation restoration was closely related to the changes in soil texture and structure. Soil sand and clay contents were the most influential factors on soil hydraulic conductivity, followed by bulk density, soil porosity, root density and crust thickness. The Pearson correlation coefficients indicated that the soil hydraulic conductivity was affected by multiply factors. These results are helpful to understand the changes in hydrological and erosion processes response to vegetation succession on the Loess Plateau.

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Effects of trees on infiltrability and preferential flow in two contrasting agroecosystems in Central America

Cited by 105 publications

References 48 publications

Isotope hydrology of a tropical coffee agroforestry watershed: Seasonal and event‐based analyses

Isotope hydrology of a tropical coffee agroforestry watershed: Seasonal and event‐based analyses

Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Soil hydraulic conductivity as affected by vegetation restoration age on the Loess Plateau, China

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