Watersheds and Trees Fall Together: An Analysis of Intact Forested Watersheds in Southern Patagonia (41–56° S)

Astorga, Anna; Moreno, Paulo C.; Reid, Brian

doi:10.3390/f9070385

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Temperate rainforests of southern South America occur along the western land-ocean margin, with a mean distance to the ocean of 250 km between 37 and 55 • S (Aravena et al, 2002;Astorga et al, 2018). South American temperate rainforests are under a strong oceanic influence, having high relative humidity and low temperature oscillation throughout the year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Partitioning of Rainfall in Second-Growth Evergreen Temperate Rainforests in Chiloé Island, Southern Chile

Frêne

Núñez‐Ávila

Castro

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Rainfall partitioning in secondary forests from southern Chile is relevant in the climate change scenario, in which a 30% reduction in summer precipitation has been projected for the temperate region. Logging and degradation of old-growth forests has resulted in extensive secondary forests, over large areas of the Chiloé Archipelago as well as the mainland. These secondary forests are simple tree communities, dominated by two broad-leaved tree species, evergreen Drimys winteri and Nothofagus nitida, and have the potential to provide multiple benefits to society, including water provision, soil protection, and wood-derived products. Here, we ask how southern South American secondary rainforests modulate rainwater redistribution considering precipitation partitioning. We evaluated the seasonality of throughfall and stemflow components of precipitation, to assess ecohydrological processes for water regulation in a climate change context, where summer droughts have been more frequent in the last decade. The partitioning of gross rainfall (TP) into throughfall (TH), stemflow (ST), and canopy interception (IN) in relation to forest structure, was assessed in four forest plots (400 m2 each) in Senda Darwin Biological Station, Chiloé. TH and ST were measured seasonally for 35 rainfall events from 2019 to 2021. IN water losses were estimated from the mass balance equation. Results indicate that the secondary rainforest intercepts 33% of TP (990 mm of the total monitored), where 59% of the volume corresponds to TH and 7% to ST, which taken together account for nearly 100% the rainwater that reaches the forest floor. Canopy IN varied seasonally from 25 to 40% of total rainfall, with maximum values occurring in the growing season (spring-summer). We found no statistical relation between ST and forest structural parameters (DBH, Basal Area). We explored the contribution of the two dominant tree species to ST and discuss the results in a climate change context. Finally, we propose to incorporate this hydrologic knowledge into adaptive forest management strategies to maximize ecosystem benefits to people. If these ecosystems were properly managed, they have the potential to provide multiple benefits to society within this century, such as water provision and soil protection in addition to carbon sequestration in biomass.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Partitioning of Rainfall in Second-Growth Evergreen Temperate Rainforests in Chiloé Island, Southern Chile

Frêne

Núñez‐Ávila

Castro

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…Nevertheless, using rivers like Puelo River as sentinels, several studies have reported anomalous events in fjords of northwestern Patagonia (e.g., surface hypoxia events, harmful algal blooms), mainly during severe droughts (Valle-Levinson et al, 2007;León-Muñoz et al, 2013Iriarte et al, 2017;Díaz et al, 2021). Although northern Patagonian basins have not yet been modified by irrigation channels or reservoirs and still maintain extensive little-degraded native forest cover (CONAF and UACH, 2014;Astorga et al, 2018), recent threats such as increased wildfires and their joint effect with climate change have not been evaluated hydrologically to date. Considering this context, here we evaluate the influence of climate and land cover trends on the freshwater inputs of the Puelo River Basin to the Reloncaví Fjord (41.5 • S; Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and Land Cover Trends Affecting Freshwater Inputs to a Fjord in Northwestern Patagonia

et al. 2021

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Freshwater inputs strongly influence oceanographic conditions in coastal systems of northwestern Patagonia (41–45°S). Nevertheless, the influence of freshwater on these systems has weakened in recent decades due to a marked decrease in precipitation. Here we evaluate potential influences of climate and land cover trends on the Puelo River (640 m3s–1), the main source of freshwater input of the Reloncaví Fjord (41.5°S). Water quality was analyzed along the Puelo River basin (six sampling points) and at the discharge site in the Reloncaví Fjord (1, 8, and 25 m depth), through six field campaigns carried out under contrasting streamflow scenarios. We also used several indicators of hydrological alteration, and cross-wavelet transform and coherence analyses to evaluate the association between the Puelo River streamflow and precipitation (1950–2019). Lastly, using the WEAP hydrological model, land cover maps (2001–2016) and burned area reconstructions (1985–2019), we simulated future land cover impacts (2030) on the hydrological processes of the Puelo River. Total Nitrogen and total phosphorus, dissolved carbon, and dissolved iron concentrations measured in the river were 3–15 times lower than those in the fjord. Multivariate analyses showed that streamflow drives the carbon composition in the river. High streamflow conditions contribute with humic and colored materials, while low streamflow conditions corresponded to higher arrival of protein-like materials from the basin. The Puelo River streamflow showed significant trends in magnitude (lower streamflow in summer and autumn), duration (minimum annual streamflow), timing (more floods in spring), and frequency (fewer prolonged floods). The land cover change (LCC) analysis indicated that more than 90% of the basin area maintained its land cover, and that the main changes were attributed to recent large wildfires. Considering these land cover trends, the hydrological simulations project a slight increase in the Puelo River streamflow mainly due to a decrease in evapotranspiration. According to previous simulations, these projections present a direction opposite to the trends forced by climate change. The combined effect of reduction in freshwater input to fiords and potential decline in water quality highlights the need for more robust data and robust analysis of the influence of climate and LCC on this river-fjord complex of northwestern Patagonia.

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“…This biogeographic context promotes high levels of endemism and diversity of species supporting key ecosystem services (Rozzi et al, 2012), such as climate regulation, carbon storage, freshwater provision, and cultural diversity heritage. The region has one of the most continuous forest covers (120,000 km 2 ) and the largest area of peatlands and wetlands (42,000 km 2 ) representing the main carbon sink and carbon storage source in the southern hemisphere contributing to climate change mitigation (Astorga et al, 2018; Mansilla et al, 2021; Ministerio del Medio Ambiente, 2020; Rozzi et al, 2012). It is a global freshwater reserve because of the presence of the world's third‐largest ice fields, and there is a rich diversity of cultures and languages represented in particular by distinctive rural cultures and indigenous populations (Aylwin et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic evidence map of conservation knowledge in Chilean Patagonia

Martínez‐Harms

Armestó

Castilla

et al. 2021

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Mechanisms that reliably and efficiently guide practitioners to find relevant evidence are urgent for conservation decision‐making in Chilean Patagonia. The objective of this study was to systematically collect, characterize, and synthesize the extensive evidence about conservation knowledge in Chilean Patagonia focusing on the impacts of global change drivers on ecosystems and human–nature relationships, identifying knowledge gaps, and providing policy recommendations. The quality of the evidence was assessed through a predefined level‐of‐evidence hierarchy scale, applied to a sample of the studies reviewed. We compiled ~1000 studies documenting that evidence focusing on terrestrial and marine ecosystems has grown exponentially. For terrestrial ecosystems, most studies have addressed climate change, habitat change, and invasive species; while for marine ecosystems, studies have focused on pollution, invasive species, and habitat change. We identified that an important gap is the study of the social dimensions of conservation, and future efforts should focus on incorporating traditional and local knowledge as this can help point the way to ecosystem conservation. The appraisal of the quality of the evidence showed that ~80% of the sample represented reliable evidence with underlying data and an experimental design. Enhanced efforts to deliver this evidence to decision‐makers in a user‐friendly format for evidence uptake in conservation policy are urgent. In this review, we provide a tool that can help practitioners to find evidence reliably to improve decision‐making for the conservation of ecosystems in Chilean Patagonia.

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Watersheds and Trees Fall Together: An Analysis of Intact Forested Watersheds in Southern Patagonia (41–56° S)

Cited by 23 publications

References 48 publications

Seasonal Partitioning of Rainfall in Second-Growth Evergreen Temperate Rainforests in Chiloé Island, Southern Chile

Seasonal Partitioning of Rainfall in Second-Growth Evergreen Temperate Rainforests in Chiloé Island, Southern Chile

Climate and Land Cover Trends Affecting Freshwater Inputs to a Fjord in Northwestern Patagonia

A systematic evidence map of conservation knowledge in Chilean Patagonia

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