Hydrological trade-offs due to different land covers and land uses in the Brazilian Cerrado
<p>Farmland expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado, considered one of the largest agricultural frontiers in the world, has the potential to alter water fluxes on different spatial scales. Despite some large-scale studies being developed, there are still few investigations in experimental sites in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/23/1263/2019/hess-23-1263-2019.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Farmland expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado, considered one of the largest
agricultural frontiers in the world, has the potential to alter water fluxes
on different spatial scales. Despite some large-scale studies being
developed, there are still few investigations in experimental sites in this
region. Here, we investigate the water balance components in experimental
plots and the groundwater table fluctuation in different land covers: wooded
Cerrado, sugarcane, pasture and bare soil. Furthermore, we identify possible
water balance trade-offs due to the different land covers. This study was
developed between 2012 and 2016 in the central region of the state of São
Paulo in southern Brazil. Hydrometeorological variables, groundwater table,
surface runoff and other water balance components were monitored inside
experimental plots containing different land covers; the datasets were
analyzed using statistical parameters; and the water balance components
uncertainties were computed. Replacing wooded Cerrado by pastureland and
sugarcane shifts the overland flow (up to 42 mm yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>) and the water
balance residual (up to 504 mm yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>) and may affect groundwater table
behavior. This fact suggests significant changes in the water partitioning in
a transient land cover and land use (LCLU) system, as the evapotranspiration
is lower (up to 719 mm yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>) in agricultural land covers than in the
undisturbed Cerrado. We recommend long-term observations for continuing the
evaluations initiated in this study, mainly because there are few basic studies on tropical environments
at the hillslope scale and more assessments are needed
for a better understanding of the real field conditions. Such efforts should
be made to reduce uncertainties, validate the water balance hypothesis and
catch the variability of hydrological processes.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1027-5606 1607-7938 |