Water yield following forest–grass–forest transitions
Many currently forested areas in the southern Appalachians were harvested in the early 1900s and cleared for agriculture or pasture, but have since been abandoned and reverted to forest (old-field succession). Land-use and land-cover changes such as these may have altered the timing and quantity of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/21/981/2017/hess-21-981-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | Many currently forested areas in the southern Appalachians were
harvested in the early 1900s and cleared for agriculture or pasture, but
have since been abandoned and reverted to forest (old-field succession).
Land-use and land-cover changes such as these may have altered the timing
and quantity of water yield (<i>Q</i>). We examined 80 years of streamflow and
vegetation data in an experimental watershed that underwent
forest–grass–forest conversion (i.e., old-field succession treatment). We hypothesized that changes in forest species composition and water use would largely explain long-term changes in <i>Q</i>. Aboveground biomass was comparable among watersheds before the treatment (208.3 Mg ha<sup>−1</sup>), and again after 45 years of forest regeneration (217.9 Mg ha<sup>−1</sup>). However, management practices in the treatment watershed altered resulting species composition compared to the reference watershed. Evapotranspiration (ET) and <i>Q</i> in the treatment watershed recovered to pretreatment levels after 9 years of abandonment, then <i>Q</i> became less (averaging 5.4 % less) and ET more (averaging 4.5 % more) than expected after the 10th year up to the present day. We demonstrate that the decline in <i>Q</i> and corresponding increase in ET could be explained by the shift in major forest species from predominantly <i>Quercus</i> and <i>Carya</i> before treatment to predominantly <i>Liriodendron</i> and <i>Acer</i> through old-field succession. The annual change in <i>Q</i> can be attributed to changes in seasonal <i>Q</i>. The greatest management effect on monthly <i>Q</i> occurred during the wettest (i.e., above median <i>Q</i>) growing-season months, when <i>Q</i> was significantly lower than expected. In the dormant season, monthly <i>Q</i> was higher than expected during the wettest months. |
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| ISSN: | 1027-5606 1607-7938 |