A comparative analysis of infiltration rates below a pasture and a secondary forest on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Abstract
The potential effects of land use changes on groundwater recharge are being investigated on the windward side of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. Comparative studies allow the identification of the processes (evaporation, transpiration, soil water storage) at the vegetation/soil interface leading to contrasting recharge rates under different land covers. During one year, we monitored soil water dynamics under two adjacent study plots differing only by their vegetation cover: a pasture and a secondary forest. Climatic variables were monitored above the pasture and completed by throughfall monitoring under the forest. Tensiometers provide a direct measurement of the driving force of water dynamics in the soil: the hydraulic head gradient. In the two plots, tensiometers were set up in vertical profiles together with soil water content probes and connected to an automatic acquisition device. The forest stand has a higher canopy storage capacity and aerodynamic resistance, which causes evaporation losses to be higher. This is confirmed by throughfall measurements: only ca. 80% of gross precipitation reaches the ground. Expectedly, soil water tension profiles present clearly different behaviors in the pasture and in the forest. Despite high uncertainties on estimated recharge rates, we show that parallel monitoring of soil hydrodynamics in these two study plots provides valuable insights and may help to manage or anticipate the potential effect of deforestation or invasion by introduced plants on the hydrology of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.H33E1358D
- Keywords:
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- 1838 HYDROLOGY / Infiltration;
- 1848 HYDROLOGY / Monitoring networks;
- 1866 HYDROLOGY / Soil moisture