Method for the analysis of the relationship between forest cover and streamflow in watersheds

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

Ferraz FT¹  De Carvalho D²  Zanetti SS³  Cecílio RA³  De Oliveira FR³ 

[1] Department of Forest Science, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA). 1001 Doutor Sylvio Menicucci Ave. Lavras, Minas Gerais - Brazil;Department of Forest Science, Federal University of Lavras - UFLA, 1001 Doutor Sylvio Menicucci Ave., Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil;Federal University of Espírito Santo - UFES, 316 Governador Lindenbergue Ave. Jerônimo Monteiro, Espírito Santo - Brazil;

关键词: Forests;    Cluster Analysis;    Water Regime;    Land Use;    Watershed Management;   

DOI  :  10.3832/ifor3536-014

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The relationship between forest cover and streamflow of watersheds is complex and still controversial in the scientific literature. To investigate suchrelationship we propose an alternative method which requires the following information for each watershed: percentage of forest cover, annual rainfall, average specific streamflow (qave), and minimum mean specific streamflow in seven consecutive days (q7). As a case study, we analyzed a dataset composed by 25 watersheds located in the Espírito Santo State (ESS), Brazil. We conducted simple and multiple linear regression analyses as well as partial correlation analysis between the above parameters. To reduce the effect of heterogeneity of environmental factors, watersheds with similar characteristics in term of rainfall, drainage area, and both rainfall and drainage area were grouped by cluster analysis, and the above regression and correlation analysis was repeated on each group. Our results using the whole dataset showed that forest cover has a negative relationship with watershed streamflow. The analysis of homogeneous groups of watersheds showed that the average minimum streamflow during seven days (q7) was more sensitive to the presence of forest cover, showing a negative relationship, especially in watersheds with low annual rainfall, while in areas with high precipitation, the annual rainfall showed a strong influence on the hydrological responses of watersheds, masking the effect of forest cover. The proposed method may be easily extended to other areas, and allowsthe inclusion of other relevant environmental variables according to specific cases.

【 授权许可】

Unknown