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The effect of forest cover on peak flow and sediment discharge—an integrated field and modelling study in central–southern Chile
Author(s) -
Birkinshaw Stephen J.,
Bathurst James C.,
Iroumé Andrés,
Palacios Hardin
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.7900
Subject(s) - hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , sediment , drainage basin , erosion , soil water , flood myth , current (fluid) , forest cover , sediment transport , discharge , geology , soil science , geomorphology , geography , ecology , oceanography , archaeology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , biology
Abstract An integrated field and modelling study was carried out on the 35‐ha La Reina catchment, Chile, to test the hypothesis that the effect of forest cover on flood peaks becomes less important as the size of the hydrological event increases. Meteorological and discharge data were measured at the catchment before and after the pine plantation that covered 80% of the catchment area was logged. Analysis of the measured response of the catchment provides support for the hypothesis but is not conclusive. Therefore, modelling of the catchment using 1000 years of generated rainfall data representative of the current conditions was carried out for the forested and logged states. The simulations show that the absolute difference in discharge between the two cases remains approximately constant as the discharge increases: thus as a percentage of discharge it decreases. This relative convergence appears to become significant at return periods of greater than approximately 10 years. Tests with different hypothetical soil depths for the forested and logged catchments show an absolute convergence in discharge between the two cases for shallow soils and no convergence for deep soils. Sediment transport simulations show that forest cover provides a clear benefit in protecting the soil from erosion. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.