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by Robert Stallard and Helmut Elsenbeer
Streams on uniformly rainforest-covered, but lithologically very diverse Barro Colorado Island in central Panamá show remarkable differences in their runoff response to rainfall. This lithological diversity is reflected in equally diverse... more
Streams on uniformly rainforest-covered, but lithologically very diverse Barro Colorado Island in central Panamá show remarkable differences in their runoff response to rainfall. This lithological diversity is reflected in equally diverse soilscapes, and our objective was to test the hypothesis that contrasting runoff responses derive from soilscape features that control the generation of overland flow. We determined the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) of two neighboring, but hydrologically contrasting catchments (Lutz Creek with a flashy and Conrad Trail with a delayed response to rainfall), and quantified the spatial and temporal frequency of overland flow occurrence. The median Ks values at a depth of 12.5 cm are large enough to rule out Hortonian overland flow, but a marked decrease in Ks in Lutz Creek catchment at 30 cm suggests the formation of a perched water table and the generation saturation overland flow; the decrease in Ks in the Conrad Trail catchment is more gradual, and a perched water table is expected to form only at depths below 50 cm. In Lutz Creek, overland flow was generated frequently in time and space and regardless of topographic position, including near the interfluve, with very low thresholds of storm magnitude, duration, intensity and antecedent wetness, whereas in Conrad Trail, overland flow was generated much less frequently and then only locally. We conclude that soilscape features and microtopography are important controls of overland flow generation in these catchments. Our results contribute to the growing evidence that overland flow and forests are not a priori a contradiction in terms.
Publication Date: 2004
Publication Name: Journal of Hydrology
Research Interests:
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by Robert Stallard and Helmut Elsenbeer
Publication Date: 2008
Publication Name: Forest Ecology and Management
Research Interests: Forest Ecology And Management, Landscape, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Spatial Heterogeneity, and 16 moreTropical forest, Soils, Sol, Spatial Distribution, Spatial Variability, Digital Elevation Model, Spatial Pattern, High Resolution, Classification and Regression Tree, Spatial Variation, Tropical rainforest, Tropical rain forest, Chemical Properties, Soil Nutrients, Soil Chemical Properties, and Barro Colorado Island
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by Helmut Elsenbeer and M. Conedera
Publication Date: 2002
Publication Name: Forest Ecology and Management
Research Interests:
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by Frauke Barthold and Helmut Elsenbeer
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication Date: Jan 1, 2008
Publication Name: Forest Ecology and Management
Research Interests:
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Publisher: biogeodb.stri.si.edu
Publication Date: 2007
Publication Name: Smithsonian Tropical …
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