Hydrological response of an afforested catchment in a Mediterranean humid mountain area: a comparative study with a natural forest

• Published in: Hydrological processes Vol. 30; no. 15; pp. 2717 - 2733
• Main Authors: Nadal-Romero, Estela, Cammeraat, Erik, Serrano-Muela, María Pilar, Lana-Renault, Noemí, Regüés, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Blackwell Publishing Ltd 15-07-2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Abandoned land; Active control; Afforestation; Afforestation effects; Annual variations; Antecedent moisture; Catchment area; Catchments; Coefficients; Comparative analysis; Comparative studies; Control; Degradation; Discharge; Drying; Floods; forest; Forest effects; Forests; Freshwater; Humid areas; Hydrology; land use changes; Limbs; Mediterranean mountains; Moisture; Mountains; peak discharge; Rain; Rainfall; Recession; Resources; Runoff; Seasonal variations; stormflow; Summer; Water; Water resources; Water yield; Wetting; ASW, Venezuela, Aragua; MED, Western Mediterranean; MED
• ISSN: 0885-6087; 1099-1085
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10820

The effects of afforestation on water resources are still controversial. The aim of this paper is to (i) analyse the hydrological response of an afforested area in the Central Pyrenees and (ii) compare the hydrological response of an afforested area with the response observed in a natural undisturbed forest. The Araguás catchment was cultivated until the 1950s, and then afforested with pines in an effort to control the active degradation processes. The hydrological response was variable and complex, because the discharge was generated by a combination of distinct runoff processes. The hydrological response showed that (i) afforestation produced moderate peak discharges, stormflows and recession limbs, and long rising limbs; (ii) no one single variable was able to explain the hydrological response: rainfall volume and intensity did not explain the hydrological response and antecedent rainfall and initial discharge (indicating antecedent moisture conditions) did play an important role; (iii) seasonal differences were observed suggesting different runoff generating processes; and (iv) the effect of forest cover on peak discharges became less important as the size of the hydrological event increased. The stormflow coefficient showed a clear seasonal pattern with an alternation between a wet period, when the catchment was hydrologically responsive, and a dry summer period when the catchment rarely responded to any event, and two transitional periods (wetting and drying). Compared with a natural forest, the afforested area recorded greater flows and peak discharges, faster response times and shorter recession limbs. Afforestation reduces the water yield and the number of floods compared with non‐vegetated areas and abandoned lands. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.