Ecohydrological Controls on Watershed Response to Land Use Change in the Montane Cloud Forest Zone in Central Veracruz, Mexico

墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州中部山地云林区流域土地利用变化响应的生态水文控制

• 批准号: 0746179
• 负责人: Heidi Asbjornsen
• 金额: $ 130万
• 依托单位: Iowa State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-04-15 至 2011-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0746179&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ecohydrological; Controls; Watershed; Response; Land

Ecosystems that are covered in fog or mist for much of the year may be critical for water supply because the presence of fog can increase total water inputs. This can occur because fog condenses on tree leaves and drips to the ground, reduces light and temperature so less water evaporates, and can be directly absorbed by leaves. However, current knowledge about how fog influences ecosystem water balance is extremely poor. This research quantifies the effect of fog on water movement through individual plants to entire watersheds in a cloud forest zone in Veracruz, Mexico. The goal of this project is to determine how conversion of cloud forest to pasture, pine reforestation, and young regenerating forest affects streamflow. This will be accomplished by combining field measurements of hydrological, ecophysiological, atmospheric and soil processes with watershed modeling. Cloud forests, combined with other fog/cloud inundated ecosystems, occupy over 70 million hectares on earth, yet many have already been deforested or are threatened by conversion and climate change. Loss of fog-vegetation interactions when tall forests are replaced by shorter vegetation may have irreversible consequences for the hydrological balance, thereby affecting water supply to major population centers in lower-lying regions. This research fills an important gap in current understanding of how cloud forests?and their alteration by land use?affect water resources. By identifying the mechanisms that cause changes in water flow amounts and timing, it will be possible to make specific management and policy recommendations for protecting water supply and reversing processes of degradation. Additional support for this research is being provided by the Hydrology Program (GEO), the Office of International Science & Engineering, Emerging Frontiers (BIO/OAD), and the Division of Environmental Biology.

一年中大部分时间被雾或雾覆盖的生态系统对于供水可能至关重要，因为雾的存在可以增加总水输入。 之所以会发生这种情况，是因为雾在树叶上凝结并滴落到地面上，降低了光和温度，因此水蒸发较少，并且可以直接被叶子吸收。 但是，当前有关雾如何影响生态系统水平衡的知识极为差。这项研究量化了雾对墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯云森林区域的整个流域的水流动的影响。 该项目的目的是确定云森林转化为牧场，松树的造林和年轻的森林如何影响水流。 这将通过将水文，生态生理，大气和土壤过程的现场测量与流域建模相结合来实现。 云森林，再加上其他雾/云淹没的生态系统，地球上占有超过7000万公顷的土地，但许多人已经被森林砍伐或受到转化和气候变化的威胁。 当高森林被较短的植被取代时，雾田的相互作用的丧失可能会对水文平衡产生不可逆转的后果，从而影响下层地区主要人口中心的供水。 这项研究填补了当前对云森林的了解及其因土地使用的改变吗？影响水资源的重要空白。 通过确定导致水流量和时机变化的机制，可以提出特定的管理和政策建议，以保护水供应和逆转降解过程。 水文学计划（GEO），国际科学与工程办公室，新兴领域（BIO/OAD）和环境生物学科提供了对这项研究的额外支持。