Alaoui, Abdallah

Leimer, Sophia

Trachte, Katja

Wilcke, Wolfgang

Willimann, Elias

Leimer, Sophie

Bern Open Repository and Information System (BORIS)

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 17, EGU2015-5297, 2015EGU General Assembly 2015© Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Element export from a small catchment in the tropical montane forest ofEcuador responds to climate changeSophia Leimer (1), Elias Willimann (2), Abdallah Alaoui (2), Katja Trachte (3), Wolfgang Wilcke (1,2)(1) Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany(sophia.leimer@kit.edu), (2) Geographic Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, (3) Faculty of Geography,Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, GermanyIn a very remote tropical montane rain forest in the Ecuadorian Andes on the rim of the Amazon basin, increasingtemperatures, longer dry spells, and an associated reduction in soil moisture were observed in the past 15 years.In the study ecosystem, element exports from a 9-ha large catchment with stream water are linked to the depth ofwater flow through soil because of vertical variations in soil chemical properties. The further increase in temper-ature and precipitation, as predicted by climate models, will have an impact on the water flow paths in soil andtherefore alter element exports. Hence, we investigated how future element exports from this catchment in Ecuadorwill develop under the emission scenarios A1B and B1 for the decades 2050-2059 and 2090-2099 compared tocurrent element exports.Discharge from the study catchment was measured in 1998-2013, partly in high resolution. Element concentrationsin stream water (total organic carbon, NO3-N, NH4-N, dissolved organic nitrogen, PO4-P, total dissolved phospho-rus, S, Cl, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Zn, Al, Mn) were measured in 1998-2012 in weekly resolution. Based on catchmentproperties, measured climate, and water flow data, discharge in 1998-2013 was simulated in daily resolution withthe hydrological model WaSiM. From the hydrograph of surface flow, three flow classes (baseflow, intermediate,storm) were separated and linked with stream chemical properties. Element concentrations in stream water weregrouped according to the flow classes and mean concentrations per flow class were calculated. Subsequently, themean element concentration was multiplied with the mean of the annual discharge sums per flow class resultingin current element exports. For estimations of future element exports with stream water, discharge was simulatedunder the emission scenarios A1B and B1 for the decades 2050-2059 and 2090-2099 and separated into the threeflow classes. Future element exports per scenario were calculated according to the current element exports.In both climate scenarios and decades, the number of days with high discharge rates (storm) increased and withlow discharge rates (baseflow) decreased. Mean discharge rates increased by 7.5-21 % until the end of the 21stcentury. Annual exports of most elements were predicted to increase, particularly exports of the metals Al, Zn, andMn (up to + 53% by the end of the 21st century) but also of NO3-N (+ 27%) while P exports remain unchanged.Our results demonstrate that climate change might considerably affect future element exports from this tropicalmontane catchment because of changing water flow paths through soil.source: https://doi.org/10.7892/boris.80226 | downloaded: 13.3.2017

Element export from a small catchment in the tropical montane forest of

Ecuador responds to climate change

Element export from a small catchment in the tropical montane forest of Ecuador responds to climate change

http://boris.unibe.ch/80226/1/EGU2015-5297.pdf

Element export from a small catchment in the tropical montane forest of Ecuador responds to climate change

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Bern Open Repository and Information System (BORIS)

Bern Open Repository and Information System (BORIS)