Effect of Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus plantations on water resource in the Coastal Range of Biobío region, Chile

Abstract

Rainfall redistribution, temporal oscillation of streamflow, variation of soil water content, evapotranspiration and sediment transport of two Pinus radiata and two Eucalyptus globulus catchments were determined. The catchments are located in the Coastal Range of southern central Chile. Due to their age, these plantations are to be harvested soon. The P. radiata plantations registered an interception loss of 17 and 16 %, values surpassing significantly the eucalyptus values of 10 and 11 %. The streamflows of the same catchments were 705 resp. 707 mm and 439 resp. 500 mm for the monitored period of 14 months. Despite the higher amount of rainfall reaching the soil in the eucalyptus-catchments, these catchments registered low streamflow compared to the pine-catchments. During the dry summer, all soils showed a severe reduction of their soil water content, exceeding the permanent wilt point in the soil's upper 30 cm. The E. globulus-catchments registered an evapotranspiration equal to 1,582 and 1,469 mm while it reached values of 1,357 and 1,298 in the P. radiata-catchments. These values correspond, for the E. globulus-catchments, to 74 and 68 % of total precipitation and 63 and 60 % for the P. radiata-catchments. These differences may be higher if water availability during summer drought does not limit the total evapotranspiration. The sediment export reached values of 237 and 615 kg/ha for the P. radiata-catchments and 152 and 125 kg/ha for the E. globulus-catchments during the monitored period.