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Hydrologic effects of size and location of harvesting on a large drained pine forest on organic soils

Informally Refereed

Abstract

A calibrated DRAINWAT model was used to evaluate long -term hydrologic effects of conversion to agriculture of a 30 km2 pine forest on mostly organic soils in North Carolina, USA. Fifty years of weather data were used for determining baseline outflows. Simulation revealed that increased mean annual outflow was significant only for a 75% conversion at both upstream and downstream locations, with minimal changes for up to 25% conversion. While the high flow rates > 10 mm day-1 increased from 3 to 18% for 25 % to 50% conversion, the frequency increased three-fold and was consistently higher for downstream location than the upstream.

Keywords

DRAINMOD, agricultural crop, outflow, peak flow rate, evapotranspiration

Citation

Amatya, Devendra M.; Hyunwoo, Kim; Chescheir, George M.; Skaggs, R. Wayne Nettles, Jami E. 2008. Hydrologic effects of size and location of harvesting on a large drained pine forest on organic soils. Proceedings of the 13th International Peat Congress. After Wise Use – The Future of Peatlands Volume 1 Oral Presentations. Tullamore, Ireland. 8 – 13 June 2008. 463-467.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/30579