Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Identifying Controls on Water Chemistry of Tropical Cloud Forest Catchments: Combining Descriptive Approaches and Multivariate Analysis

  • Review
  • Published:
Aquatic Geochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated controls on the water chemistry of a South Ecuadorian cloud forest catchment which is partly pristine, and partly converted to extensive pasture. From April 2007 to May 2008 water samples were taken weekly to biweekly at nine different subcatchments, and were screened for differences in electric conductivity, pH, anion, as well as element composition. A principal component analysis was conducted to reduce dimensionality of the data set and define major factors explaining variation in the data. Three main factors were isolated by a subset of 10 elements (Ca2+, Ce, Gd, K+, Mg2+, Na+, Nd, Rb, Sr, Y), explaining around 90% of the data variation. Land-use was the major factor controlling and changing water chemistry of the subcatchments. A second factor was associated with the concentration of rare earth elements in water, presumably highlighting other anthropogenic influences such as gravel excavation or road construction. Around 12% of the variation was explained by the third component, which was defined by the occurrence of Rb and K and represents the influence of vegetation dynamics on element accumulation and wash-out. Comparison of base- and fast flow concentrations led to the assumption that a significant portion of soil water from around 30 cm depth contributes to storm flow, as revealed by increased rare earth element concentrations in fast flow samples. Our findings demonstrate the utility of multi-tracer principal component analysis to study tropical headwater streams, and emphasize the need for effective land management in cloud forest catchments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albrecht A, Schultze U, Bugallo PB, Wydler H, Frossard E, Fluhler H (2003) Behavior of a surface applied radionuclide and a dye tracer in structured and repacked soil monoliths. J Environ Radioact 68(1):47–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ataroff V, Rada F (2000) Deforestation impact on water dynamics in a Venezuelan Andean cloud forest. Ambio 29(7):440–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Bautista-Cruz A, del Castillo RF (2005) Soil changes during secondary succession in a tropical montane cloud forest area. Soil Sci Soc Am 69:906–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck E, Makeschin F, Haubrich F, Richter M, Bendix J, Valarezo C (2008) The ecosystem (Reserva Biológica San Francisco). In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies. Springer Verlag

  • Bendix J, Fabian P, Rollenbeck R (2004) Gradients of fog and rain in a tropical montane cloud forest of southern Ecuador and its chemical composition. In: Conference proceeding, pp 11–15

  • Bendix J, Rollenbeck R, Richter M, Fabian P, Emck P (2008) Climate. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies. Springer Verlag

  • Bernal S, Sabater F (2008) The role of lithology, catchment size and the alluvial zone on the hydrogeochemistry of two intermittent Mediterranean streams. Hydrol Process 22(10):1407–1418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biggs TW, Dunne T, Domingues TF, Martinelli LA (2002) Relative influence of natural watershed properties and human disturbance on stream solute concentrations in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon basin. Water Resour Res 38(8):1150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boy J, Wilcke W (2008) Tropical Andean forest derives calcium and magnesium from Saharan dust. Global Biogeochem Cycles 22(1):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Boy J, Valarezo C, Wilcke W (2008) Water flow paths in soil control element exports in an Andean tropical montane forest. Eur J Soil Sci 59(6):1209–1227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt TP, Pinay G (2005) Linking hydrology and biogeochemistry in complex landscapes. Prog Phys Geog 29(3):297–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bwire Ojiambo S, Berry Lyons W, Welch KA, Poreda RJ, Johannesson KH (2003) Strontium isotopes and rare earth elements as tracers of groundwater-lake water interactions, Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Appl Geochem 18(11):1789–1805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman T (1991) Comment on ‘Evaluation of automated techniques for base flow and recession analyses’ by R.J. Nathan and T.A. McMahon. Water Resour Res 27(7):1783–1784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christophersen N, Hooper RP (1992) Multivariate analysis of stream water chemical data: the use of principal component analysis for the end-member mixing problem. Water Resour Res 28(1):99–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung CH, You CF, Chu HY (2008) Weathering sources in the Gaoping (Kaoping) river catchments, southwestern Taiwan: insights from major elements, Sr isotopes, and rare earth elements. J Mar Sys 76(4):433–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Clow DW, Mast MA, Campbell DH (1996) Controls on surface water chemistry in the upper Merced River basin, Yosemite National Park, California. Hydrol Process 10(5):727–746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doumenge C, Gilmour DA, Ruiz Perez M, Blockhus J (1995) Tropical montane cloud forests: conservation status and management issues. In: Hamilton LS, Juvik JO, Scatena FN (eds) Tropical Montane cloud forests. Ecol Stud 110:24–37. Springer Verlag, New York

  • Drobner U, Tyler G (1998) Conditions controlling relative uptake of potassium and rubidium by plants from soils. Plant Soil 201(2):285–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elsenbeer H, Lack A (1996) Hydrometric and hydrochemical evidence for fast flowpaths at La Cuenca, western Amazonia. J Hydrol 180(1–4):237–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elsenbeer H, Vertessy RA (2000) Stormflow generation and flowpath characteristics in an Amazonian rainforest catchment. Hydrol Process 14(14):2367–2381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elsenbeer H, West A, Bonell M (1994) Hydrologic pathways and stormflow hydrochemistry at south creek, Northeast Queensland. J Hydrol 162(1–2):1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feddema JJ, Oleson KW, Bonan GB, Mearns LO, Buja LE, Meehl GA, Washington WM (2005) The importance of land-cover change in simulating future climates. Science 210:1674–1678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goller R, Wilcke W, Leng MJ, Tobschall HJ, Wagner K, Valarezo C, Zech W (2005) Tracing water paths through small catchments under a tropical montane rain forest in south Ecuador by an oxygen isotope approach. J Hydrol 308(1–4):67–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Günther S, Weber M, Erreis R, Aguirre N (2007) Influence of distance to forest edges on natural regeneration of abandoned pastures: a case study in the tropical mountain rain forest of Southern Ecuador. Eur J Forest Res 126:67–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannigan RE, Sholkovitz ER (2001) The development of middle rare earth element enrichments in freshwaters: weathering of phosphate minerals. Chem Geol 175(3–4):495–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Homeier J, Dalitz H, Breckle S-W (2002) Waldstruktur und Baumartendiversität im montanen Regenwald der Estacón Cientíca San Franscisco in Südecuador. Ber d Reinh Tüxen-Ges 14:109–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooper RP (2003) Diagnostic tools for mixing models of stream water chemistry. Water Resour Res 39(3):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu Z, Haneklaus S, Sparovek G, Schnug E (2006) Rare earth elements in soils. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 37(9):1381–1420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huwe B, Zimmermann B, Zeilinger J, Quizhpe M, Elsenbeer H (2008) Gradients and patterns of soil physical parameters at local, field and catchment scales. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies. Springer Verlag

  • Jin VL, West LT, Haines BL, Peterson CJ (2000) P retention in tropical pre-montane soils across forest-pasture interfaces. Soil Sci 165(11):881–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litherland M, Aspden JA, Jemielita RA (1994) The metamorphic belts of Ecuador. Br Geol Surv Overseas Memoir 11:1–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Makeschin F, Haubrich F, Abiy M, Burneo JI, Klinger T (2008) Pasture management and natural soil regeneration. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies. Springer Verlag

  • Markewitz D, Davidson EA, Figueiredo RO, Victoria RL, Krusche AV (2001) Control of cation concentrations in stream waters by surface soil processes in an Amazonian watershed. Nature 410(6830):802–805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell W, Asbury CE (1994) Export of carbon, nitrogen, and major ions from 3 tropical Montane watersheds. Limnol Oceanogr 39(1):111–125

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeod M, Schnipper LA, Taylor MD (1998) Preferential flow in a well drained and a poorly drained soil under different overhead irrigation regimes. Soil Use Manage 14(2):96–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeil VH, Cox ME, Preda M (2005) Assessment of chemical water types and their spatial variation using multi-stage cluster analysis, Queensland, Australia. J Hydrol 310(1–4):181–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Deegan LA, Thomas SM, Cerri CC (2001) Deforestation for pasture alters nitrogen and phosphorus in small Amazonian Streams. Ecol Appl 11(6):1817–1828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Elsenbeer H, Krusche AV, Lehmann J, Markewitz D, Figueiredo RD (2006) Hydrological and biogeochemical processes in a changing Amazon: results from small watershed studies and the large-scale biosphere–atmosphere experiment. Hydrol Process 20(12):2467–2476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newbold JD, Sweeney BW, Jackson JK, Kaplan LA (1995) Concentrations and export of solutes from 6 mountain streams in Northwestern Costa-Rica. J North Am Benthol Soc 14(1):21–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyholm NEI, Tyler G (2000) Rubidium content of plants, fungi and animals closely reflects potassium and acidity conditions of forest soils. For Ecol Manage 134(1–3):89–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patino LC, Velbel MA, Price JR, Wade JA (2003) Trace element mobility during spheroidal weathering of basalts and andesites in Hawaii and Guatemala. Chem Geol 202(3–4):343–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Picouet C, Duprq B, Orange D, Valladon M (2002) Major and trace element geochemistry in the upper Niger river (Mali): physical and chemical weathering rates and CO2 consumption. Chem Geol 185(1–2):93–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poor CJ, McDonnell JJ (2007) The effects of land use on stream nitrate dynamics. J Hydrol 332(1–2):54–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price JR, Velbel MA, Patino LC (2005) Allanite and epidote weathering at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, western North Carolina, USA. Am Miner 90:101–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramos-Escobedo MG, Vázquez G (2001) Major ions, nutrients and primary productivity in volcanic neotropical streams draining rainforest and pasture catchments at Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico. Hydrobiologia 445(1–3):67–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades CC, Eckert GE, Coleman DC (2000) Soil carbon differences among forest, agriculture, and secondary vegetation in lower Montane Ecuador. Ecol Appl 10(2):497–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice KC, Hornberger GM (1998) Comparison of hydrochemical tracers to estimate source contributions to peak flow in a small, forested, headwater catchment. Water Resour Res 34(7):1755–1766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers P, Soulsby C, Waldron S, Tetzlaff D (2005) Using stable isotope tracers to assess hydrological flow paths, residence times and landscape influences in a nested mesoscale catchment. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 9(3):139–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Rollenbeck R (2006) Variability of precipitation in the Reserva Biólogica San Francisco/Southern Ecuador. Lyonia 9(1):43–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Schellekens J, Scatena FN, Bruijnzeel LA, van Dijk AIJM, Groen MMA, van Hogezand RJP (2004) Stormflow generation in a small rainforest catchment in the luquillo experimental forest, Puerto Rico. Hydrol Process 18(3):505–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sholkovitz ER (1995) The aquatic chemistry of rare earth elements in rivers and estuaries. Aquat Geochem 1:1–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simeonov V, Stratis JA, Samara C, Zachariadis G, Voutsa D, Anthemidis A, Sofoniou M, Kouimtzis T (2003) Assessment of the surface water quality in Northern Greece. Water Res 37(17):4119–4124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soethe N, Wilcke W, Homeier J, Lehmann J, Engels C (2008) Plant growth along the altitudinal gradient—role of plant nutritional status, fine root activity, and soil properties. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies

  • Soulsby C, Tetzlaff D, Rodgers P, Dunn S, Waldron S (2006) Runoff processes, stream water residence times and controlling landscape characteristics in a mesoscale catchment: An initial evaluation. J Hydrol 325(1–4):197–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soulsby C, Tetzlaff D, van den Bedem N, Malcolm IA, Bacon PJ, Youngson AF (2007) Inferring groundwater influences on surface water in montane catchments from hydrochemical surveys of springs and streamwaters. J Hydrol 333(2–4):199–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tetzlaff D, Soulsby C (2007a) Conceptualization of runoff processes using a geographical information system and tracers in a nested mesoscale catchment. Hydrol Process 21(10):1289–1307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tetzlaff D, Soulsby C (2007b) Connectivity between landscapes and riverscapes—a unifying theme in integrating hydrology and ecology in catchment science? Hydrol Process 21(10):1385–1389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler G (1982) Metal accumulation by wood-decaying fungi. Chemosphere 11(11):1141–1146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler G (1997) Influence of acidity and potassium saturation on plant uptake of indigenous soil rubidium. Environ Exp Bot 38(2):181–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenbrook S, Frey M, Leibundgut C, Maloszewski P (2002) Hydrograph separations in a mesoscale mountainous basin at event and seasonal timescales. Water Resour Res 38(6):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderborght J, Gahwiller P, Fluhler H (2002) Identification of transport processes in soil cores using fluorescent tracers. Soil Sci Soc Am J 66(3):774–787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velbel MA, Price JR (2007) Solute geochemical mass-balances and mineral weathering rates in small watersheds: methodology, recent advances, and future directions. Appl Geochem 22(8):1682–1700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viers J, Wasserburg GJ (2004) Behavior of Sm and Nd in a lateritic soil profile. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68(9):2043–2054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner F, Homeier J, Gradstein R (2005) Diversity of vascular epiphytes on isolated remnant trees in the montane forest belt of Southern Ecuador. Ecotropica 11:21–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcke W, Yasin S, Valarezo C, Zech W (2001) Change in water quality during the passage through a tropical montane rain forest in Ecuador. Biogeochemistry 55(1):45–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcke W, Yasin S, Schmitt C, Valarezo C, Zech W (2008) Soils along the altitudinal transect and in catchments. In: Beck E, Bendix J, Kottke I, Makeschin F, Mosandl R (eds) Gradients in a tropical mountain ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies. Springer Verlag

  • Willems P (2009) A time series tool to support the multi-criteria performance evaluation of rainfall-runoff models. Environ Model Software 24(3):311–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worrall F, Swank WT, Burt TP (2003) Changes in stream nitrate concentrations due to land management practices, ecological succession, and climate: developing a systems approach to integrated catchment response. Water Resources Research 39(7):1–14

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for funding this project (FOR816). We thank Nature and Culture International (NCI) in Loja for providing research facilities and access to the area. Furthermore, we thank Dr. Jan Feyen for initiating and supporting the cooperation between the University of Giessen, Germany and PROMAS in Ecuador. The help of Beate Lindenstruth, Heike Weller, and Dorit Zörner with the IC and ICP measurements is greatly appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Amelie Bücker, Patricio Crespo, Hans-Georg Frede, Kellie Vaché & Lutz Breuer

  2. Universidad de Cuenca, Quinta de Balzain, Av. Victor Manuel Albornoz, Cuenca, Ecuador

    Patricio Crespo

  3. Programa para el Manejo del Agua y el Suelo (PROMAS), Universidad de Cuenca, Av. 12 de Abril s/n Cuidadela Universitaria, Cuenca, Ecuador

    Felipe Cisneros

Authors
  1. Amelie Bücker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patricio Crespo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hans-Georg Frede
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kellie Vaché
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Felipe Cisneros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Lutz Breuer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lutz Breuer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bücker, A., Crespo, P., Frede, HG. et al. Identifying Controls on Water Chemistry of Tropical Cloud Forest Catchments: Combining Descriptive Approaches and Multivariate Analysis. Aquat Geochem 16, 127–149 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-009-9073-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-009-9073-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation