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Biblioteca Effects of land cover on chemical characteristics of streams in the Cerrado region of Brazil

Effects of land cover on chemical characteristics of streams in the Cerrado region of Brazil

Effects of land cover on chemical characteristics of streams in the Cerrado region of Brazil

Resource information

Date of publication
Dezembro 2011
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
AGRIS:US201400065964
Pages
75-88

The Cerrado is the second largest Brazilian biome and contains the headwaters of three major hydrological basins in Brazil. In spite of the biological and ecological relevance of this biome, there is little information about how land use changes affect the chemistry of low-order streams in the Cerrado. To evaluate these effects streams that drain areas under natural, rural, and urban land cover were sampled near Brasília, Brazil. Water samples were collected between September 2004 and December 2006. Chemical concentrations generally followed the pattern of Urban > Rural > Natural. Median conductivity of stream water of 21.6 (interquartile: 22.7) μS/cm in urban streams was three and five-fold greater relative to rural and natural areas, respectively. In the wet season, despite of increasing discharge, concentration of many solutes were higher, particularly in rural and natural streams. Streams also presented higher total dissolved N (TDN) loads from natural to rural and urban although DIN:DON ratios did not differ significantly. In natural and urban streams TDN was 80 and 77% dissolved organic N, respectively. These results indicate that alterations in land cover from natural to rural and urban are changing stream water chemistry in the Cerrado with increasing solute concentrations, in addition to increased TDN output in areas under urban cover, with potential effects on ecosystem function.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Silva, José Salomão Oliveira
da Cunha Bustamante, Mercedes Maria
Markewitz, Daniel
Krusche, Alex Vladimir
Ferreira, Laerte Guimarães

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Data Provider
Geographical focus