TY - JOUR
T1 - Riparian restoration for protecting water quality in tropical agricultural watersheds
AU - Mello, Kaline de
AU - Randhir, Timothy O.
AU - Valente, Roberta Averna
AU - Vettorazzi, Carlos Alberto
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP- Process number: 2014/19093-1).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2017/11
Y1 - 2017/11
N2 - Land use change in riparian zones is one of the most significant threats to water quality in watershed ecosystems. Riparian forests play a major role in protecting water quality, and there is a need to assess the role of riparian restoration in reducing nutrients and sediment loading. This study uses watershed simulation modeling to evaluate impacts of riparian forest restoration on water quality in a tropical agricultural watershed. Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used to simulate streamflow, suspended sediment and nutrients of the Sarapuí River watershed, located in southeast Brazil. We observe a spatial and temporal variation in water quality impacts of changes in land use/land cover (LULC) and rainfall patterns. Watersheds with agricultural and some residential areas had a higher sediment and nutrients loads than forest and with pasture land uses, especially during the wet season. Forested watersheds in general had a better water quality than other LULC types. Riparian restoration in the study watershed can reduce suspended sediment (9.26%), total nitrogen (22.6%), and total phosphorus (7.83%). Protecting riparian zone and site-conservation practices is critical to improve water quality. We observe that the simulation model provides a satisfactory baseline of the watershed system to evaluate impacts of land use changes.
AB - Land use change in riparian zones is one of the most significant threats to water quality in watershed ecosystems. Riparian forests play a major role in protecting water quality, and there is a need to assess the role of riparian restoration in reducing nutrients and sediment loading. This study uses watershed simulation modeling to evaluate impacts of riparian forest restoration on water quality in a tropical agricultural watershed. Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used to simulate streamflow, suspended sediment and nutrients of the Sarapuí River watershed, located in southeast Brazil. We observe a spatial and temporal variation in water quality impacts of changes in land use/land cover (LULC) and rainfall patterns. Watersheds with agricultural and some residential areas had a higher sediment and nutrients loads than forest and with pasture land uses, especially during the wet season. Forested watersheds in general had a better water quality than other LULC types. Riparian restoration in the study watershed can reduce suspended sediment (9.26%), total nitrogen (22.6%), and total phosphorus (7.83%). Protecting riparian zone and site-conservation practices is critical to improve water quality. We observe that the simulation model provides a satisfactory baseline of the watershed system to evaluate impacts of land use changes.
KW - Forest restoration
KW - Land use
KW - SWAT
KW - Water resource
KW - Watershed modeling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029602969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.06.049
DO - 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.06.049
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029602969
SN - 0925-8574
VL - 108
SP - 514
EP - 524
JO - Ecological Engineering
JF - Ecological Engineering
ER -