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Discharge–calcium concentration relationships in streams of the Amazon and Cerrado of Brazil: soil or land use controlled

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Abstract

Stream discharge–concentration relationships are indicators of terrestrial ecosystem function. Throughout the Amazon and Cerrado regions of Brazil rapid changes in land use and land cover may be altering these hydrochemical relationships. The current analysis focuses on factors controlling the discharge–calcium (Ca) concentration relationship since previous research in these regions has demonstrated both positive and negative slopes in linear log10discharge–log10Ca concentration regressions. The objective of the current study was to evaluate factors controlling stream discharge–Ca concentration relationships including year, season, stream order, vegetation cover, land use, and soil classification. It was hypothesized that land use and soil class are the most critical attributes controlling discharge–Ca concentration relationships. A multilevel, linear regression approach was utilized with data from 28 streams throughout Brazil. These streams come from three distinct regions and varied broadly in watershed size (<1 to >106 ha) and discharge (10−5.7–103.2 m3 s−1). Linear regressions of log10Ca versus log10discharge in 13 streams have a preponderance of negative slopes with only two streams having significant positive slopes. An ANOVA decomposition suggests the effect of discharge on Ca concentration is large but variable. Vegetation cover, which incorporates aspects of land use, explains the largest proportion of the variance in the effect of discharge on Ca followed by season and year. In contrast, stream order, land use, and soil class explain most of the variation in stream Ca concentration. In the current data set, soil class, which is related to lithology, has an important effect on Ca concentration but land use, likely through its effect on runoff concentration and hydrology, has a greater effect on discharge–concentration relationships.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grant #’s NCC5-686 and NNG06GE88A of NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program as part of the Large-scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA-ECO) project. We thank Luke Worsham and Paul Lefebvre for help drawing the Amazon Basin inset map. We also thank others in the LBA Land Water Coupling Synthesis Group including Jeff Richey, John Melack, and Eric Davidson.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Daniel Markewitz

  2. Statistical Ecology Associates LLC, Canyon Lake, TX, 78133, USA

    E. Conrad Lamon III

  3. Department of Ecology, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, 70910, Brazil

    Mercedes C. Bustamante & José S. O. Silva

  4. Marine Biological Laboratory, Ecosystems Center, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Joaquin Chaves & Christopher Neill

  5. EMBRAPA Amazônia Oriental, Belém, PA, 66095, Brazil

    Ricardo O. Figueiredo

  6. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Institiute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Mark S. Johnson

  7. Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13416, Brazil

    Alex Krusche

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  1. Daniel Markewitz
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  2. E. Conrad Lamon III
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  3. Mercedes C. Bustamante
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  4. Joaquin Chaves
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  5. Ricardo O. Figueiredo
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  8. Christopher Neill
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  9. José S. O. Silva
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Correspondence to Daniel Markewitz.

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Markewitz, D., Lamon, E.C., Bustamante, M.C. et al. Discharge–calcium concentration relationships in streams of the Amazon and Cerrado of Brazil: soil or land use controlled. Biogeochemistry 105, 19–35 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9574-2

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