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Title: Ecohydrologic separation alters interpreted hydrologic stores and fluxes in a headwater mountain catchment

Journal Article · · Hydrological Processes
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13518 · OSTI ID:1613200

Abstract Recent studies have demonstrated that compartmentalized pools of water preferentially supply either plant transpiration (poorly mobile water) or streamflow and groundwater (highly mobile water) in some catchments, a phenomenon referred to as ecohydrologic separation. The omission of processes accounting for ecohydrologic separation in standard applications of hydrological models is expected to influence estimates of water residence times and plant water availability. However, few studies have tested this expectation or investigated how ecohydrologic separation alters interpretations of stores and fluxes of water within a catchment. In this study, we compare two rainfall‐runoff models that integrate catchment‐scale representations of transport, one that incorporates ecohydrologic separation and one that does not. The models were developed for a second‐order watershed at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (Oregon, USA), the site where ecohydrologic separation was first observed, and calibrated against multiple years of stream discharge and chloride concentration. Model structural variations caused mixed results for differences in calibrated parameters and differences in storage between reservoirs. However, large differences in catchment storage volumes and fluxes arise when considering only mobile water. These changes influence interpreted residence times for streamflow‐generating water, demonstrating the importance of ecohydrologic separation in catchment‐scale water and solute transport.

Research Organization:
Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019377; DEB 1440409; EAR 1417603; EAR 1652293; EAR 1331906; DE‐SC0019377
OSTI ID:
1613200
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1547455
Journal Information:
Hydrological Processes, Vol. 33, Issue 20; ISSN 0885-6087
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 17 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Waters flowing out of systems are younger than the waters stored in those same systems journal August 2019
Seasonal and Topographic Variations in Ecohydrological Separation Within a Small, Temperate, Snow‐Influenced Catchment journal August 2019
Mechanisms of consistently disjunct soil water pools over (pore) space and time journal January 2019