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Effects of forest cover pattern on water quality of low-order streams in an agricultural landscape in the Pirapora river basin, Brazil

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Abstract

Low-order streams are important places for river formation and are highly vulnerable to changes in terrestrial ecosystems. Thus, the land-use/land-cover plays an important role in the maintenance of water quality. However, only land-use/land-cover composition may not explain the spatial variation in water quality, because it does not consider land-use/land-cover configuration and forest cover pattern. In this context, the study aimed to evaluate the forest cover pattern effects on water quality on low-order streams located in an agricultural landscape. Applying a paired watershed method, we selected two watersheds classified according to their morphometry and average slope to discard other physical factors that could influence the water quality. Land-use/land-cover pattern was analyzed for composition and forest cover configuration using landscape metrics, including the riparian zone composition. Water quality variables were obtained every two weeks during the hydrological year. This way, watersheds had similar morphometry, slope, and land-use/land-cover composition but differed in forest cover pattern. Watershed with more aggregated forest cover had a better water quality than the other one. The results show that forest cover contributes to water quality maintenance, while forest fragmentation influences the water quality negatively, especially in sediment retention. Agricultural practices are sources of sediment and nutrients to the river, especially in steep relief. Thus, in addition to land-use/land-cover composition, forest cover pattern must be considered in management of low-order streams in tropical agricultural watersheds.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the University of São Paulo and the Federal University of São Carlos for the structural support; Dr. Adriana Cristina Poli Miwa (University of São Paulo) and Monica Almeida (Federal University of São Carlos) for helping in the samples processing; Dr. André Cordeiro dos Santos (Federal University of São Carlos) for helping with the water quality analysis. We also thank FAPESP for the research funding.

Funding

This study was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, process number 2013/03586-6 and 2018/21612–8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, University of São Paulo (USP), Matão Street, São Paulo, SP, 321, 05508-090, Brazil

    Kaline de Mello

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Federal University of São Carlos, Sorocaba Campus. João, Leme dos Santos Road (SP-264), km 110, Sorocaba, SP, 18052-780, Brazil

    Roberta Averna Valente

  3. PhD student of the Program in Planning and Use of Renewable Resources - PPGPUR, Federal University of São Carlos, Sorocaba Campus. João, Leme dos Santos Road (SP-264), km 110, Sorocaba, SP, 18052-780, Brazil

    Marina Pannunzio Ribeiro

  4. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Holdsworth Hall, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA, USA

    Timothy Randhir

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  1. Kaline de Mello
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  2. Roberta Averna Valente
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  3. Marina Pannunzio Ribeiro
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  4. Timothy Randhir
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Contributions

Conceptualization [Kaline de Mello, Roberta Averna Valente, Timothy Randhir], Methodology: [Kaline de Mello, Roberta Averna Valente], Formal analysis and investigation: [Kaline de Mello], Writing–original draft preparation: [Kaline de Mello, Marina Pannunzio Ribeiro]; Writing–review and editing: [Roberta Averna Valente, Timothy Randhir], Funding acquisition: [Kaline de Mello, Roberta Averna Valente], Resources: [Kaline de Mello], Supervision: [Roberta Averna Valente].

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Correspondence to Marina Pannunzio Ribeiro.

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de Mello, K., Valente, R.A., Ribeiro, M.P. et al. Effects of forest cover pattern on water quality of low-order streams in an agricultural landscape in the Pirapora river basin, Brazil. Environ Monit Assess 194, 189 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09854-4

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