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Carbon dynamics in small tropical catchments under preserved forest and cacao agroforestry systems

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Abstract

Inland waters such as streams that receive carbon from terrestrial landscapes usually have a net heterotrophic metabolism and emit significant amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. This research aims to analyze the role of hydrological routes to transport the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pCO2 concentration in stream water and describe their dynamics by comparing two small catchments under tropical preserved forest (TPF) and cacao agroforestry system (CAS) during distinct rainfall regimes. The sampling occurred weekly (for twenty-one weeks) from September to December 2012 and from April to June 2013. The pCO2 in stream water (SW) was calculated using total alkalinity and pH data. The DIC of soil solution (SS) and surface runoff (SR) were measured through a TOC analyzer. The SS and SR have different patterns of influence on the DIC concentrations in the streams. The DIC concentrations were higher in CAS than in TPF. The pCO2 in CAS was eight and sixteen times higher than TPF in dry and rainy periods, respectively. Fluxes in both areas were significantly elevated during the rainy period compared to the dry period. DIC fluxes were higher in CAS than TPF during both periods (CAS: 1.72 and 19.1 kg ha−1 year−1 and TPF: 0.10 and 2.82 kg ha−1 year−1 to dry and rainy periods, respectively). Based on these results and previous studies involving C fluxes, it is possible that the cacao agroforestry system promotes changes in stream water metabolism, considerably raising pCO2 and DIC concentrations, probably owing to organic matter created by cacao vegetation without management.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the landowners Divanete Souza and Veet Pramad for letting us work on their lands, to all technicians at UESC for fieldwork, and the technician Natalia Singelo de Lima for TOC analysis. This work is part of the National Institute of Science and Technology’s Continent-Ocean Transfer of Materials Project, funded by CNPq- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Process No. 573.601/2008-9 URL: www.cnpq.br/) and supported by grant from FAPESB—Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (PPP0040/2011 URL: www.fapesb.ba.gov.br/) and Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (PROPP 0220.1100.899 URL: www.uesc.br).

Funding

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (573.601/2008–9); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (PPP0040/2011) Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (PROPP 0220.1100.899).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biogeoquímica Marinha, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz – UESC- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sistemas Aquáticos Tropicais, Rod. Ilhéus-Itabuna km 16, CEP: 45650-000, Ilhéus, BA, Brasil

    Eline Nayara Dantas da Costa, Jéssica Carneiro de Souza, Marilane Andrade Pereira, Marcelo F. Landim de Souza & Daniela Mariano Lopes da Silva

  2. Laboratório de Química Analítica Inorgânica, Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia – INT/Divisão de Química Analítica, Av. Venezuela, 82, Praça Mauá, CEP: 20081-312, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

    Weber F. Landim de Souza

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  1. Eline Nayara Dantas da Costa
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Contributions

Marcelo Friederichs Landim de Souza (Methodology); Daniela Mariano Lopes da Silva (Project administration); Eline Nayara Dantas da Costa, Jéssica Carneiro de Souza, Marilane Andrade Pereira, and Weber F. Landim de Souza (Data collection and analyses); Eline Nayara Dantas da Costa (Writing – original draft); Eline Nayara Dantas da Costa, Marcelo Friederichs Landim de Souza and Daniela Mariano Lopes da Silva (Writing – review & editing).

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Correspondence to Eline Nayara Dantas da Costa.

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da Costa, E.N.D., de Souza, J.C., Pereira, M.A. et al. Carbon dynamics in small tropical catchments under preserved forest and cacao agroforestry systems. Agroforest Syst 95, 1647–1659 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-021-00671-1

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