Abstract
This research aimed to quantify and qualify alterations in land cover and verify the implications of these modifications for variables related to energy flows and water cycle in São Francisco basin (SFB), located entirely in Brazilian territory, in the second half of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first. For this, statistical analyses (descriptive, trends, seasonal, and correlations) were used to quantify changes in the variables of land cover and energy/water flows, in addition to relating them. As a result, it was found that the SFB lost 65,680 km2 of native vegetation (10.4% of basin area) to crops and pastures, reducing water infiltration (− 52%), while the rains remained stable (− 2%). Water loss increased through evapotranspiration (+ 5%) and surface runoff (+ 225%). Such changes in the water cycle have entailed an 11% reduction in São Francisco river long-term flow rate (Q 95), comparing pre- and post-1990s period. In SFB, the activities that required water, such as farming activities, are those that promote hydric loss.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by a grant from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)—Finance Code 001, belonging to the Education Ministry of Brazil. The entire database was obtained from secondary sources, on the websites indicated in subtopic 2.2, and duly referenced.
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dos Santos, V.J., Calijuri, M.L. & de Assis, L.C. Land cover changes implications in energy flow and water cycle in São Francisco Basin, Brazil, over the past 7 decades. Environ Earth Sci 81, 83 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10210-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10210-5