Dissertation Research: Land Cover Effects on Water Fluxes and Atmospheric Deposition across a Mexican Tropical Montane Landscape

本研究考察了墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯中部一片破碎的热带云雾森林景观中土地覆盖变化对水通量和大气沉积的影响。定量雾沉降是研究的中心目标；这些输入可能会强烈影响雾淹没地区的生态系统水文、营养和污染物动态以及物种分布。自2005年4月以来，在墨西哥热带山区三种最普遍的土地覆盖类型——云雾森林碎片、遮荫咖啡种植园和空地——测量了雨和雾降水的体积和化学成分。这些数据将用于：(i)估计雾和雨作为水源和营养物质和污染物载体对三种土地覆盖类型的相对重要性；审查森林转化对水投入的数量、空间分布和化学性质的影响；(3)量化云雾林碎片和流域对逆风污染源的暴露。

This study examines the effects of land cover change on water fluxes and atmospheric deposition across a fragmented tropical cloud forest landscape in Central Veracruz, Mexico. Quantifying fog deposition is a central objective of the research; these inputs may strongly influence ecosystem hydrology, nutrient and pollutant dynamics, and species distribution in fog inundated regions. Since April 2005, the volume and chemistry of rain and fog precipitation have been measured in cloud forest fragments, shade coffee plantations, and cleared areas, the three most prevalent land cover types in tropical montane regions of Mexico. The data will be used to: (i) estimate the relative importance of fog and rain as water sources and vectors of nutrients and pollutants to the three land cover types; (ii) examine the effects of forest conversion on the volume, spatial distribution, and chemistry of water inputs; and (iii) quantify the exposure of cloud forest fragments and watersheds to upwind pollution sources.