HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY UNDER FORESTS ONE KEY FOR WATER MANAGEMENT (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Hydraulic conductivity under the soil of forests is related to sub-surface flows. It sought to know these behaviors and their differences, a fact that has great importance in the water management and sustainability of basins. Experimental one-hectare areas were characterized in forests of Cupressus lusitanica, Eucalytus globulus and natural forest in the San Cristobal River basin, Bogota, and fifty-four inverted blast hole well trials were conducted. Sand determined the characteristic curves of the infiltration velocity and according to them is calculated on the saturated hydraulic conductivity. The data obtained have the limitations of normal human errors in their obtaining, since these are tests carried out with very simple devices that do not represent a high degree of accuracy, a fact that is partly corrected by the significant number of tests carried out. No differences in saturation infiltration speeds were observed. It was verified that there were no significant differences in saturated hydraulic conductivity, with a probability of 0.01. It is apparent from this research that sub-surface root systems of undergrowth species can reduce hydraulic conductivity in the sub-soil by up to 71% on average by the effect of air entrapment that prevents total saturation of soil pores, a fact that could influence groundwater flow and erosion processes among others