Interception and Redistribution of Precipitation by Parkinsonia aculeata L.: Implications for Palo Verde National Park Wetlands, Costa Rica

Julio César Calvo-Alvarado,Oscar Arias-Rodríguez,Juan Carlos Solano,César Dionisio Jiménez-Rodríguez

doi:10.3390/w14030311

Abstract

Seasonal wetlands in the tropics are important habitats for local and migratory bird species. In the northwestern Pacific of Costa Rica, Palo Verde National Park has one of the most important seasonal wetlands of Central America. The management history of this wetland has shown the impact of invasive plant species such as Parkinsonia aculeata L. whose cover extension and canopy structure impact not only the ecological niches of bird species, but also the wetland hydrology. A 300 m2 plot was established in a P. aculeata stand to evaluate the role of P. aculeata on the partitioning and redistribution of precipitation. Gross precipitation (PGr), throughfall (PTF) and stemflow (PSF) were measured on a daily basis to determine the interception of precipitation (PI) and net precipitation (PNet). A total of 43 precipitation events were sampled during the wet season of 2003. We measured 530.5 mm of PGr and 458 mm of PTF, with an average sampling error of 0.7 mm or 6.1%. Canopy storage capacity was estimated at 1.47 mm, throughfall 88.73%, stem flow 2.63% and a total interception of 8.64%, with a PNet coefficient of 0.9475. The relationships between gross precipitation (PGr) with throughfall (PTF), stemflow (PSF) and net precipitation (PNet) were evaluated using linear regression models. P. aculeata showed to have one of the highest net precipitation and lowest precipitation interception among small trees.

Highlights

Palo Verde National Park (PVNP) protects an area of 24,519 ha which includes one of the largest and most important seasonal wetland systems of Central America [1]
The conservation and restoration of these wetlands to maintain healthy populations of migratory birds and other species has become a critical component in the PVNP management goals
Except for tree diameter, all average values of our study are above the estimated values in the survey of Solano [13]

Summary

Introduction

Palo Verde National Park (PVNP) protects an area of 24,519 ha which includes one of the largest and most important seasonal wetland systems of Central America [1]. The wetland system is composed of 13 water bodies for a total area of ~10,000 ha This wetland system is home to more than 60 species of native and migratory birds and provides numerous ecosystemic goods and services. Thereafter, active management activities such as cattle grazing and the use of fire were forbidden when the national park was declared [5,6,7,8]. These major changes, plus a sequence of droughts, modified the hydrological dynamic of the wetlands, leading to the propagation of invasive plants such as Typha domingensis

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