Comparison of Discharge Duration Curves from Two Adjacent Forested Catchments—Effect of Forest Age and Dominant Tree Species

Koji Tamai

.

DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2010.28086                

Abstract

The effects of forest age and dominant tree species on the water discharge volume have been analyzed by a paired-watershed experiment in two adjacent catchments in Tatsunokuchi-yama Experimental Forest, western Japan. The control period is 1937-1943. The treated periods are 1948-1953, 1968-1977, and 1996-2003. In these treated periods, the forest age or the dominant tree species were different between two adjacent periods. Differences in the discharge duration curves from the two catchments are compared for the control and the treated periods. A significant change in the discharge duration curves is seen in the third treated period (1996-2003) on days with low water, when the forest age difference between the adjacent catchments was 35 years. This is believed to be the result of differences in forest age and forest treatment just after the occurrence of pine wilt disease.

Keywords

Paired-Watershed Experiment, Forest Age Difference

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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