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Artificial flooding changes soil chemistry and carbon dynamics in upland forests next to hydropower plant in Amazon basin

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Abstract

Upland forest cover in the Amazon basin has been reduced by land use changes, e.g., the establishment of hydropower plants. Such plants cause permanent flooding and may produce periodic flooding in adjacent upland forests. We determined the short- and long-term effects of artificial flooding on the soil chemistry of upland forests adjacent to the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir, Amazonas State, Brazil. We randomized 20 sampling units in upland forests located on the banks of streams adjacent to the hydropower plant. Each sampling unit consisted of two paired forests: one artificial “flooded forest” near the stream and an unflooded “control forest.” We performed soil chemical analyses to determine the pH and total organic C, N, Al3+, and nutrient levels (P, Ca, Mg, and K). In the short term, flooding caused soil acidification, C loss, and increased soil nutrient availability, but this effect did not occur in the long term. In the long term, soil acidity decreased, C loss occurred, and available N cumulatively decreased because of annual flooding after the impoundment of the reservoir. These cumulative N losses, associated with high C emissions, may alter the regional climate and contribute to global climate change.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the Brazilian Government for financing the research through the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade and Reserva Biológica do Uatumã for granting a masters scholarship to the first author through the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro for financing the research through the Post-Graduate Program of Environmental and Forest Science; and Francisco das Chagas, Efraim Assunção, Matheus Bastos, and Joelson Nogueira for support during field collections.

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  1. Escola Agrotécnica, Universidade Federal de Roraima (UFRR), Campus Murupu, BR 174, km 37, P.A Nova Amazônia, Boa Vista, Roraima, 69300-000, Brazil

    Guilherme Henrique Almeida Pereira

  2. Departamento de Solos, Instituto de Agronomia, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), BR 465, km 7, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, 23890-000, Brazil

    Vanessa Francieli Vital Silva, Rodrigo Camara, Vanessa Aparecida Fréo & Marcos Gervasio Pereira

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  1. Guilherme Henrique Almeida Pereira
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  2. Vanessa Francieli Vital Silva
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  4. Vanessa Aparecida Fréo
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  5. Marcos Gervasio Pereira
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Correspondence to Guilherme Henrique Almeida Pereira.

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Pereira, G.H.A., Silva, V.F.V., Camara, R. et al. Artificial flooding changes soil chemistry and carbon dynamics in upland forests next to hydropower plant in Amazon basin. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 7537–7549 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00931-7

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