Biological Controls on Hydrological Response in Tropical Catchments

Abstract:

This presentation posits that in humid tropical landscapes with steep topography and saprolitic soils that the primary mechanisms by which land-use changes affect hydrological response are biological in nature. This hypothesis is supported by observations. Mechanistic descriptions that might allow modeling of biological influences are presented, including a new non-Darcian vadose zone solution method that allows explicit simulation of interactions between soil matrix and preferential flow paths.