Cloud Forest Hydrology in a Changing Context

Abstract

This project is a consulting project for Community Cloud Forest Conservation (CCFC) on how to obtain and communicate to relevant stakeholders an understanding of the impact of land use change and climate change on the hydrological balance of the cloud forest ecosystem in the Sierra Yalijux. The outcomes of the project will be used by CCFC and partners in four areas: Rural water committee capacity building with municipal and village leadership groups, environmental education with the ministry of education, reforestation, and conservation carbon/water credit prioritization with the national forestry institute, and to create thesis topics for bachelors level students with Universidad Rafael Landívar and Universidad de San Carlos. In order to achieve this goal, we divided our efforts in four areas: First, a description of the situation and a review of literature to identify gaps in scientific and practical understanding of local cloud forest hydrology (Chapter 2). Second, an analysis of the situation at a regional scale using publicly available historical data such as remote sensing data and data from the national meteorological authority (Chapter 3). Third, identifying important hydrological processes in the Cloud Forest micro-climate (Chapter 4) and prototyping and testing measurement setups (Chapter 5). Fourth, making suggestions on how to apply the results to the intended impact areas that CCFC has (Chapter 6). Our recommendations to CCFC for capacity building with water committees are based on a literature re view, we found that the presence of Cloud Forest is expected to increase base flow in springs due to its ability to capture additional hydrological inputs in the dry season, increase moisture recycling after heavy rain events, and store water in the soil. We recommend working with water committees to outline the recharge zones of their springs, run some simple calculations on water availability based on precipitation, and develop manage ment plans for the area. Our recommendations for further research are based on the research approaches we describe at the regional scale and the prototyping of field methodologies that we tested. A more permanent setup for data collection is being developed jointly with the Universidad de San Carlos at CCFC’s nature preserve.