Shallow groundwater subsidies to terrestrial ecosystems

JACKSON, R B; JAYAWICKREME, D; NOSETTO, M D; JOBBÁGY, E G

Congreso; American Geophysical Union. Fall Meeting; 2010

Throughout the world, shallow groundwater systems subsidize much higher net primary productivity (NPP) than would be expected based solely on local rainfall. Such subsidies are far more prevalent and less recognized in upland systems than in more commonly studied riparian ones. We present a quantitative framework for examining and quantifying groundwater subsidies globally, illustrating subsidies to NPP across rainfall gradients in Argentina and the southern United States, including Texas and California. In the Argentine Pampas, we determined that the presence of relatively shallow ground water increased the transpiration of forest plantations by 300 to 400 mm. Farther west, the presence of well developed Prosopis flexuosa woodlands in the Monte desert region east of the Andes has puzzled scientists for decades. We explored the vulnerability and importance of phreatic ground water for the productivity of the region, comparing the contributions of local rainfall to that of remote mountain recharge that is increasingly being diverted for irrigated agriculture before it reaches the desert. The isotopic composition of phreatic ground waters (δ2H; -137±5 ‰) closely matched the signature of water brought to the region by the Mendoza River (-137±6 ‰), suggesting that mountain river infiltration rather than in-situ rainfall deep drainage (-39±19 ‰) was the dominant mechanism of recharge. Vegetation in woodland ecosystems there relied on regionally derived ground water from Andean snowmelt located from 6.5 to 9.5 m underground. Understanding the ecohydrological coupling of surface and ground waters is vital for estimating net primary productivity and for balancing the demands of managed ecosystems with the conservation of unique natural systems.