Evaluación del riesgo de erosión hídrica y su efecto en el cambio de la cobertura vegetal en las riberas del rio coca

Abstract

Riparian forests play a crucial role in water conservation, biodiversity and human welfare, particularly in the province of Chimborazo, Ecuador, they have suffered serious alterations due to anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and livestock which generate a negative impact in the soil respiration and carbon dioxide (CO2) retention; Therefore, the current research was aimed to evaluate the soil respiration in the riparian forest of the Cebadas River micro-watershed by measuring the amount of CO2 exhaled by its soils and expressed as carbon dioxide flux (FCO2). The methodology implemented determined nine monitoring points distributed in three zones: Ozogoche, Atillo and Cebadas, which were sampled from March to May 2023, period corresponding to the rainy season. The quantification was carried out using the modified titration method to be applied in situ, so it was developed in two stages: field stage and laboratory stage. At the end of the research, it was determined that FCO2 shows a higher value in the riparian forest of the Ozogoche area with 487.7±35.66 mg of CO2 m-2 h-1, a lower value in the Atillo area with 335.74±7.78 mg of CO2 m-2 h-1 and an intermediate value in the Cebadas area with 390.18±36.27 mg of CO2 m-2 h-1, showing an important rate of edaphic respiration in non-intervened soils belonging to the páramo soils. Thus, this resource must be kept without any alteration, otherwise a removal of native organic matter and an accelerated decomposition is expected, resulting in large emissions of CO2 which contribute to the intensification of the greenhouse effect and consequently global warming.