Water inputs across a tropical montane landscape in Veracruz, Mexico: synergistic effects of land cover, rain and fog seasonality, and interannual precipitation variability

Abstract

Land‐cover change can alter the spatiotemporal distribution of water inputs to mountain ecosystems, an important control on land‐surface and land‐atmosphere hydrologic fluxes. In eastern Mexico, we examined the influence of three widespread land‐cover types, montane cloud forest, coffee agroforestry, and cleared areas, on total and net water inputs to soil. Stand structural characteristics, as well as rain, fog, stemflow, and throughfall (water that falls through the canopy) water fluxes were measured across 11 sites during wet and dry seasons from 2005 to 2008. Land‐cover type had a significant effect on annual and seasonal net throughfall (NTF 0=fog water deposition). Forest canopies retained and/or lost to evaporation (i.e. NTF R 2 =0.38, P R 2 =0.664, P R 2 =0.414, P

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