Sustainability Under Deforestation and Climate Variability in Tropical Savannas: Water Yield in the Urucuia River Basin, Brazil

Thomas Rieth Corrêa (), Eraldo Aparecido Trondoli Matricardi (), Solange Filoso, Juscelina Arcanjo dos Santos, Aldicir Osni Scariot, Carlos Moreira Miquelino Eleto Torres, Lucietta Guerreiro Martorano and Eder Miguel Pereira
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Thomas Rieth Corrêa: Graduate Program in Forest Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasília 70900-910, DF, Brazil
Eraldo Aparecido Trondoli Matricardi: Graduate Program in Forest Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasília 70900-910, DF, Brazil
Solange Filoso: Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD 20688, USA
Juscelina Arcanjo dos Santos: Graduate Program in Forest Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasília 70900-910, DF, Brazil
Aldicir Osni Scariot: National Center for Research on Genetic Resources (Embrapa-Cenargen), Brazilian Agricultural Corporation, Parque Estação Biológica, Av. W5 Norte, Caixa Postal 02372, Brasília 70770-917, DF, Brazil
Carlos Moreira Miquelino Eleto Torres: Forestry Department, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa 36570-900, MG, Brazil
Lucietta Guerreiro Martorano: Brazilian Agricultural Corporation (Embrapa) Amazonia Oriental, Rodovia PA-473, km 23, Santarém 68040-470, PA, Brazil
Eder Miguel Pereira: Graduate Program in Forest Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasília 70900-910, DF, Brazil

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: By 2023, deforestation in the Cerrado biome surpassed 50% of its original area, primarily due to the conversion of native vegetation to pasture and agricultural land. In addition to anthropogenic pressure, climate change has intensified hydrological stress by reducing precipitation and decreasing river flows, thereby threatening water security, quality, and availability in that biome. The Annual Water Yield (AWY) model from the InVEST platform provides a tool to assess ecosystem services by estimating the balance between precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET). In this study, we applied the AWY model to the Urucuia River Basin, analyzing water yield trends from 1991 to 2020. We evaluated climate variables, land use dynamics, and river discharge data and validated the model validation using observed stream flow data. Although the model exhibited low performance in simulating observed streamflow (NSE = −0.14), scenario analyses under reduced precipitation and increased evapotranspiration (ET) revealed consistent water yield responses to climatic variability, supporting the model’s heuristic value for assessing the relative impacts of land use and climate change. The effects of deforestation on estimated water yield were limited, as land use changes resulted in only moderate shifts in basin-wide ET. This was primarily due to the offsetting effects of land conversion: while the replacement of savannas with pasture reduced ET, the expansion of agricultural areas increased it, leading to a net balancing effect. Nevertheless, other ecosystem services—such as water quality, soil erosion, and hydrological regulation—may have been affected, threatening long-term regional sustainability. Trend analysis showed a significant decline in river discharge, likely driven by the expansion of irrigated agriculture, particularly center pivot systems, despite the absence of significant trends in precipitation or ET.

Keywords: Cerrado biome; sustainable land use; water resource management; climate changes; deforestation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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