Water budget of a broadleaved sclerophyllous forested catchment

The small watershed approach was used to determine the main water fluxes in a 4.3 ha watershed underlain by metamorphic schists and covered by a dense holm-oak forest in the Montseny mountains (NE Spain). Mean annual precipitation for the 6-year study period was 857 mm while mean annual streamflow was 442 mm. Mean evapotranspiration was 415 mm or 48% of precipitation. Interannual variability was maximum for streamflow which varied from 179 mm in the driest year to 725 mm in one of the wettest. Annual streamflow was positively correlated (r=0.97 p<0.001) with annual precipitation while no correlation was found between annual evapotranspiration and precipitation. -from Authors