Water provisioning services in a seasonally dry subtropical mountain: Identifying priority landscapes for conservation A.M. Cingolani a,b,⇑ , M. Poca a , M.A. Giorgis a,b , M.V. Vaieretti a , D.E. Gurvich a,b , J.I. Whitworth-Hulse a , D. Renison c a Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, CC 495, X5000JJC Córdoba, Argentina b Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Vélez Sarsfield 299, X5000JJC Córdoba, Argentina c Centro de Ecología y Recursos Naturales Renovables-Dr. Ricardo Luti, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, X5016GCA Córdoba, Argentina article info Article history: Received 3 December 2014 Received in revised form 20 March 2015 Accepted 22 March 2015 Available online 27 March 2015 This manuscript was handled by Geoff Syme, Editor-in-Chief Keywords: Catchments Ecosystem services Land cover Low flow Streamflow Water discharge summary The influence of landscape characteristics on dry season baseflow in mountain areas with a long dry sea- son depends on a complex array of factors which need to be identified in order to prioritize landscapes for conservation of water provisioning services. Our objective was to detect which landscapes, as combina- tions of land cover types and topographical features are better suited to provide water during the dry sea- son. We evaluated dry season water discharge (mm day À1 ) and rainfall during three years in 16 small headwater catchments (1.1–3.5 km 2 ) in the mountains of central Argentina. For each catchment we esti- mated landscape variables as the proportion of five land-cover units and eight topographic properties. We analyzed water discharge as a function of landscape variables using regressions. Both rainfall and water discharge declined from years 1 to 3, but differences in water discharge among catchments were larger than differences among years, and consistent throughout time. Dry season water discharge was always higher in catchments located in rugged landscapes, with a high proportion of deep valleys and rock outcrops as compared to catchments in gentle landscapes with a high proportion of plains and cov- ered with grasslands. We conclude that conservation priorities toward rugged landscapes would opti- mize water provisioning services. Reducing present rates of soil loss in deep valleys and controlling their incipient invasion by woody aliens is especially important. In coincidence, rugged landscapes host a higher diversity of various taxa. Ó 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The provision of water is a growing worldwide challenge due to increased demand and progressive ecosystem degradation (Mark and Dickinson, 2008). In particular, mountain ecosystems are of significant hydrological importance because they have higher pre- cipitation and lower evapotranspiration compared with surround- ing lowlands (Messerli et al., 2004; Viviroli et al., 2007). Mountains store part of the water to be released later, allowing the mainte- nance of perennial streams, even in regions with seasonal precip- itations. Thus, the adequate management of mountain landscapes to optimize water provision is a societal need in seasonally dry regions, particularly if water for human consumption is directly obtained from the rivers, or if dams used as reservoirs are small (Smakhtin, 2001; Bruijnzeel, 2004). Complemented with other actions, the management of mountain landscapes to improve water provision can contribute to prevent water shortages and associated social conflicts during the dry season when the streamflows reach minimum values (Brauman et al., 2007; Berardo, 2014). The success of ecosystem management depends on sound knowledge about the influence of landscape properties on key water fluxes (Ponette-González et al., 2014). One of the most important fluxes in seasonally dry social-ecological systems is the dry season baseflow. This flow depends on various factors, besides precipitation. After rainfall events, much of the water is rapidly lost through runoff, while only a portion is stored as groundwater, which can later be incorporated into the streams, if not consumed by plants or evaporated (Wittenberg and Sivapalan, 1999; Smakhtin, 2001; Laaha et al., 2013). The propor- tion of water which is lost by surface or sub-surface runoff, and http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.03.041 0022-1694/Ó 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Vélez Sarsfield 299, X5000JJC Córdoba, Argentina. Tel.: +54 351 4331096; fax: +54 351 4332104. E-mail address: acingola@com.uncor.edu (A.M. Cingolani). Journal of Hydrology 525 (2015) 178–187 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hydrology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhydrol