L.A. (Sampurno) Bruijnzeel

Professor of Land Use and Hydrology. Research interests: hydrology and biogeochemistry of tropical lowland rain forests, montane cloud forests and tree plantations; hydrological impacts of de- and reforestation; erosion and sedimentation, soil conservation and land rehabilitation, watershed management.

Research activities

Current research themes (summary):

• Hydrology and/or biogeochemistry of tropical montane cloud forests (Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, La Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain));
• Water and nutrient dynamics of evergreen lowland rain forest and Heath forests of contrasting stature (central Kalimantan, Indonesia);
• Hydrological impacts of converting montane cloud forest to pasture (Costa Rica, Mexico);
• Climatic impacts of land cover change in the maritime tropics (Puerto Rico, Mexico);
• Water and sediment budgets of naturally reforested catchments; effects of reforestation on soil physical characteristics (SW Slovenia);
• Reforestation and land rehabilitation in degraded tropical catchments: effects on dry season flows (pan-tropics; in preparation.

Courses

• Ecohydrology; 
• Unsaturated zone and near-surface hydrological processes;
• Soil and environment (undergraduate);
• Bachelor’s excursion (Scotland).

Editorships and awards

• Journal of Tropical Ecology
• Hydrological Processes
• Land Use and Water Resources Research
• Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences (Hydrology)
• Busk Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (U.K.) for biosphere research in the humid tropics (June 2006).

Selected publications

Books and monographs

• Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Bremmer, C.N. (1989). Highland-Lowland Interactions in the Ganges-Brahmaputra River Basin: a Review of Published Literature. ICIMOD Occasional Paper no. 11, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal, 136 pp.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1990). Hydrology of Moist Tropical Forests and Effects of Conversion: a State of Knowledge Review. Humid Tropics Programme, IHP-UNESCO, Paris, and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 224 pp. 
• Bonell, M. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (Eds) (2005). Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 925 pp.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A., Juvik, J., Scatena, F.N., Hamilton, L.S. & Bubb, P. (Eds) (2006). Forests in the Mist. Science for Conservation and Management of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (in prep.).

Peer-reviewed papers and book chapters

• Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Wiersum, K.F. (1985). A nutrient balance sheet for Agathis dammara Warb. plantation forest under various management conditions in central Java, Indonesia. Forest Ecology & Management 10, 195-208.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Wiersum, K.F. (1987). Rainfall interception by a young Acacia auriculiformis (A. Cunn.) plantation forest in West Java, Indonesia: application of Gash's analytical model. Hydrological Processes 1, 309-319.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1989). (De)forestation and dry-season flow in the tropics: a closer look. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 1, 229-243.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1991). Nutrient input-output budgets of moist tropical forest ecosystems: a review. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7, 1-24.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A., Waterloo, J.M., Proctor, J., Kuiters, A.T. & Kotterink, B. (1993). Hydrological observations in montane rain forests on Gunung Silam, Sabah, Malaysia, with special reference to the "Massenerhebungeffect". Journal of Ecology 81, 145-167.
• Van der Plas, M.C. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1993). The impact of mechanized selective logging of lowland rainforest on topsoil infiltrability in the upper Segama area, Sabah, Malaysia. International Association of Hydrological Sciences Publication no. 216, 203-211.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Proctor, J. (1995). Hydrology and biogeochemistry of tropical montane "cloud forests": what do we really know? Pp. 38-78 in L.S. Hamilton, J.O. Juvik & F.N. Scatena (Eds), Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. Ecological Studies no. 110. Springer, New York.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Critchley, W.R.S. (1996). A new approach towards quantifying contributions of runoff and eroded sediment from bench-terraces in humid tropical steeplands and its application in South-Central Java, Indonesia. Pp. 921-937 in M.G. Anderson & S.M. Brooks (Eds), Advances in Hillslope Processes, Volume 2. J. Wiley, Chichester.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1997). Hydrology of forest plantations in the humid tropics. Pp. 125-167 in E.K.S. Nambiar & A.G. Brown (Eds), Management of Soil, Nutrients and Water in Tropical Plantation Forests. ACIAR, Canberra and CIFOR, Jakarta.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1998). Soil chemical responses to tropical forest disturbance and conversion: the hydrological connection. Pp. 45-61 in A. Schulte & D. Ruhiyat (Eds), Tropical Forest Soils and Their Management. World Scientific Publications, Singapore.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Veneklaas, E. (1998). Climatic conditions and tropical montane forest productivity: the fog has not lifted yet. Ecology 78, 3-9.
• Burghouts, Th.B.A., Van Straalen, N.M. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1998). Spatial heterogeneity of element turnover and litter decomposition in a Bornean rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 14, 477-506.
• Purwanto, E. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (1998). Soil conservation on rainfed bench terraces in upland West Java, Indonesia: towards a new paradigm. Advances in GeoEcology 31, 1267-1274.
• Schlesinger, W.H., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Bush, M.B., Klein, E.M., Mace, K.A., Raikes, J.A. & Whittaker, R.J. (1998). The biogeochemistry of phosphorus after the first century of soil development on Rakata island, Krakatau, Indonesia. Biogeo-chemistry 40, 37-55.
• Proctor, J., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Baker, A.M.J. (1999). What causes the vegetation types on Mount Bloomfield, Palawan? Global Ecology & Biogeography 8, 347-354.
• Schellekens, J., Scatena, F.N., Bruijnzeel, L.A., & Wickel, A.J. (1999). Modelling rainfall interception by a lowland tropical rain forest in Eastern Puerto Rico. Journal of Hydrology 225, 168-184.
• Waterloo, M.J., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Vugts, H.F. & Rawaqa, T.T. (1999). Evaporation from Pinus caribaea plantations on former grassland soils under maritime tropical conditions. Water Resources Research 35, 2133-2144.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2000). Forest hydrology. Pp. 301-343 in J.C. Evans (Ed.). The Forests Handbook. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.
• Schellekens, J., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Scatena, F.N. & Bink, N.J. (2000). Evaporation from a lowland rain forest under maritime conditions. Water Resources Research 36, 2183-2196.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2001). Hydrology of tropical montane cloud forest: a reassessment. Land Use and Water Resources Research 1: 1.1-1.18.
• Te Linde, A.H., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Groen, J., Scatena, F.N. & Meijer, H.A.J. (2001). Stable isotopes in rainfall and fog in the Luquillo Mountains, eastern Puerto Rico:a preliminary study. Pp. 181-184 in R.S. Schemenauer & H. Puxbaum (Eds), Second International Conference on Fog and Fog Collection, IDRC, Ottawa, Canada.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2001). Modelling rainfall interception by vegetation of variable density using an adapted analytical model. Part 1. Model description. Part 2. Model validation for a tropical upland mixed cropping system Journal of Hydrology 247, 230-238 & 239-262.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Rosewell, C.J. (2002). Rainfall intensity – rainfall kinetic energy relationships: a critical literature appraisal. Journal of Hydrology 261, 1-23.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Meesters, A.G.C.A. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2002). Exponential distribution theory and the interpretation of splash detachment and transport experiments. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66, 1466-1474.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Eisma, E. (2003). A methodology to study rain splash and wash processes under natural rainfall, Hydrological Processes 17,153-167.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Wiegman, S.E. (2003). Measurements of rain splash on bench terraces in a humid tropical steepland environent. Hydrological Processes 17, 513-535.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Vernimmen, R.R.E. (2004). Environmental benefits of planting fast-growing trees on eroding cropland in Java. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 279, 73-77.
• Schellekens, J., Scatena, F.N., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & van Hogezand, R.J.P. (2004). Stormflow generation in a small rain forest catchment in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Hydrological Processes 18, 505-530.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2004). Runoff and soil loss from bench terraces. 1. An event-based model of rainfall infiltration and surface runoff. 2. An event-based erosion process model. European Journal of Soil Science 55, 299-316 & 317-334.
• Hoelscher, D., Koehler, L., Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2004). The importance of epiphytes to total rainfall interception by a tropical montane rain forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Hydrology 292, 308-322.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Schellekens, J. (2004). Micrometeorology and water use of mixed crops in upland West Java, Indonesia. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 100, 59-72.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2004). Hydrological functions of tropical forests: not seeing the soil for the trees? Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 104, 185-228.
• Roberts, J.M., Gash, J.H.C., Tani, M. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest. Pp. 287-313 in M. Bonell & L.A. Bruijnzeel (Eds), Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics. Cambridge University Press.
• Malmer, A., Van Noordwijk, M. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Effects of shifting cultivation and forest fire. Pp. 533-560 in M. Bonell & L.A. Bruijnzeel (Eds), Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics. Cambridge University Press.
• Grip, H., Fritsch, J.M.& Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Soil and water impacts during forest transformation and stabilisation to new land use. Pp. 561-589 in M. Bonell & L.A. Bruijnzeel (Eds), Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics. Cambridge University Press.
• Scott, D.F., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Mackensen, J. (2005). The hydrological and soil impacts of forestation in the tropics. Pp. 622-651 in M. Bonell & L.A. Bruijnzeel (Eds), Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics. Cambridge University Press.
• Cassells, D.S. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Guidelines for controlling vegetation, soil and water impacts of timber harvesting in the humid tropics. Pp. 840-851 in M. Bonell & L.A. Bruijnzeel (Eds), Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics. Cambridge University Press.
• Van Dijk, A.I.J.M., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Vertessy, R.A. & Ruijter, J. (2005). Runoff and sediment generation on bench-terraced hillsides: measurements and up-scaling of a field-based model. Hydrological Processes 19, 1667-1685.
• Bruijnzeel, L.A., Eugster, W. & Burkard, R. (2005). Fog as a hydrological input. Chapter 41 in Anderson, M.G. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences. John Wiley, Chichester (in press).
• Holwerda, F., Burkard, R., Eugster, W.E., Scatena, F.N., Meesters, A.G.C.A. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Estimating fog deposition at a Puerto Rican elfin cloud forest site: comparison of the water budget and eddy covariance methods. Hydrological Processes (in press).
• Holwerda, F., Scatena, F.N. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Throughfall in a Puerto Rican lower montane rain forest: a comparison of sampling strategies. Journal of Hydrology (in press).
• Schellekens, J. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Modelling water yield and runoff response of a small rain forest catchment using a physically-based distributed model. Hydrological Processes (in press).
• Rijsdijk, A., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Kukuh Sutoto, C. (2005). Production of runoff and sediment by rural roads, trails and settlements in the Upper Konto catchment, East Java, Indonesia. Geomorphology (in press).
• Rijsdijk, A. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Prins, Th.M. (2005). Sediment contributions from tributary gullies, riparian mass wasting and bank erosion in the Upper Konto River, East Java, Indonesia. Geomorphology (in press).
• Frumau, K.F.A., Burkard, R., Schmid, S., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Tobón, C. & Calvo, J.C. (2006). Fog gauge performance as a function of wind speed in northern Costa Rica. In: Bruijnzeel et al. (Eds), Forests in the Mist: Science for Conservation and Management of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (in press).
• Holwerda, F., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Scatena, F.N. (2006). Estimating event fog deposition and duration using passive fog gauges and throughfall measurements at Pico del Este, Puerto Rico. In: Bruijnzeel et al. (Eds), Forests in the Mist: Science for Conservation and Management of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (in press). \
• Van der Molen, M.K., Dolman, A.J., Waterloo, M.J. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2006). Climate is affected more by maritime than by continental land use change: a multiple-scale analysis. Global and Planetary Change (in press).
• Van der Molen, M.K., Vugts, H.F., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Scatena, F.N., Pielke, R.A. & Kroon, L.J.M. (2006). Meso-scale climate change due to lowland deforestation in the maritime tropics. In: L.A. Bruijnzeel et al. (Eds), Mountains in the Mist: Science for Conservation and Management of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (in press).
• Tobón, C., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Frumau, K.F.A. & Calvo, J.C. (2005). Changes in soil hydraulic properties and soil water status after conversion of tropical montane cloud forest to pasture in northern Costa Rica. In: Bruijnzeel et al. (Eds), Forests in the Mist: Science for Conservation and Management of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (in press).
• Tobón, C., Köhler, L., Schmid, S., Burkard, R., Frumau, K.F.A. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Water dynamics of epiphytic vegetation in a lower montane cloud forest: interception, storage and evaporation of horizontal precipitation. In: Bruijnzeel et al. (Eds), Forests in the Mist: Science for Conservation and Management of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (in press).
• Koehler, L., Hoelscher, D., Tobon, C., Frumau, K.F.A. & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2005). Biomass and water dynamics of epiphytes in old-growth and secondary montane rain forest stands in Costa Rica. Plant Ecology (in review).
• Holwerda, F., Vugts, H.F., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Scatena, F.N. (2005). Water and energy budgets of a Puerto Rican montane palm forest. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (in review).
• Holwerda, F., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Vugts, H.F. & Scatena, F.N. (2005). Transpiration from elfin cloud forest, Pico del Este, Puerto Rico. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (in review).
• Keesstra, S.D., Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Van Huissteden, J. (2006). Sediment budget, channel-sediment transport and riverine habitats of the Dragonja River, Southwest Slovenia. Geomorphology (in review).

Documentary (DVD)

• Wohlgroth, A. (direction), Kunz, D. (camera), Schmid, S. (script) & Bruijnzeel, L.A. (production) (2004). Mountains in the Mist. DVD documentary film (47 min) on the biodiversity and hydrological values of tropical montane cloud forest. Halsundbeinbruch Films, Zurich, Switzerland, and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (http://www.halsundbeinbruch.ch/).