Today, only 7 % of the Atlantic Rainforest, that once covered Brazil, remains scattered across the southern parts of the country. As the forest is rapidly disappearing, the government of Brazil has emerging interest of preservation. Thus more and more areas are turned into national parks and reserves. At the outskirts of one of these reserves, the Iracambi research station is situated. The center makes an effort to carry out applied research to find methods of preserving and learning about the forest. It is within that context the project described in this report has been performed. The project aimed to establish a water balance over Graminha Basin, the main river in the Iracambi research area. By doing this the understanding of the fluctuations of the amount of water in the ecosystem could increase. An important part of the objective was also to assess which methods can be used practically at Iracambi.The project was carried out during the rainy season from February 13th to April 12, 2012. During this time the water flow was measured at five stations along the river, using a current meter and instant slug-injection. Between six and fifteen flow measurements were made at each station. Slug- injection was generally the most suitable gauging method to use in the area. Precipitation was measured at two points. Evaporation was measured using an evaporation pan, and also calculated using the Penman-Monteith equation. Even though, the parameterization of the Penman-Monteith needs to be improved it was deemed to be the more suitable method for the area.The results give a rough estimate of the water balance during the period. It was concluded that the storage decreased during the project period. Based on the flow measurements and observations it was concluded that the areas covered by forest were less affected by the floods that occurred during heavy rainfalls than the areas covered by grass. Further on, the result of this report indicates that the Iracambi research station can continue to carry out assessments for changes in water flow, rainfall and evaporation with the simple equipment used in this project. However, more expensive and advanced equipment would be beneficial to establish a more accurate water balance. / Idag återstår endast 7% av den atlantiska regnskogen som en gång täckte Brasilien södra kust. Regnskogen försvinner snabbt vilket har lett till att Brasiliens regering de senaste åren visat ett ökat intresse att bevara regnskogen. Fler och fler områden har förvandlats till nationalparker och reservat. I utkanten till ett av dessa reservat ligger forskningsstationen Iracambi. Iracambi bedriver forskning i och runt området för att hitta metoder för att bevara regnskogen och öka kunskapen om området. Detta projekt är ett litet bidrag till detta arbete. Det övergripande syftet med projektet var att upprätta en vattenbalans över floden Graminhas avrinningsområde. Detta är huvudfloden i området och genom upprätta en vattenbalans kan förståelsen för förändringarna av vattentillgången i ekosystemet öka. Ett viktigt mål med projektet var också att finna verktyg som forskningsstationen Iracambi kan använda för kontinuerliga mätningar av de parametrar som ingår i vattenbalansen.Projektets genomfördes under regnperioden mellan den 13 februari och den 12 april, 2012. Flödesmätningarna utfördes vid fem mätstationer längs floden Graminha. Två typer av utrustning användes: flygel och konduktivitetsmätare. Rekommendationen för Iracambi var att fortsätta mätningarna med framförallt konduktivitetsmätaren. Uppskattningarna av avdunstningen genomfördes på två sätt: dels genom upprättandet av en evaporationspanna, dels genom beräkningar. Beräkningarna genomfördes med Penman-Monteith ekvationen och det kunde konstateras att även om de ingående parametrarna innehåller en del osäkerheter, så var detta den mest passande metoden för att beräkna avdunstningen. Nederbörd mättes på två platser med hjälp av enkla regnmätare konstruerade av pet-flaskor.Slutligen upprättades en vattenbalans för området. Utifrån denna kunde det konstateras att vattenmagasinet för hela orådet minskade under mätperioden. Utifrån flödesmätningar samt observationer kunde slutsatsen dras att skogsområdena drabbades mindre än de gräsbevuxna områdena av de kraftiga översvämningarna som uppstod under intensiva regn. Vidare visar resultaten att forskningsstationen Iracambi kan få en bra uppskattning av flödesförändringar, nederbörd och avdunstning med hjälp av den enkla utrustning som användes i detta projekt. / Minor Field Study

The Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil is a hot-spot for biodiversity and should be conserved. It is also at the center of the largest municipalities in Brazil and therefore has a severely fragmented landscape. Iracambi, a working farm near the Serra do Brigadeiro state park in Minas Gerais, is working for conservation in an area of intense agricultural production and expanding forestry industry. Most households in this rural area have some amount of eucalyptus on their property and consequently the director of Iracambi is developing the preliminary foundation for a forest corridor program comprised of primarily eucalyptus with the goal of integrating native species whenever possible. In this research, an exploratory case study was conducted with the purpose of determining if an integrated forest corridor should be considered as a viable option for Iracambi in the greater Serra do Brigadeiro region (near the communities of Araponga, Ervália, Fervadouro, Miradouro, Pedra Bonita, and Sericita). The majority of the survey participants revealed interest in the proposed forest corridor program and many expressed further interest if this would help them achieve compliance with the environmental law requiring a Legal Reserve Area (ARL) on private property. There is a need and a desire for programs that would subsidize ARL adherence in this area, since many studies recognize that adherence levels are at approximately ten percent nationally. Barriers to implementation, however, include cultural barriers that would primarily require acceptance with influential community members, knowledge and cost barriers associated with proper stand management, and current economic circumstances which lack a market for sustainably produced, higher quality eucalyptus timber. Additionally, policy barriers, which do not provide sufficient incentives to comply with environmental laws, further impede implementation of an integrated forest corridor program in this area. If these key barriers to implementation could be addressed, an integrated forest corridor program could prove as a viable option for Iracambi and this area and therefore, this thesis offers some recommendations for the successful implementation of this proposed program.