Study area
The Forest Sciences Experimental Station of Itatinga (Estação Experimental de Ciências Florestais de Itatinga - EECFI) is located in the municipality of Itatinga, São Paulo, Brazil, at an average altitude of 850 meters, occupying a total area of 2,118 hectares (Gonçalves et al., 2012). The climate in the region is classified as Cwa, humid temperate with dry winters and hot summers, according to Köppen’s classification, with an average annual temperature of 19.4 °C and average annual precipitation of 1,319 mm (Alvares, Stape, Sentelhas, Gonçalves, & Sparovek, 2013).
Soil type of catchments are Hapludox Typic and Rhodic, with texture varying from sandy loam to sandy clay loam, respectively (Gonçalves et al., 2012), with the same underlying geology (Sandstone from sedimentary rocks). The area is located in a transition region between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest, with fragments of semi-decidual seasonal forest and Cerrado latu sensu subjected to various levels of degradation (Sartori, Poggiani, & Engel, 2002).