Changes in hysteresis patterns (clockwise and anti-clockwise loops) between streamflow and soil moisture, water table depth and electrical conductivity were governed by distinct runoff generation processes and rainfall event characteristics. The main control on surface and subsurface runoff threshold response is constituted by a combination of soil moisture antecedent conditions, rainfall amount and topography. We present the available dataset and summarize the main hydrological mechanisms that explain the internal functioning of the Rio Vauz Catchment, primarily focusing on three characterizing hydrological behaviours, namely thresholds, hysteresis and connectivity. In this work, we provide a review of physical processes that have been inferred from 12 years of hydrological monitoring in this catchment. The strong elevation gradient of the Rio Vauz Catchment and the different physiographic properties of its nested subcatchments make this a unique site for investigating fundamental runoff generation mechanisms in mountain headwaters.

One of these sites is the Rio Vauz Catchment (1.9 km 2), in the Italian Dolomites, that represents an excellent example of long-term snowmelt-dominated catchment in Dolomitic regions. Long-term (> 10 years) hydro-meteorological monitoring in small (typically < 10 km 2) experimental catchments constitutes a valuable tool to achieve these goal. Trying to obtain a more detailed understanding of the hydrological functioning of mountain catchments represents an important challenge in the effort of counteracting possible consequences of climate and land use change on water resources availability. Mountain headwater catchment, long-term monitoring, runoff generation processes, tracers, hydrological functioning Abstract Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padua

Hydrological processes runoff