Statistical analysis
The mean values were compared by a two-factorial ANOVA delineated in blocks and treatments, where the rainfall events represented the different treatments replicated at the hillslope positions. The non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare hillslope positions at each rainfall event. In both cases, the Dunn’s test was used for variant group differentiation in a posteriori analysis.
To analyze the rainfall event characteristics influence on the DOC leaching in each compartment, individual linear regressions were performed against each independent variable, with the calculation of respective coefficients of determination (r2) and model significance (P-value). Some best-adjusted independent variables were tested by multiple linear regressions to analyze the combined influence of rainfall event characteristics with previous rainfall conditions. For all significance analyses (variance and regressions) they were considered significant when P <0.05.