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.