Rainfall infiltration and soil hydrological characteristics below ancient forest, planted forest and grassland in a temperate northern climate

Archer, Nicole; Otten, Wilfred; Schmidt, Steven K.; Bengough, A. Glyn; Shah, Nadeem; Bonell, M.

doi:10.1002/eco.1658

Cited by 50 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The researchers found that the field hydraulic conductivity of top 0.04-0.15 m (0.88-25.60 cm/hr) was larger than 0.15-0.25 m (0.30-2.30 cm/hr) depth. The current study observed less variability in infiltration rate with depth compared with Archer's et al (2016) study.…”

Section: Anova Test Results For Growing/nongrowing Seasonal Effect On contrasting

confidence: 69%

Monitoring infiltration rates with time domain reflectometers

Ahmed

Borst

2019

Water Environment Research

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The current study determines infiltration rates in six tree boxes located in Louisville, KY, and analyzes the effects of season, age of the tree box, and depth on infiltration. Street and parking lot runoff enter each tree box through a curb cut. Time domain reflectometers (TDRs) were embedded in the tree box media at different depths to continuously monitor volumetric soil moisture content and other parameters. The moisture content recorded by the TDRs was used to calculate steady‐state infiltration rates through the media at the TDR location using the Green–Ampt equation. For each rain event, steady‐state infiltration rate and drainage rate were separately calculated. For four of the six tree boxes, the steady‐state infiltration rate did not vary with depth. However, the drainage rate varied with depth for five of the six tree boxes. Overall, the drainage rate through the entire depth is 1.7 times larger than in the upper layer. During the second year of the study, the steady‐state infiltration rate and drainage rate decreased by 20% and 38%, respectively, from the first year. The steady‐state infiltration rate and drainage rate vary with seasons. Some correlation (r = −0.5) was observed between initial soil moisture content and steady‐state infiltration rate. Practitioner points Initial infiltration rate and drainage rate decrease by 20% and 30%, respectively, within a year. The smallest infiltration rates were observed during winter and largest infiltration rates were observed in summer. Initial and saturated infiltration rates varied among all six tree boxes.

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Section: Anova Test Results For Growing/nongrowing Seasonal Effect On contrasting

confidence: 69%

Monitoring infiltration rates with time domain reflectometers

Ahmed

Borst

2019

Water Environment Research

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“…Research has shown that soils under long undisturbed broadleaf woodland (180 and 500 years‐old) have higher saturated hydraulic conductivities and macroporosity than more recently established woodland (45 years‐old) or improved pasture, where no difference was observed (Archer et al ., ). Other studies have noted this contrast between old forests versus those established in recent decades (Hümann et al ., ; Archer et al ., ), although in some instances trees may negatively influence soil infiltration (Chandler and Chappell, ). Reported increases in soil hydraulic conductivity also occurred in areas recently planted with trees and excluding livestock relative to grazed improved pasture (e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating a century of soil erosion for agricultural catchment management

Smith

Peñuela

Sangster

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Agricultural land management requires strategies to reduce impacts on soil and water resources while maintaining food production. Models that capture the effects of agricultural and conservation practices on soil erosion and sediment delivery can help to address this challenge. Historic records of climatic variability and agricultural change over the last century also offer valuable information for establishing extended baselines against which to evaluate management scenarios. Here, we present an approach that combines centennial-scale reconstructions of climate and agricultural land cover with modelling across four lake catchments in the UK where radiometric dating provides a record of lake sedimentation. We compare simulations using MMF-TWI, a catchment-scale model developed for humid agricultural landscapes that incorporates representation of seasonal variability in vegetation cover, soil water balance, runoff and sediment contributing areas. MMF-TWI produced mean annual sediment exports within 9-20% of sediment core-based records without calibration and using guide parameter values to represent vegetation cover. Simulations of land management scenarios compare upland afforestation and lowland field-scale conservation measures to reconstructed historic baselines. Oak woodland versus conifer afforestation showed similar reductions in mean annual surface runoff (8-16%) compared to current moorland vegetation but a larger reduction in sediment exports (26-46 versus 4-30%). Riparian woodland buffers reduced upland sediment yields by 15-41%, depending on understorey cover levels, but had only minor effect on surface runoff. Planting of winter cover crops in the lowland arable catchment halved historic sediment exports. Permanent grass margins applied to sets of arable fields across 15% or more of the catchment led to further significant reduction in exports. Our findings show the potential for reducing sediment delivery at the catchment scale with land management interventions. We also demonstrate how MMF-TWI can support hydrologically-informed decision making to better target conservation measures in humid agricultural environments.

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“…For different land cover types, soil moisture is higher in areas with vegetation than in the bare land. This is because vegetation can preserve soil moisture, especially in arid ecosystems [52]. The vegetation patches can retain runoff and make it infiltrate into the soil.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Spatiotemporal Response of Soil Moisture to Precipitation and Temperature Changes in an Arid Region, China

et al. 2018

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Soil moisture plays a crucial role in the hydrological cycle and climate system. The reliable estimation of soil moisture in space and time is important to monitor and even predict hydrological and meteorological disasters. Here we studied the spatiotemporal variations of soil moisture and explored the effects of precipitation and temperature on soil moisture in different land cover types within the Tarim River Basin from 2001 to 2015, based on high-spatial-resolution soil moisture data downscaled from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) soil moisture data. The results show that the spatial average soil moisture increased slightly from 2001 to 2015, and the soil moisture variation in summer contributed most to regional soil moisture change. For the land cover, the highest soil moisture occurred in the forest and the lowest value was found in bare land, and soil moisture showed significant increasing trends in grassland and bare land during 2001~2015. Both partial correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis demonstrate that in the study area precipitation had positive effects on soil moisture, while temperature had negative effects, and precipitation made greater contributions to soil moisture variations than temperature. The results of this study can be used for decision making for water management and allocation.

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Rainfall infiltration and soil hydrological characteristics below ancient forest, planted forest and grassland in a temperate northern climate

Cited by 50 publications

References 63 publications

Monitoring infiltration rates with time domain reflectometers

Monitoring infiltration rates with time domain reflectometers

Simulating a century of soil erosion for agricultural catchment management

The Spatiotemporal Response of Soil Moisture to Precipitation and Temperature Changes in an Arid Region, China

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