The Influence of Tree and Stand Age on Soil water movement in Theobroma cacao plantations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kegan Farrick ◽  
Darnell Gittens
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Movement ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Infiltration Rates ◽  
Soil Water Flow

<p>In many parts of the tropics, the increased demand for cocoa and its products has led to the development of new plantations. The soil properties in these young plantations may differ from older plantations or natural forests, which may affect soil water flow. As cocoa trees are very shallow rooted, the growth and survival of trees can be prone to changes in soil hydrology. We monitored the soil properties, soil water repellency and hydraulic conductivity in a 5, 12 and >30 year old cocoa plantation. During the dominant wet period, soil water repellency was absent in all stands while the hydraulic conductivity showed no significant differences among them. This suggests that water movement in the wet was not impacted by stand age. However, during the dry season, the water drop penetration times at the 5 (4.1 hours) and 12 (4.4 hours) year old stands were twice as long as the >30 year old plantation (2.1 hours). The extreme repellency in the younger stands were expected to reduce infiltration rates; however, higher rates were recorded in the 5 and 12 year old stands. We suggest that the higher infiltration rates in the younger stands are due to a combination of a highly repellent soil matrix and the presence of large, deep soil cracks which enhanced preferential flow. With the degree of repellency not being correlated with soil properties, we hypothesised that the high grass/sedge cover and high temperatures in the 5 and 12 year old stands enhanced it. While further research is needed to investigate the roll that grass and sedges play in developing repellent conditions and affecting soil water flow, managing their cover may prove beneficial for the growth and survival of young cocoa trees.</p>

Influence of forest stand age on soil water repellency and hydraulic conductivity in the Mediterranean environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 753 ◽  
pp. 142006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Demetrio Antonio Zema ◽  
Pedro Antonio Plaza-Alvarez ◽  
Xiangzhou Xu ◽  
Bruno Gianmarco Carra ◽  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Mediterranean Environment ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
The Mediterranean

scholarly journals Eucalyptus reforestation induces soil water repellency

Soil Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 168 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. L. Walden ◽  
R. J. Harper ◽  
D. S. Mendham ◽  
D. J. Henry ◽  
J. B. Fontaine
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Movement ◽  
Computer Modelling ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Water Repellent ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
Hydrophobic Compounds

There is an increasing interest in eucalypt reforestation for a range of purposes in Australia, including pulp-wood production, carbon mitigation and catchment water management. The impacts of this reforestation on soil water repellency have not been examined despite eucalypts often being associated with water repellency and water repellency having impacts on water movement across and within soils. To investigate the role of eucalypt reforestation on water repellency, and interactions with soil properties, we examined 31 sites across the south-west of Western Australia with paired plots differing only in present land use (pasture v. plantation). The incidence and severity of water repellency increased in the 5–8 years following reforestation with Eucalyptus globulus. Despite this difference in water repellency, there were no differences in soil characteristics, including soil organic carbon content or composition, between pasture and plantation soils, suggesting induction by small amounts of hydrophobic compounds from the trees. The incidence of soil water repellency was generally greater on sandy-surfaced (<10% clay content) soils; however, for these soils 72% of the pasture sites and 31% of the plantation were not water repellent, and this was independent of measured soil properties. Computer modelling revealed marked differences in the layering and packing of waxes on kaolinite and quartz surfaces, indicating the importance of interfacial interactions in the development of soil water repellency. The implications of increased water repellency for the management of eucalyptus plantations are considered.

Fire severity and surface rock fragments cause patchy distribution of soil water repellency and infiltration rates after burning

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (24) ◽  
pp. 5832-5843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel J. Gordillo-Rivero ◽  
Jorge García-Moreno ◽  
Antonio Jordán ◽  
Lorena M. Zavala ◽  
Fernando M. Granja-Martins
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
Patchy Distribution ◽  
Surface Rock ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Infiltration Rates

scholarly journals Effects of a Canary pine forest wildfire (Tenerife, Canary Islands, summer 2007) on selected soil properties and their relationship with short- to medium-term soil water repellency .

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Hernández ◽  
Natalia Rodríguez ◽  
Marcelino del Arco ◽  
Carmen Dolores Arbelo ◽  
Jesús Notario del Pino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Aggregate Stability ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
Soil Hydrophobicity ◽  
The Impact

Forest fires modify the soil environment, often triggering severe soil degradation. In this paper, we studied the impact of a large northern Tenerife Canariy pine forest wildfire on a set of relevant soil properties, focusing on their evolution in time and relationship with soil water repellency. To do this, soils were sampled at four sites (burned and non-burned) and several soil physical and chemical parameters were measured. The results show significant variations for soil pH, electric conductivity (CE<sub>1:5</sub>), and NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N between burned and non-burned samples, whereas non-significant increases were found in burned soils for oxidizable carbon (C<sub>ox</sub>), total nitrogen (N<sub>tot</sub>) , Ca<sup>2+</sup>, Mg<sup>2+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup> and K<sup>+</sup>, and soil hydrophobicity. The differences caused by the fire were no longer evident one year later. Furthermore, in one sampling site (Vitric Leptosols under low pine forest with a mixed heath/beech tree understory) a wide variation in the content of C<sub>ox</sub> and N<sub>tot</sub> and high water repellency was observed relative to the other sites. These differences can be attributed to the composition of the understory vegetation. Significant correlations between soil hydrophobicity with CE<sub>1:5</sub>, aggregate stability and the contents of C<sub>ox</sub>, N<sub>tot</sub>, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N, Ca<sup>2+</sup>, Mg<sup>2+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup> and K<sup>+</sup> were found.

scholarly journals Assessing Water Infiltration and Soil Water Repellency in Brazilian Atlantic Forest Soils

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Esteban Lozano-Baez ◽  
Miguel Cooper ◽  
Silvio Frosini de Barros Ferraz ◽  
Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues ◽  
Laurent Lassabatere ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
Soil Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Hydraulic ◽  
Remnant Forest

This study presents the results of the soil hydraulic characterization performed under three land covers, namely pasture, 9-year-old restored forest, and remnant forest, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Two types of infiltration tests were performed, namely tension (Mini-Disk Infiltrometer, MDI) and ponding (Beerkan) tests. MDI and Beerkan tests provided complementary information, highlighting a clear increase of the hydraulic conductivity, especially at the remnant forest plots, when moving from near-saturated to saturated conditions. In addition, measuring the unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity with different water pressure heads allowed the estimation of the macroscopic capillary length in the field. This approach, in conjunction with Beerkan measurements, allowed the design better estimates of the saturated soil hydraulic conductivity under challenging field conditions, such as soil water repellency (SWR). This research also reports, for the first time, evidence of SWR in the Atlantic Forest, which affected the early stage of the infiltration process with more frequency in the remnant forest.

The impact of heating on the hydraulic properties of soils sampled under different plant cover

Biologia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viliam Novák ◽  
Ľubomír Lichner ◽  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Karol Kňava
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Water Drop ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Penetration Time

AbstractThe impact of heating on the peristence of water repellency, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and water retention characteristics was examined on soils from both forest and meadow sites in southwest Slovakia shortly after a wet spell. The top 5 cm of meadow soils had an initial water drop penetration time WDPT at 20°C of 457 s, whereas WDPT in the pine forest was 315 s for the top 5 cm and 982 s if only the top 1 cm was measured. Heating soils at selected temperatures of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300°C caused a marked drop in water drop penetration time WDPT from the initial value at 20°C. However, samples collected in different years and following an imposed cycle of wetting and drying showed much different trends, with WDPT sometimes initially increasing with temperature, followed by a drop after 200–300°C. The impact of heating temperature on the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil was small. It was found for both the drying and wetting branches of soil water retention curves that an increase in soil water repellency resulted in a drop in soil water content at the same matric potential. The persistence of soil water repellency was strongly influenced by both the sampling site and time of sampling, as it was characterized by the results of WDPT tests.

Assessing Water Infiltration and Soil Water Repellency in Brazilian Atlantic Forest Soils

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Esteban Lozano-Baez ◽  
Miguel Cooper ◽  
Silvio Frosini de Barros Ferraz ◽  
Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues ◽  
Mirko Castellini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽  
Soil Water Repellency ◽  
Soil Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Hydraulic ◽  
Remnant Forest

&lt;p&gt;This study presents the results of the soil hydraulic characterization performed under three land covers, namely pasture, 9-year-old restored forest, and remnant forest, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Two types of infiltration tests were performed, namely tension (Mini-Disk Infiltrometer, MDI) and ponding (Beerkan) tests. MDI and Beerkan tests provided a complementary information, highlighting a clear increase of the hydraulic conductivity, especially at the remnant forest plots, when moving from near-saturated to saturated conditions. In addition, measuring the unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity with different water pressure heads also allowed to estimate the macroscopic capillary length in the field. This approach, in conjunction with Beerkan measurements, allowed to generate better estimates of the saturated soil hydraulic conductivity under challenging field conditions, such as soil water repellency (SWR). This research also reports for the first time evidence of SWR in the Atlantic Forest, which affected the early stage of the infiltration process with more frequency in the remnant forest.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Impacts of thinning of a Mediterranean oak forest on soil properties influencing water infiltration

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Di Prima ◽  
Vincenzo Bagarello ◽  
Rafael Angulo-Jaramillo ◽  
Inmaculada Bautista ◽  
Artemi Cerdà ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Drop ◽  
Water Repellency ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Plant Residues ◽  
Oak Forest ◽  
Soil Hydraulic ◽  
And Control

AbstractIn Mediterranean ecosystems, special attention needs to be paid to forest–water relationships due to water scarcity. In this context, Adaptive Forest Management (AFM) has the objective to establish how forest resources have to be managed with regards to the efficient use of water, which needs maintaining healthy soil properties even after disturbance. The main objective of this investigation was to understand the effect of one of the AFM methods, namely forest thinning, on soil hydraulic properties. At this aim, soil hydraulic characterization was performed on two contiguous Mediterranean oak forest plots, one of them thinned to reduce the forest density from 861 to 414 tree per ha. Three years after the intervention, thinning had not affected soil water permeability of the studied plots. Both ponding and tension infiltration runs yielded not significantly different saturated,Ks, and unsaturated,K−20, hydraulic conductivity values at the thinned and control plots. Therefore, thinning had no an adverse effect on vertical water fluxes at the soil surface. MeanKsvalues estimated with the ponded ring infiltrometer were two orders of magnitude higher thanK−20values estimated with the minidisk infiltrometer, revealing probably soil structure with macropores and fractures. The input of hydrophobic organic matter, as a consequence of the addition of plant residues after the thinning treatment, resulted in slight differences in terms of both water drop penetration time, WDPT, and the index of water repellency,R, between thinned and control plots. Soil water repellency only affected unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity measurements. Moreover,K−20values showed a negative correlation with both WDPT andR, whereasKsvalues did not, revealing that the soil hydrophobic behavior has no impact on saturated hydraulic conductivity.

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