Capture of overland flow by a tree belt on a pastured hillslope in south-eastern Australia

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doi:10.1071/SR05130

Capture of overland flow by a tree belt on a pastured hillslope in south-eastern Australia

T. W. Ellis ^A ^D, S. Leguédois ^A ^B, P. B. Hairsine ^A, D. J. Tongway ^C

^A CSIRO Land and Water, GPO Box 1666, Canberra, ACT 2606, Australia.
^B INRA Soil Science Research Unit, BP 20 619 Ardon, 45 1666 Oliver Cedex, France.
^C CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
^D Corresponding author. Email: tim.ellis@csiro.au





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Soil Research 44(2) 117–125 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SR05130
Submitted: 7 September 2005 Accepted: 20 December 2005 Published online: 27 March 2006

Abstract

We describe a rainfall simulator experiment designed to measure the capture, by a fenced tree belt, of excess water generated as Hortonian flow from a pasture slope. Three rainfall events (48, 49, and 75 mm/h for 13, 30, and 30 min, respectively) were applied, of which 15%, 29%, and 44%, respectively, ran off and drained onto the tree belt. The tree belt captured 100%, 32–68%, and 0–28% of the runoff from the 3 events, respectively. These captured runoff volumes represented 31–39%, 22–45%, and 0–29% increases in water supply to the trees, in addition to incident rainfall. Infiltration rates within the tree belt were up to 46% higher than in the pasture zone. This higher infiltration was mainly attributed to better soil surface conditions in the absence of stock and a 50-mm layer of tree litter. Overland flows within the tree belt formed tree litter into microterraces, which spread and slowed flows and allowed greater time for infiltration.

Keywords: runoff agroforestry, surface water management, tree litter, microterraces, infiltration, source–sink.