Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8847685 | Ecological Engineering | 2018 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
Water infiltration is a basic parameter to understand the hydrological response of semi-arid or arid soils - where runoff generation is dominated by infiltration-excess - subjected to wildfire. To evaluate the hydrological effects of straw application on a sandy loam soil after wildfire, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, water content and temperature of mulched and nonmulched (considered as control) soils were monitored throughout eight months. Compared to untreated soils, straw maintained higher temperatures and water contents in mulched plots, but reduced their unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, particularly in the drier season. These results suggest that straw release may lead to a decrease of water infiltration capacity of soils subjected to wildfire, with particular evidence in summer in the case of heavy storm occurrence.
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Authors
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Demetrio Antonio Zema, Bruno Gianmarco Carrà , Artemio Cerdà , Pedro A. Plaza-Alvarez, Javier Sagra Cózar, Javier Gonzalez-Romero, Daniel Moya, Jorge de las Heras,