Information
Level 2 Detail of experimental conditions (what might be found in a journal paper or project brief in Hydstra)
Description of study
What?
This study monitored hydrology and soil erosion over a range of row lengths and slopes on a pineapple farm to identify parameters to design sustainable production systems in steep areas (33-38%).
When and Where?
From 1988-1991 (3 year investigation) a study was undertaken on a commercial farm 3km from Imbil in the Gympie district. The farm area abuts the Mary River Floodplain and has low hills. The landscape is highly dissected and has a drainage density of 3.6 km of drainage line per km2. Slope shapes have upper convexities for 10 to 20 m with slopes of 3-25% and longer rectilinear segments of 30 to 150 m with slopes of 15%-45%
The soil type is a Lithic Eutropept, with an Aa horizon consists of gravely, mildly acidic, weak-crumbed loam to clay with a 5-30cm bleached gravelly A2 horizon. Lenses of clay at varying depths (25 to 90 cm) occur at seemingly random positions both across and down the hill slopes. The more powdery bleached A2 horizons vary in thickness over the slopes, but distinctive down-slope lines of the talc-like material were also noted.
Toe slopes with concavities are also present but most form strong V-shapes or gully channels. Each plot was hydrological defined by earth banks and furrows for surface flows. All plots were on a hillside of rectilinear slope approximately 30 m in length and 35-38% slope. Earthen cross-slope ditches transported excess water from upslope to a major concrete channel located at the edge of each block of pineapples.
How?
Slope length was defined by the distance between cross-slope ditches and the down slope end of each plot where runoff was collected by a modified Gerlach trough. The troughs collected coarse sediment. Runoff passed through a modified Gerlach trough fitted with a tipping bucket to gauge flow. The Gerlach troughs collected coarse sediment while finer sediment was estimated from sub samples of flow. Pineapple furrows 0.9 m width separated the flat topped 0.7 m wide beds
Each hydrologically defined plot was planted in an up-and-down slope configuration. Furrows of 0.9 m width separated the flat topped 0.7 m wide beds. Plot lengths were 7, 12, and 22 m. Eight m row length was the farmer’s most common practice. Bare plots were not included as this condition was not part of the farmer’s normal agronomic practice. Runoff was carried in bare soil furrows. Water draining from the remaining area of the larger enclosed rectangular section of which plots A, B and C formed a part, flowed down a concrete channel beside the block for measurement through a Parshall flume. This measurement was made so that plot information could be compared with the farmer’s scale operation.
Vegetative cover (%) was estimated by approximating the area through which bare soil was not visible by a circle. This area was summed for all plants in a one meter square quadrat.
Project administration
Site identifier code: na
Principal investigator: Cyril A.A. Ciesolka
Principal data manager: -na
Principal organizations: Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Griffith University.
Data custodian: Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM)
Key co-operators: Ray Walker Imbil; Buchanan's at Goomboorian; Beerwah Pineapple Research Farm.
Data access policy: Research has been published but base data is not archived
Planned pathway for data: completed study, no evidence of formal database records.
Data warehousing: for ongoing studies -na
Planned data upload frequency: for ongoing studies -na
Key references and sources of this data synthesis
These data summaries have been extracted from
- Ciesiolka CAA, Coughlan KJ, Rose CW, Smith GD. 1995. Erosion and hydrology of steeplands under commercial pineapple production Soil Technology 8:243-258.
- Coughlan KJ, Rose CW. 1997. Field experimental results - runoff, soil loss and crop yield in Tropical Steeplands (Chapter 3) in A New Soil Conservation Methodology and Application to Cropping Systems A comparative synthesis of results obtained in ACIAR Project PN 9201 ACIAR Technical Reports No 40. 147 pp. ISBN 1 86320 211 0
- Ciesiolka CAA, Hashim GM. 1997. Watershed management for erosion control in steeplands of tropical Asia and Australia (Chapter 6) in Tropical Steeplands A comparative synthesis of results obtained in ACIAR Project PN 9201 ACIAR Technical Reports No 40. 147 pp. ISBN 1 86320 211 0
- Various documents including field day notes kindly provided by Cyril Ciesiolka.
- Interview with Cyril Ciesiolka 02/11//2001
Keywords:
Horticulture, pineapples, south-east Queensland, hydrology, sediment, nutrients, slope, slope length, farmer practice.