Information
Level 2 Detail of experimental conditions (what might be found in a journal paper or project brief in Hydstra)
Description of study
What?
Two studies were undertaken to monitor sediment sources, transport pathways and sinks in cane and grazing lands comprised of different landscape elements as a means to better target erosion control measures.
When and Where?
Cane land study:
In the wet seasons (Dec- May) of 1999 – 2000 and 2000 – 2001 a study was undertaken within a 5.4 km2 portion of Ripple Creek sub-catchment in the Lower Herbert. The main study area consisted of a 3.2 km2 alluvial plain, constructed from heavy alluvial clays (mainly Gleysols and Planosols) used to grow cane with intensive surface drainage systems such as; furrows, ripple drains, major drains, and minor drains implemented. The remainder of the study area is characterised by adjacent forested slopes and headlands of the Mt Leach Range.
Grazing land study:
In the wet seasons (Dec – May) of 1999 – 2000, 2000 – 2001, and 2001 – 2002 a study was undertaken on a 13.5 km2 area within the Burdekin River catchment. The 13.5 km2 study area was situated around Weany Creek, a watershed located in the Upper Burdekin about 15 km west of Mingela typically consisting of grazed hill country on Granodiorite – derived red duplex soils.
How?
Cane land study:
Four general monitoring strategies were employed:
- Paddock scale run-off flumes on ratoon and plant cane fields (to determine the net loss at paddock scale; flume plot area ~ 1 ha);
- Spatially distributed grab sampling (during major events; targeted at capturing runoff from individual cane land elements);
- Cross-sectional measurements in drains and water furrows using a profiler (pre and post wet season); and
- Erosion pin arrays on headlands and in drain banks (~ 100 pins per array; measurements with electronic callipers pre and post wet season).
This was complemented by stream gauging to determine sub-catchment sediment discharge as an independent measure of net sediment export.
Grazing land study:
A range of monitoring methods was employed including:
- Micro runoff plots, to assess runoff and sediment generation rates for different cover and surface conditions;
- Hillslope erosion troughs, to quantify hillslope sheet erosion (bedload and suspended sediments);
- Cross-sectional measurements in flow lines using a profiler (pre and post wet season);
- Erosion pin arrays (~ 100 pins per array; measurements with electronic callipers pre and post wet season), to determine erosion and deposition within different components of gullies;
- GPS surveys, to determine gully head advance rates; and
- Gully network surveys, using aerial photo interpretation and ground-truthed categorisation of gully phases.
This was complemented by stream gauging to determine sub-catchment sediment discharge as an independent measure of net sediment export. In addition, a modified SedNet sediment transport model was also developed for both studies as a conceptualisation of hydrological transport and deposition processes within a GIS spatial modelling framework.
Project administration
Site identifier code: N/A
Principal investigator: C.H. Roth
Principal data manager: N/A
Principal organizations: ACIAR, Canberra, Australia; Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Davies Laboratory, CSIRO Land and Water, Townsville, Australia
Data custodian: ACIAR, Canberra, Australia
Key co-operators: Sugar Research and Development Corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia, CSIRO Land and Water and BSES
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 N/A
Planned data upload frequency: for ongoing studies N/A
Key references and sources of this data synthesis
These data summaries have been extracted from:
Roth CH, Visser F, Post DA. (2004). Sediment budgets for cane lands and grazing lands in northern Queensland, Australia, and their use to target appropriate measures to control sediment export. International Soil Conservation Organisation Conference, Brisbane. Conserving Soil and Water for Society: Sharing Solutions No 136.
Keywords:
Sediment Budgets, Cane Lands, Grazing Lands, erosion, sinks, transport pathways, northern Queensland