Information

Impact of landuse on agricultural hydrology in the northern territory semi arid tropics

Level 1 General description

Purpose:         

To determine the impact of tillage, grazing, native woodland and the soil conservation bank spacing on surface runoff.

Methods (brief)           

Seven catchments ranging from 4.1 to 7.8ha were developed using narrow based soil conservation banks to accommodate commercial landuse practices. The impact of tillage, grazing, native woodland and the soil conservation bank spacing on surface runoff was monitored over a 4 year period.

Key findings (brief)

  • In each season, the conventionally tilled bays produced the greatest volume and depth of runoff and the highest number of runoff events.
  • The woodland produced the least number of runoff events (4%) and between 80 and 150 times lower runoff depth than the conventional bays.
  • For each water year, runoff depth in response to runoff causing rainfall events was not influenced by bank spacing.

Location

Douglas Daly Research Farm 13o51’S, 131o12’E

Related studies

Van-cuylenburg HRM. (1987). A comparison of two tillage systems on four soil types in the Douglas – Daly region of the Northern Territory.  Conservation commission of the Northern Territory Technical Memorandum 89/5.

Further, this study examined the effects of pasture and woodland land uses on runoff and sediment loss

 

Level 2, Level 3Level 4 and Level 5