A comparison of soil moisture relations between standing and clearfelled plots with burnt and unburnt harvest residue treatments of a clonal eucalypt plantation on the Zululand Coastal Plain, South Africa

Abstract

The effects of clearfelling and subsequent residue retention or burning on water and nutrient balances needs to be under stood and quantified on forest sites that are sensitive to loss, so that the long-term sustainable productivity of such sites can be maintained and promoted. An experimental site was established in a clonal eucalypt compartment on the Zululand Coastal Plain, to compare changes in water fluxes through the mature undisturbed eucalypt stand with those after felling and re-planting, under 2 conditions: burning, and retention of the harvesting residues. The study was located in an area of high rainfall and high stand productivity, with sandy soils and low soil carbon and nutrient status; chosen so that the effects of intensive demands on water and nutrient fluxes on a potentially sensitive site could be investigated. This paper presents only the hydrological component of the study. Data collection included weekly determination of rainfall, throughfall, stem flow and soil moisture fluxes from the surface to a depth of 1 m.

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