Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment

Longer term monitoring of soil water content at a catchment scale is a key to understanding its dynamics, which can assist stakeholders in decision making processes, such as land use change or irrigation programs. Soil water monitoring in agriculturally dominated catchments can help in developing so...

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Main Authors: Horel Ágota, Zsigmond Tibor, Molnár Sándor, Zagyva Imre, Bakacsi Zsófia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2022-09-01
Series:Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2022-0015
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author Horel Ágota
Zsigmond Tibor
Molnár Sándor
Zagyva Imre
Bakacsi Zsófia
author_facet Horel Ágota
Zsigmond Tibor
Molnár Sándor
Zagyva Imre
Bakacsi Zsófia
author_sort Horel Ágota
collection DOAJ
description Longer term monitoring of soil water content at a catchment scale is a key to understanding its dynamics, which can assist stakeholders in decision making processes, such as land use change or irrigation programs. Soil water monitoring in agriculturally dominated catchments can help in developing soil water retention measurements, for assessment of land use change, or adaptation of specific land management systems to climate change. The present study was carried out in the Pannonian region (Upper-Balaton, Hungary) on Cambisols and Calcisols between 2015 and 2021. Soil water content (SWC) dynamics were investigated under different land use types (vineyard, grassland, and forest) at three depths (15, 40, and 70 cm). The meteorological data show a continuous decrease in cumulative precipitation over time during the study with an average of 26% decrease observed between 2016 and 2020, while average air temperatures were similar for all the studied years. Corresponding to the lower precipitation amounts, a clear decrease in the average SWC was observed at all the land use sites, with 13.4%, 37.7%, and 29.3% lower average SWC for the grassland, forest, and vineyard sites, respectively, from 2016 to 2020 (measured at the 15 cm depth of the soil). Significant differences in SWC were observed between the annual and seasonal numbers within a given land use (p < 0.05). The lowest average SWC was observed at the grassland (11.7%) and the highest at the vineyard (28.3%). The data showed an increasing average soil temperature, with an average 6.3% higher value in 2020 compared to 2016. The grassland showed the highest (11.3 °C) and the forest soil the lowest (9.7 °C) average soil temperatures during the monitoring period. The grassland had the highest number of days with the SWC below the wilting point, while the forest had the highest number of days with the SWC optimal for the plants.
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spelling doaj.art-1194d9a6406343abac107f8a38f762c12022-12-22T03:09:05ZengSciendoJournal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics1338-43332022-09-0170328429410.2478/johh-2022-0015Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchmentHorel Ágota0Zsigmond Tibor1Molnár Sándor2Zagyva Imre3Bakacsi Zsófia4Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences, Herman O. St. 15, 1022Budapest, Hungary.Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences, Herman O. St. 15, 1022Budapest, Hungary.Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences, Herman O. St. 15, 1022Budapest, Hungary.Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences, Herman O. St. 15, 1022Budapest, Hungary.Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences, Herman O. St. 15, 1022Budapest, Hungary.Longer term monitoring of soil water content at a catchment scale is a key to understanding its dynamics, which can assist stakeholders in decision making processes, such as land use change or irrigation programs. Soil water monitoring in agriculturally dominated catchments can help in developing soil water retention measurements, for assessment of land use change, or adaptation of specific land management systems to climate change. The present study was carried out in the Pannonian region (Upper-Balaton, Hungary) on Cambisols and Calcisols between 2015 and 2021. Soil water content (SWC) dynamics were investigated under different land use types (vineyard, grassland, and forest) at three depths (15, 40, and 70 cm). The meteorological data show a continuous decrease in cumulative precipitation over time during the study with an average of 26% decrease observed between 2016 and 2020, while average air temperatures were similar for all the studied years. Corresponding to the lower precipitation amounts, a clear decrease in the average SWC was observed at all the land use sites, with 13.4%, 37.7%, and 29.3% lower average SWC for the grassland, forest, and vineyard sites, respectively, from 2016 to 2020 (measured at the 15 cm depth of the soil). Significant differences in SWC were observed between the annual and seasonal numbers within a given land use (p < 0.05). The lowest average SWC was observed at the grassland (11.7%) and the highest at the vineyard (28.3%). The data showed an increasing average soil temperature, with an average 6.3% higher value in 2020 compared to 2016. The grassland showed the highest (11.3 °C) and the forest soil the lowest (9.7 °C) average soil temperatures during the monitoring period. The grassland had the highest number of days with the SWC below the wilting point, while the forest had the highest number of days with the SWC optimal for the plants.https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2022-0015forestgrasslandsoil water regimevineyardclimate change
spellingShingle Horel Ágota
Zsigmond Tibor
Molnár Sándor
Zagyva Imre
Bakacsi Zsófia
Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics
forest
grassland
soil water regime
vineyard
climate change
title Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
title_full Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
title_fullStr Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
title_full_unstemmed Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
title_short Long-term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
title_sort long term soil water content dynamics under different land uses in a small agricultural catchment
topic forest
grassland
soil water regime
vineyard
climate change
url https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2022-0015
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AT zsigmondtibor longtermsoilwatercontentdynamicsunderdifferentlandusesinasmallagriculturalcatchment
AT molnarsandor longtermsoilwatercontentdynamicsunderdifferentlandusesinasmallagriculturalcatchment
AT zagyvaimre longtermsoilwatercontentdynamicsunderdifferentlandusesinasmallagriculturalcatchment
AT bakacsizsofia longtermsoilwatercontentdynamicsunderdifferentlandusesinasmallagriculturalcatchment