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Investigation of the impact of stone bunds on soil water content - A case study in the northern Ethiopian Highland

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Title Investigation of the impact of stone bunds on soil water content - A case study in the northern Ethiopian Highland
 
Creator Kaltenleithner, Martin
 
Contributor Strohmeier, Stefan
Demelash, Nigus
Ziadat, Feras M.
Klik, Andreas
 
Subject conservation
 
Description During rainy season (June to September) soil erosion by surface runoff is a major issue and a big challenge
for soil conservation scenarios in the northern Ethiopian highland. For reduction of water erosion and thereby
decrease of soil loss so called stone bunds were constructed along the contour line by local farmers as a simple
soil conservation measure.
In this research the impact of stone bunds on infiltration and water storage was investigated during the rainy season
2013. The research was carried out in the Gumara-Maksegnit watershed in the north Ethiopian Amhara. Therefore,
an experimental field was selected, where an untreated hillslope was located nearby a treated one with soil
conservation structures. Both selected hillslopes had a length of 50 m and the same inclination of about 9%, with
a slight decrease of slope steepness in the close range above the stone bunds, caused by sedimentation processes.
Soil texture and surface bulk density were measured. Data were similar for both sites. For the monitoring of the
soil moisture a Delta-T Profile Probe type PR2 for water content measurements was used. The sensor device gives
values of volumetric water content in 6 different depth steps up to 1m. Therefore access tubes (AT), for mounting
the profile probe, have been installed in two selected transect lines of 50 m length each. The untreated hillslope
was equipped with six AT in 10 m equidistance. The treated field included three stone bunds and was equipped
with 18 AT. Near to the stone bunds the AT-density was higher than in between. Measurements were taken on a
weekly basis from beginning of July untill end of September 2013. Changes in vegetation cover throughout the
investigation period were documented to consider impacts of higher transpiration with higher vegetation cover in
the calculations.
 
Date 2014-04-30
2016-02-01T21:27:51Z
2016-02-01T21:27:51Z
 
Type Conference Proceedings
 
Identifier https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/download/hash/QKO57ROO
Martin Kaltenleithner, Stefan Strohmeier, Nigus Demelash, Feras M. Ziadat, Andreas Klik. (30/4/2014). Investigation of the impact of stone bunds on soil water content - A case study in the northern Ethiopian Highland. Vienna, Austria.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/3344
Open access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher European Geosciences Union (EGU)
 
Source EGU General Assembly;