Analysis of soil moisture dynamics beneath olive trees

Olive cultivation is a widespread land use in Mediterranean climates. The proper implementation of soil and water conservation practices in groves requires detailed knowledge of the governing hydrological processes. In this work topsoil moisture dynamics under wet and dry conditions and across a sma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrological processes 2016-11, Vol.30 (23), p.4339-4352
Main Authors: Espejo-Pérez, Antonio Jesús, Brocca, Luca, Moramarco, Tommaso, Giráldez, Juan V., Triantafilis, John, Vanderlinden, Karl
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canopies
Drying
Dynamic tests
Hydrology
Olea
olive tree
Olives
Probability density functions
sensor network
Soil moisture
soil moisture dynamics
soil moisture modelling
soil moisture probability density function
soil-tree interactions
Trees
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Summary:Olive cultivation is a widespread land use in Mediterranean climates. The proper implementation of soil and water conservation practices in groves requires detailed knowledge of the governing hydrological processes. In this work topsoil moisture dynamics under wet and dry conditions and across a small catchment was investigated in the inter row (IR) and directly under the olive tree canopies (UC). We do this using a sensor network (11 stations) and a simple bucket model which was calibrated (June, 2011–2012) and validated (June, 2012–2013). During most of the year the normalized soil moisture contents (s) were greater in the IR than under UC, with an average normalized soil moisture difference of 0.12. The difference between UC and IR normalized soil moisture followed a seasonal pattern, reaching a maximum near 0.30 during spring. An analysis of the normalized soil moisture probability density functions (pdfs) was bimodal, showing characteristic dominant wet and dry soil moisture states, with the highest probability densities for the dry state. Overall the spatial variability of soil moisture was lower UC than in the IR. This was a result of the soil moisture buffering capacity of the canopy with respect to rainfall and evaporation, in addition to observed differences in soil properties. Hourly soil moisture data were successfully modelled (R2 > 0.85), both UC and in the IR, yet with the inclusion of a simple formulation for canopy interception for the former. The results provide insight into how olive trees change hydrological processes in their neighbourhood. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0885-6087
1099-1085
DOI:10.1002/hyp.10907