Work

Re‐sampling for Soil‐caesium‐137 to Assess Soil Losses after a 19‐year Interval in a Hunter Valley Vineyard, New South Wales, Australia

Year: 2006

Type: article

Abstract: Soils in a lower Hunter valley vineyard, New South Wales, Australia, were sampled and analysed for caesium‐137, an indicator of soil erosion status, in 1984–1985 and 2004. From the time of the vineyard's first establishment in 1971 to 1985, estimated soil losses were 250 tonnes (equivalent to 64.2 t ha−1 yr−1). Re‐sampling in 2004 showed that soil losses were 48 tonnes in the 19 years since 1985, equivalent to 9.7 t ha−1 yr−1. The decline in erosion rates may be explained by a change in land and soil management from intensive cultivation to one of no cultivation (sod culture) in 1998, and a lower annual rainfall and fewer rain‐days per year in the period from 1986 to 2004.

Source: Geographical Research

DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-5871.2006.00361.x

Authors: ROBERT J. LOUGHRAN, RICHARD M. BALOG

Institutions: University of Newcastle Australia, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute

Language: English

Topic: Soil erosion and sediment transport

Subfield: Soil Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: International Atomic Energy Agency