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| Titel |
Temporal and soil management effects on soil infiltration and water content in a hillslope vineyard |
| VerfasserIn |
Marcella Biddoccu, Stefano Ferraris, Eugenio Cavallo |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2015
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 17 (2015) |
| Datensatznummer |
250107794
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2015-7508.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The maintenance of bare soil in the vineyard’s inter-rows with tillage, as well as other
mechanized operations which increase the vehicle traffic, expose the soil to degradation,
favoring overland flow and further threats as compaction, reduction of soil water holding
capacity and water infiltration. Water infiltration is strongly controlled by field-saturated
hydraulic conductivity, which depends primarily on soil texture and structure, and
it is characterized by high spatial and temporal variability. Beyond the currently
adopted soil management, some major causes in variability of infiltration rates are the
history of cultivation and the structure of the first centimeters of the vineyard’s
soil.
A study was carried out in two experimental vineyard plots included in the “Tenuta
Cannona Experimental Vine and Wine Centre of Regione Piemonte”, located in NW Italy.
The study was addressed to evaluate the temporal variations of the field-saturated
hydraulic conductivity, in relation to the soil management adopted in the inter-rows of
a hillslope vineyard. The investigation was carried out in a vineyard comparing
the adoption of two different soil managements in the inter-rows: 1) conventional
tillage and 2) controlled grass cover. Several series of double-ring of infiltration tests
were carried out during a 2-years period of observation, using the simplified falling
head technique (SFH). In order to take into account the effect of tractor traffic,
the tests were done both inside the the track, the portion of soil affected by the
transit of tractor wheels or tracks, and outside the track. Before the execution of
each test, bulk density and initial soil water content close to the investigated area
were determined. Relations among infiltration behavior and these parameters were
analyzed.
Field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) at different sampling dates showed high
variability, especially in the vineyard with cultivated soil. Indeed, highest infiltration rates
were measured within a month after the tillage operations (951.0 mm h-1). However, the
positive effect of tillage was only temporary, since the lowest mean Kfs was obtained in the
tilled plot, for the undisturbed soil conditions, namely when measurements were carried out
long time after the execution of tillage operations (107.6 mm h-1). Significant differences
between the hydraulic conductivity measured inside the track and outside the track positions
were found both in the grass covered and in the tilled vineyard’s inter-rows. The results of the
investigation show that, in the specific area of study, the maintenance of grass cover in the
vineyard inter-rows gives higher water infiltration than tillage throughout the year. |
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