Estimates of erosion on potato lands on krasnozems at Dorrigo, N.S.W. [New South Wales], using the caesium-137 technique
1993
Elliot, G.L. (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Menai) | Cole-Clark, B.E. (New South Wales Conservation and Land Management, Grafton (Australia))
A paddock typical of those used for potato cultivation with respect to soils, topography and management was sampled in a grid pattern to determine the redistribution in the soil of the environmental isotope, caesium-137. The total erosion in this paddock, which had been used to grow 3 spring crops of potatoes in rotation with kikuyu-based pasture, was estimated from the proportional change of caesium-137 content relative to the content in a local, stable reference site. Over the sampled area (3.2 ha), total erosion was estimated to average 297 t per ha, equivalent to 98 t per ha per crop. Comparative erosion estimates were made from the results of single transect sampling in a paddock used for 2 potato crops and in 1 under permanent pasture. Results suggest erosion rates of 57 t per ha per crop in the former site and 0.09 t per ha per year in the latter site.
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