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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(8)

Small-scale, high-intensity rainfall simulation under-estimates natural runoff P concentrations from pastures on hill-slopes

W. J. Dougherty A B F , D. M. Nash C , J. W. Cox D , D. J. Chittleborough A and N. K. Fleming E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Soil and Land Systems, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

B Current address: New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Locked Bag 4, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia.

C Department of Primary Industries and eWater CRC, RMB 2460, Ellinbank, Vic. 3820, Australia.

D CSIRO Land and Water and eWater CRC, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.

E South Australian Research and Development Institute and eWater CRC, GPO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

F Corresponding author. Email: warwick.dougherty@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Soil Research 46(8) 694-702 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR07232
Submitted: 20 December 2007  Accepted: 27 August 2008   Published: 2 December 2008

Abstract

Rainfall simulation is a widely used technique for studying the processes, and quantifying the mobilisation, of phosphorus (P) from soil/pasture systems into surface runoff. There are conflicting reports in the literature of the effects of rainfall simulation on runoff P concentrations and forms of P compared to those under natural rainfall runoff conditions. Furthermore, there is a dearth of information on how rainfall simulation studies relate to hill-slope and landscape scale processes and measures. In this study we compare P mobilisation by examining P forms and concentrations in runoff from small-scale, high-intensity (SH, 1.5 m2, 80 mm/h) rainfall simulation and large-scale, low-intensity (LL, 1250 m2, 8 mm/h) simulations that have previously been shown to approximate natural runoff on hill-slopes. We also examined the effect of soil P status on this comparison. The SH methodology resulted in lower (average 56%) runoff P concentrations than those measured under the LL methodology. The interaction method × soil P status was highly significant (P < 0.001). There was no significant effect of method (SH v. LL) and soil P status on P forms (%).The hydrological characteristics were very different between the 2 methods, runoff rates being c. 42 and 3 mm/h for the SH and LL methods, respectively. We hypothesise that the lower runoff P concentrations from the SH method are the result of a combination of (i) the P mobilisation being a rate-limited process, and (ii) the relatively high runoff rates and short runoff path-lengths of the SH method allowing for relatively incomplete attainment of equilibrium between P in the soil/pasture system and runoff. We conclude that small-scale, high-intensity rainfall simulation provides a useful tool for studying treatment effects and processes of mobilisation in pastures, but concentration and load data should not be inferred for natural conditions at larger scales without a clear understanding of the effects of the rainfall simulation methodology on the results for the system being studied.

Additional keywords: scale, rainfall simulation, modelling, phosphorus, runoff, mobilisation.


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