Land management and vegetation community have significant impacts on the effectiveness of precipitation.� We have monitored rainfall/runoff on three small watersheds in the Blackland Prairie region of Texas for the past 5 years.� Each watershed represents a different vegetation community: 1) blackland soils with tall grass species community, 2) blackland soils with mid-grass species community and 3) blackland soils with mesquite/grass species community.� In addition to measuring rainfall/runoff, each site also has been monitored over the last two years for soil moisture and soil temperatures.� The main objectives of the program are to 1) assess the impacts of vegetation community on water resources, 2) assess the impacts of variable precipitation events on infiltration and runoff and 3) assess the impacts of variable precipitation events on soil moisture and soil temperature. We have found that over the 5 years of the program, vegetation communities have had some minor shifts, but have remained relatively stable.� Rainfall events from 2015-1016 have changed somewhat compared to previous years.� Soil moisture tracks relatively well between depths over the long-term; however, there are some "event" dynamics that show different responses based on vegetation community.� Our goal is to further develop an understanding of the relationship of vegetation community to "rainfall effectiveness" under a working lands management program.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.