Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Soil Loss, Runoff, and Water Quality of Seeded and Unseeded Steep Watersheds Following Prescribed Burning
Author
Wright, H. A.
Churchill, F. S.
Stevens, W. C.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1982-05-01
Body

Seeding of steep slopes (37 to 61%) after burning on the Edwards Plateau in central Texas reduced soil losses 78 to 93%. Moreover, the major impact of burning on soil losses was significantly reduced in 3 months on burned and seeded watersheds, but not for 15 to 18 months on unseeded watersheds. Stability (soil losses comparable to pretreatment levels) was reached in 6 months on burned and seeded watersheds. Soil loss rates stabilized when cover (live vegetation plus litter) reached 64 to 72% during normal to wet years or 53 to 60% during dry years. Thus, amount of precipitation and cover are closely tied to soil losses. Overland flow stabilized in 4 to 5 years on unseeded watershed and in 1 to 2 years on seeded watersheds. Water quality, lowered slightly by burning, returned to preburn levels within 2 years after seeding. Without seeding it took 4 years to reach preburn levels. Overall, water quality change following burning was not considered to be serious. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/3898324
Additional Information
Wright, H. A., Churchill, F. M., & Stevens, W. C. (1982). Soil loss, runoff, and water quality of seeded and unseeded steep watersheds following prescribed burning. Journal of Range Management, 35(3), 382-385.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/646261
Journal Volume
35
Journal Number
3
Journal Pages
382-385
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
Texas
Edwards Plateau
range management