High rainfall intensities on slopes produce runoff and erosion, but seeds are also carried down slope into streams by surface wash, causing weed infestation in lower parts of a river system. This interdisciplinary study was performed in the Houay Pano catchment (M-TROPICS/MSEC in Laos), farmed by smallholders and equipped with eight gauging stations. Main findings […]
An inter-disciplinary team at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc) studied how different tree species partition underground water resources up to 30m depth and co-existing tree species diverge in water uptake depths (M-TROPICS/BVET). Deep rooted trees turn to be more vulnerable to severe droughts than shallow rooted species : climate change-type droughts could then affect […]
The analyses of silicon isotopes in soil, water and plant compartments of the Mule Hole forested watershed (M-TROPICS/BVET) reveal that vegetation takes up twice more silica than first estimates using elemental mass balance. This flux is 30 times higher than the solute silica flux exported by the stream, itself resulting principally from litter decay. The […]
This study (M-TROPICS/BVET) identified and quantified the Si sources to rice plants using a solute mass balance at soil-plant scale and the silicon isotopic signatures of the various Si pools. It reveals that the main Si sources are soil amorphous silica, irrigation water and to a lesser extent Si fertilizer when it was applied. In […]
In montane Southeast Asia, deforestation and unsuitable combinations of crops and agricultural practices degrade soils at an unprecedented rate. Typically, smallholder farmers gain income from “available” land by replacing fallow or secondary forest by perennial crops. The aim of this study (M-TROPICS/MSEC) was to understand how these practices increase or reduce soil erosion. The paper […]
Combined influence of chemical weathering, atmospheric deposit leaching, and vegetation cycling (Mule Hole watershed, South India): the source and proportion of REY, Th, and U exported by groundwater and by the ephemeral stream along with the elemental proportions passing through vegetation have been assessed in the subhumid tropical forested CZO of Mule Hole (M-TROPICS/BVET), Southern […]
Soil erosion supplies large quantities of sediments to rivers of Southeastern Asia. It reduces soil fertility of agro-ecosystems located on hillslopes, and it degrades, downstream, water resource quality and leads to the siltation of reservoirs. An increase in the surface area covered with commercial perennial monocultures such as teak plantations is currently observed at the […]
Insights from high density tubewell monitoring in a hard rock aquifer: agriculture has been increasingly relying on groundwater irrigation for the last decades, leading to severe groundwater depletion and/or nitrate contamination. Understanding the links between nitrate concentration and groundwater resource is a prerequisite for assessing the sustainability of irrigated systems. The Berambadi catchment (M-TROPICS/BVET/Kabini CZO) […]