A model of soil moisture balance and herbage growth in the arid rangelands of central Australia
A model of soil moisture balance and herbage growth in the arid rangelands of central Australia
Journal of Arid Environments
- Author(s): Hobbs, Trevor J., Sparrow, Ashley D., Landsberg, Joe J.
- Published: 1994
- Volume: 28
- ISBN: 0140-1963
Abstract: A simple model of soil moisture balance and herbage production in the arid and semi-arid rangelands of central Australia is presented. The model has few parameters and only requires inputs of rainfall and potential evaporation to model daily soil moisture and plant growth. Five landscape types were studied for over 2 years, and for up to four major growth events, to provide data for estimating parameters in the model. Moisture loss in the 0–500 mm soil profile has been modelled using an negative exponential function which depends on available soil moisture and is driven by daily rainfall and potential evaporation. The growth of herbage, whilst soil moisture is above wilting point, is a linear function of actual evapotranspiration, with the decay of plant material represented by a logistic curve.
- Urls: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196305800497
- Keywords: herbage production, biomass growth, forage, water use, soil moisture, modelling, arid rangelands, central Australia