Hydrological components of a young loblolly pine plantation on a sandy soil with estimates of water use and loss

Fertilizer and irrigation treatments were applied in a 7- to 10-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation on a sandy soil near Laurinburg, North Carolina. Rainfall, throughfall, stemflow, and soil water content were measured throughout the study period. Monthly interception losses ranged from 4 to 15% of rainfall. Stemflow ranged from 0.2 to 6.5% of rainfall. Rainfall, leaf area index (LAI), basal area (BA), and the interactions of rainfall with LAI or BA influenced prediction models of throughfall, but not stemflow, on a stand level. We found significant differences due to the effects of treatments in the soil water of the top 0.5- and 1-m soil layers by the beginning of the second growing season and throughout the remainder of the study period. Average daily water use and loss from a 1-m soil layer reflected the low water-holding capacity of the sand. Soil water in a l-m layer was rapidly depleted to within 10% of available water during periods of little or no rainfall. Irrigation did not significantly affect productivity and created a greater potential for loss of water to drainage below 1 m. On the basis of Zahner's [1966] method of soil water depletion in a sandy soil under forest cover, total drainage to below 1 m was 55% of evapotranspiration in unirrigated plots and 150% of evapotranspiration in irrigated plots.