Streamside management zone (SMZ) efficiency in herbicide retention from simulated surface flow

Plot-scale overland flow experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of streamside management zones (SMZs) in retaining herbicides in runoff generated from silvicultural activities. Herbicide retention was evaluated for five different slopes (2, 5, 10, 15, and 20%), two cover conditions (undisturbed O horizon and raked surface), and two periods under contrasting soil moisture conditions (summer dry and winter wet season) and correlated to O horizon and site conditions. Picloram (highly soluble in water) and atrazine (moderately sorbed into soil particles) at concentrations in the range of 55 and 35 µg L-1 and kaolin clay (approximately 5 g L-1) were mixed with 13.000 liters of water and dispersed over the top of 5 x 10 m forested plots. Surface flow was collected 2, 4, 6, and 10 m below the disperser to evaluate the changes in concentration as it moved through the O horizon and surface soil horizon-mixing zone. Results showed that, on average, a 10 m long forested SMZ removed around 25% of the initial concentration of atrazine and was generally ineffective in reducing the more soluble picloram. Retention of picloram was only 6% of the applied quantity. Percentages of mass reduction by infiltration were 36% for atrazine and 20% for picloram. Stronger relationships existed between O horizon depth and atrazine retention than in any other measured variable, suggesting that better solid-solution contact associated with flow through deeper O horizons is more important than either velocity or soil moisture as a determinant of sorption. Experimento de escoamento superficial, em escala piloto, foi conduzido para se avaliar a eficiência de zonas ripárias (SMZs) na retenção de herbicidas presentes no escoamento superficial gerado em atividades silviculturais. A retenção do herbicida foi avaliada em terrenos com cinco diferentes declividades (2, 5, 10, 15 e 20%), duas condições de cobertura do solo (com e sem o horizonte O) e dois períodos de distintos teores de água no solo (verão seco e inverno úmido). Picloram (altamente solúvel em água) e atrazina (moderadamente adsorvível às partículas de solo), em concentrações na faixa de 55 e 35 µg L¹, e caulinita (aproximadamente 5 g L-1) foram misturados com 13.000 litros de água e aplicados sobre o solo de áreas experimentais florestadas de 5 x 10 m. O escoamento superficial foi coletado a 2, 4, 6 e 10 m abaixo do ponto de aplicação, para que se pudesse avaliar as mudanças nas concentrações dos contaminantes na su