The described dataset was the result of a field effort consisting of several campaigns to assess the influence of carbon increase as a result of agroforestry treatments on soil hydrological characteristics and water fluxes at two sites in Malawi. At the sites, two experimental trials have been established which differ in age and soil characteristics, while climatic conditions are roughly comparable. At both sites we focused on control plots of maize and agroforestry treatments including Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp. as the tree component. The dataset contains soil characteristics such as texture, porosity, carbon and nitrogen concentrations, carbon density fractions, dispersible clay proportions, soil hydraulic conductivity and water retention curves. To assess the differences in water fluxes between treatments and sites, we installed soil moisture and matric potential sensors and a small weather station at the sites and monitored the fluxes over the course of about three months. The resulting time series are also part of the dataset, as well as some measurements of maize heights. The file structure of the dataset as well as details on the sites, sampling procedures, measurements and methodology are included in the data description.
The described dataset resulted from a joint multidisciplinary measurement campaign in an agroforestry system in the Western Cape region in South Africa. Five participating institutions measured a range of environmental variables to characterise the influence of windbreak trees onto water fluxes, nutrient distribution and microclimate in the adjacent blackberry field. The dataset contains spatially collected soil characteristics, a soil profile description, time series of meteorological measurements as well as soil moisture and matric potential, information on soil hydraulic properties of the soil determined in the laboratory and windbreak characteristics and shape from a point cloud derived from terrestrial LiDAR scanning.
The data was collected as part of a study (“Waterbuddies”) of grassland agroecosystems of the northwest German (NWG) coastal region. The aim of the study was to identify the sources and discharge paths of nutrients like phosphorus that play an important role as contaminants for surface waters and the North Sea. The NWG coastal region is characterized by a dense network of drainage ditches that directly connect agricultural areas with surface waters. The Jade catchment area was selected to represent the different landscape areas of the NWG coastal region.
Therefore, the study differentiates between the landscape areas of the geest with mostly sandy soils (Geest), the peatlands with bogs (Hochmoor) and fens (Niedermoor) as well as the marsh (Marsch) with a predominance of clay-rich soils. In addition to these landscape areas, two transition sites were identified. Both are oragnomineral in character but are either increasingly characterized by clay in the transition to the marsh (ÜMoMa), or increasingly characterized by sand in the transition to the geest (ÜGeMo). Besides drainage ditches, grassland areas are often drained via surface drainage and drainage pipes, which mark a second discharge path for nutrients. Surface drainage mainly is used for clay soils, whereas drainage is used in sandy and organic-rich soils. Surface drainage in the marsh region is permanently installed, leading ditch run-off via end pipes into higher order waterbodies. The Geest differs in this respect, here, temporary surface drainage is installed during the runoff period without an end pipe. This way, stagnating water on the field plots are drained as needed. Within this study area Phosphate-P contents of soils and phosphate-P concentration of discharge and ditch waters were determined to get a further insight into how different factors (soil type, surface vs. subsurface drainage) are influencing the P-dynamics of the ditches as surface waters of the intensively drained coastal region of Germany.