ASR01 Short-term assessment of effects of burning on infiltration, runoff, and sediment and nutrient loss on Tallgrass Prairie using rainfall simulation, 1989

Rainfall simulation and overland flow experiments were performed on four plots at a single site on Konza from May to August, 1989. Two plots were treated with a late spring burn and two plots were left unburned. Five simulations were performed on burned plots and three simulatons on unburned plots. Each simulation consisted of a “dry run” followed 24 hours later by a 'wet run'. The dry run consisted of rainfall applied at an intesity of approximately 60 mm/hour. The wet run was the same as a dry run, except when the rainfall was complete, overland flow was applied directly at the top of the plots to simulate run off coming from upslope. Measurements taken include overland flow velocity, water application rate, runoff, hydrograph, water flow depth, sediment content, nitrogen and phosphorus content and percent ground cover (See A.B. Duell, Effects of burning on infiltration, overland flow, and sediment loss on tallgrass prairie, M.S. thesis, Kansas State University, 82pp. for further details).