Biological geotextiles as a tool for soil moisture conservation

Abstract

Geotextiles have an important influence on soil moisture conditions. It is well known that the application of geotextiles increases soil moisture content of the soil, but there is a lack of information on how the different mats keep the soil moisture. The objective of this paper is to present the effect of biological geotextiles on soil moisture dynamics of the topsoil and to compare the effectiveness of various geotextiles in conserving soil moisture as well as comparing their role in soil moisture dynamics in the different climatic zones. Soil moisture measurements were carried out in the framework of the BORASSUS project at six study sites in Brazil, China, Hungary, Lithuania, Thailand and Vietnam. Soil moisture was measured by gravimetric method. All together six different kinds of biological geotextiles (Borassus, Buriti, Bamboo, Jute, Maize and Rice) and one synthetic geotextile were used. To study soil moisture dynamics of the geotextiles applied in Hungary 1000cm 3 soil monoliths were covered by Jute, Buriti and Borassus mats. The effects of natural rainfall events on soils and geotextiles were examined in detail. According to the results of this paper there is not much difference concerning the effect of biological geotextiles made from various materials on soil moisture conservation. There are, however, remarkable differences in conserving soil moisture according to the geographical location of the study sites. The favourable effect of geotextiles on soil moisture conservation could be statistically justified if annual precipitation amount is over 700mm and the annual temperature range is below 28°C. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.