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Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) has been recognized globally as a potential biofuel crop for ethanol production. Sweet sorghum is a drought-tolerant crop that is widely adapted to different environmental growing conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the water use efficiency (utilisable yield per unit amount of water used) of drip-irrigated sweet sorghum (variety Sugargraze) under two different climatic conditions in South Africa. The sweet sorghum trials were conducted at Ukulinga research farm (University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg) and Hatfield experimental farm (University of Pretoria, Pretoria), South Africa. Field trials were conducted in two successive seasons, viz., 2010/11 and 2011/12. Seasonal water use was estimated using eddy covariance and surface renewal methods. Fresh and dry aboveground biomass yield, stalk yield and stalk Brix % were measured at final harvest. Theoretical ethanol yield was calculated from fresh stalk yield and Brix %. Water use for the two growing seasons was 415 mm at Ukulinga and 398 mm at Hatfield. The ethanol water use efficiency (WUE) values for the sweet sorghum at Ukulinga were 0.27 and 0.60 L.m-3 for 2010/11 and 2011/12 growing seasons, respectively. The ethanol WUE estimate of the sweet sorghum at Hatfield was 0.53 L.m-3 for the 2010/11 season and 0.70 L.m-3 for the 2011/12 growing season. WUE estimates of the sweet sorghum crop were higher for Hatfield compared to Ukulinga research farm. The results from this study showed that the WUE of sweet sorghum was sensitive to plant density. The WUE values confirm that sweet sorghum has high WUE under different climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There remains a gap in the knowledge of both canopy and litter interception processes in forest hydrology and limitations in the models used to represent them. In South Africa, interception is typically considered to constitute only a small portion of the total evaporation and in some models is disregarded. Interception is a threshold process, as a certain amount of water is required before successive processes can take place. Therefore an error or false assumption introduced in modelling interception will automatically introduce errors in the calibration of subsequent models/processes. Field experiments to assess these processes, viz. canopy and litter interception were established for the three main commercial forestry genera in South Africa, namely Pinus, Acacia and Eucalyptus, which are described in a companion paper. Drawing on both field and laboratory data, the "Variable Storage Gash" model for canopy interception and an idealised drying curve litter interception model were developed to represent these processes for South African conditions. The Variable Storage Gash model was compared with the original Gash model and it was found that it performed better than the original model in forests with high storage capacities yet was similar to the original model in stands with a low storage capacity. Thus, the models developed here were shown to adequately represent the interception processes and provide a way forward for more representative water resources planning modelling. It was found that canopy and litter interception can account for as much as 26.6% and 13.4% of gross precipitation, respectively, and are therefore important hydrological processes to consider in forested catchments in South Africa. Despite the limitation of both the Variable Storage Gash model and the idealised drying curve litter interception model being reliant on empirical relationships, their application highlights the importance of considering canopy and litter interception in water resources management and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well accepted that the total evaporation in forested areas is greater than in grasslands, largely due to the differences in the amount of rainfall that is intercepted by the forest canopy and litter and due to higher transpiration rates. However, interception is the least studied of these components of the hydrological cycle. The study aims to measure and quantify the canopy and litter interception by Eucalyptus grandis, Pinus patula and Acacia mearnsii, at the Two Streams research catchment in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands of South Africa for the three-year period April 2008 to March 2011. The results from this study showed that canopy and litter interception contributed a significant amount of the water evaporated in a forest water balance. The canopy interception by E. grandis, A. mearnsii and P. patula was 14.9 %, 27.7% and 21.4% of gross precipitation, respectively, while litter interception was 8.5 %, 6.6% and 12.1% of gross precipitation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface renewal (SR) method was used to determine the long-term (12 months) total evaporation (ET) from the Mfabeni Mire with calibration using eddy covariance during two window periods of approximately one week each. The SR method was found to be inexpensive, reliable and with low power requirements for unattended operation. Despite maximum ET rates of up to 6.0 mm day-1, the average summer (October to March) ET was lower (3.2 mm day-1) due to early morning cloud cover that persisted until nearly midday at times. This reduced the daily available energy, and the ET was lower than expected despite the available water and high average wind speeds. In winter (May to September), there was less cloud cover but the average ET was only 1.8 mm day-1 due to plant senescence. In general ET was suppressed by the inflow of humid air (low vapour pressure deficit) and the comparatively low leaf area index of the wetland vegetation. The accumulated ET over 12 months was 900 mm. Daily ET estimates were compared to the Priestley-Taylor model results and a calibration α = 1.0 (R² = 0.96) was obtained for the site. A monthly crop factor (Kc) was determined for the standardised FAO-56 Penman-Monteith. However, Kc was variable in some months and should be used with caution for daily ET modelling. These results represent not only some of the first long-term measurements of ET from a wetland in southern Africa, but also one of the few studies of actual ET in a subtropical peatland in the Southern Hemisphere. The study provides wetland ecologists and hydrologists with guidelines for the use of two internationally applied models for the estimation of wetland ET within a coastal, subtropical environment and shows that wetlands are not necessarily high water users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Although the impact of sheet erosion on the evolution of soils, soil properties and associated ecosystem services across landscapes is undisputed, there are still large uncertainties in the estimation of sheet erosion, as the results obtained are highly scale dependent. Consequently, there is a need to develop a scale-explicit understanding of sediment erosion yields, from microplot to hillslope through to plot, to surmount actual erosion modelling flaws and to improve guidance for erosion mitigation. The main objective of this study was to compare sediment yields from small and large plots installed under different environmental conditions and to interpret these results in terms of the main mechanisms and controlling factors of sheet erosion. Fifteen 1 × 1 m² and ten 2 × 5 m² plots were installed on a hillslope in the foothills of the Drakensberg, South Africa. Data of runoff, sediment concentration (SC), soil loss (SL) and rainfall characteristics obtained during the 2009-2010 rainy season at the two spatial scales and from different soils, vegetation cover, geology and topographic conditions were used to identify the main controlling factors of sheet erosion. Scale ratios for SC and SL were subsequently calculated to assess the level of contribution of rain-impacted flow (RIF) to overall sheet erosion. The average runoff rate ( n = 17 events) ranged between 4.9 ± 0.4 L m-2 on 1 m2 and 5.4 ± 0.6 L m2 on 10 m2, which did not correspond to significant differences at P < 0.05 level. Sediment losses were significantly higher on the 10 m2 plots, compared with the 1 m2 plots (2.2 ± 0.4 vs 1.5 ± 0.2 g L-1 for SC; 9.8 ± 1.8 vs 3.2 ± 0.3 g m-2 for SL), which illustrated a greater efficiency of sheet erosion on longer slopes. Results from a principal component analysis, whose two first axes explained 60% of the data variance, suggested that sheet erosion is mainly controlled by rainfall characteristics (rainfall intensity and amount) and soil surface features (crusting and vegetation coverage). The contribution of RIF to sheet erosion was the lowest at high soil clay content (r = 0.26) and the highest at high crusting and bulk density (r = 0.22), cumulative rainfall amount in the season and associated rise in soil water table (r = 0.29). Such an explicit consideration of the role of scale on sediment yields and process domination by either in situ (soil and soil surface conditions) or ex situ (rainfall characteristics and antecedent rainfall) factors, is expected to contribute to process-based modelling and erosion mitigation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water temperatures, and in particular daily maximum water temperatures, are a critical water quality parameter. An understanding of associated resource management issues, including links between water temperature variability and aquatic diversity values, should be part of any management programme that considers river systems. Simple rule-based models have been shown to be appropriate tools within an adaptive management approach, both because of their heuristic value and in their application for scenario generation. Such a model was developed to simulate changes in the condition factor of Chiloglanis anoterus [Crass, R.S., 1960. Notes on the freshwater fishes of Natal with descriptions of 4 new species. Annals of the Natal Museum 14, 405-458] (Pisces: Mochokidae) in response to annual frequency of exceedance of a threshold temperature under three broad environmental scenarios for part of the Sabie River falling within South Africa's Kruger National Park. This model has potential for application within the adaptive management programme being implemented by the Kruger National Park. Results show that under broad scenarios of a 10% reduction in mean daily flow rates, or a 2 degrees C increase in mean daily air temperatures, system variability is likely to increase relative to reference conditions . It is suggested that so-called "thresholds of probable concern" (TPCs), which are based on current levels of "natural" system variability, are useful as management targets for achieving a "desired future state" for the river system. The model, recognised as a preliminary hypothesis, highlights a lack of knowledge regarding the nature of system variability, and the correspondingly wide confidence limits of the proposed TPC restricts its utility in a short-term management context. Thus, it is now recognised that its value lies more in its use as a long-term modelling tool to reflect water temperature responses to flow variability. This highlights the fact that research outcomes may not always be those intended at the beginning of a project and that opportunities to implement these may be lost as lags in understanding relative to project lifetimes often exist.