M Heshmati - Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Department, Kermanshah Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, T
M Gheitury - Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran
M Hosseini

In this study, to investigate the effects of runoff harvesting on soil properties in the semiaridforest, runoff harvesting through semi-circular bund was considered as a method to conserve soil andthereby combat tree mortality. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, runoff was harvested through the semicircularbund affecting soil quality and moisture storage. The selected forest site is located in Kalehzard,Kermanshah, in Zagros region of western Iran. The experiment was a randomized complete block designwith four treatment plots: bund with protection, protection treatment, bund without protection and controltreatment. The results showed that the mean values of soil organic carbon in the bund with protection,protection treatment, bund without protection and control treatment were 2.35, 2.40, 1.90, and 1.80%,respectively, indicating no significant difference among them in the first year, while there were significant(p> 0.05) increases in the bund with protection and protection treatment after three years. Furthermore,coarse and very coarse soil aggregates increased significantly in the bund with protection treatment. Thistreatment also attributed to significant reduction in soil bulk density from 1.46 (in the first year) to 1.32(in the third year), which enhanced soil moisture content. Finally it was found that bunds with protectionsignificantly curtail dieback and adverse re-growing of stands due to the coupled effects of bund buildingand protection to curtail forest mortality in the semi-arid regions.

Bund construction; Bulk density; Kalehzard site; Protection treatment; Soil aggregate; Soil moisture