An empirical, comparative model of changes in annual water yield associated with pine plantations in southern Australia

Abstract

Results from three Australian multiple catchment projects that examine the change in water yield on conversion from native eucalypt forest to radiata pine were combined. The projects were located in southern Australia near Myrtleford (Victoria), Daylesford (Victoria) and Bathurst (NSW). From these data a model of change in water yield relative to the eucalypt forest was derived using age and annual rainfall as independent variables. This model was extended to derive estimates of change in water yield from grassland sites converted to radiata pine by using the model of Zhang et al. (2001) to estimate the difference in water use between native forest and grassland. The results showed (and quan..