Abstract
An alternative landfill capping technique ‘Phytocapping’ (establishing plants on a layer of soil placed over the waste) was trialled at Rockhampton, Australia. In this capping trees act as ‘bio-pumps and ‘rain interceptors’ and soil cover as ‘storage’. They together minimise water percolation leading to reduced leachate production. “Transpiration” is a vital process to maintain the hydrological balance of a particular site. To be successful, the trees must transpire enough water from the soil so as to reduce water percolation through the refuse. Water uptake in trees is influenced by plant growth, tree characteristics, root activities, soil depth, soil water availability as well as climatic conditions (rainfall intensity, wind velocity, relative humidity and temperature). The potential of the tree species to remove water from the system plays a vital role in the sustainability of phytocapping system. Currently very little information is available on water uptake patterns of native species established on landfill sites. Results from this study suggest that the tree species grown on a phytocap are able to take up to 2.1 mm day-1 of water with an average of 1.4 mm day-1.
Highlights
An understanding of the movement of water from the soil to the atmosphere via trees is important with regard to phytocaps, as trees grown on phytocaps make a significant contribution to the hydrological balance of the site on which these are grown
Transpiration rates Fifteen of the 21 species were tested for transpiration rates as they were the only species that grew to 50 mm diameter
Results from the current study demonstrate the ability of 15 native species to transpire in landfill conditions in addition to showing their adaptation to the seasonal variation in rainfall
Summary
An understanding of the movement of water from the soil to the atmosphere via trees is important with regard to phytocaps, as trees grown on phytocaps make a significant contribution to the hydrological balance of the site on which these are grown. Trees primarily help restrict rainwater entering the buried waste via canopy interception and transpiration. This Paper discusses the role played by different tree species. Transpiration is the amount of water taken up (upward movement) by a plant for its own use, with the excess being released into the atmosphere, and is one of the key processes that helps maintain the hydrological balance of a site [1]. Transpiration has been expressed in a number of ways and most scientists and hydrologists express transpiration as mm d-1 [3], as this takes into consideration the area covered by the tree
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