The impact of contour furrowing on chenopod patterned ground at Fowlers Gap, western New South Wales

Patterned ground occurs extensively across the world's arid and semi-arid a reas. The Australian chenopod shrublands, typical of the other areas, has b een degraded through species change and erosion since the application of Eu ropean grazing methods and management practices. Contour furrowing was appl ied to these areas in an attempt to reduce erosion and encourage the establ ishment of desirable vegetation. Contour furrowing disrupted the natural hy drology and soil chemical mosaic of the patterned ground system. The contou r furrows encouraged soil erosion by the concentration of sheet flow into a 'stream flow' because of furrow breakthrough. The breakthroughs were a dir ect consequence of the use of dispersive soil to construct the furrow banks . The application of this rehabilitation technique to other areas of south- eastern Australian is limited due to the widespread occurrence of dispersiv e soils. Similar problems may be encountered within western Africa. (C) 199 9 Academic Press.