En dépit de ses succès, le modèle agricole fondé sur un recours massif aux intrants est mis à mal du fait de ses externalités négatives. L’agroécologie propose de substituer aux intrants le pilotage des processus écologiques naturels. La production cidricole est engagée dans cette démarche. Nous avons cherché à évaluer l’apport de deux types d’aménagements agro-écologiques : les haies et les mélanges fleuris. Nous avons caractérisé la faune entomologique présente dans 14 vergers cidricoles du nord-ouest de la France (Bretagne, Normandie) et son évolution au cours de la saison. L’analyse des données collectées a confirmé que les aménagements étaient attractifs pour les ennemis naturels des ravageurs des pommiers.L’étude des dynamiques d’abondance du puceron cendré (Dysaphis plantaginea) au cours de la saison permet de hiérarchiser les contributions des différents ennemis naturels à la régulation de ses populations et de montrer leur complémentarité temporelle. Les syrphes et les coccinelles jouent le rôle principal avec une action plus précoce des premiers. Le rôle favorable au puceron de la présence des fourmis est confirmé. Les mélanges fleuris réduisent les abondances du puceron et accroissent celles de la plupart des groupes d’ennemis naturels. Au contraire, la présence des haies est favorable au ravageur. Un dispositif d’exclusion des fourmis réduit significativement leurs abondances et celles des pucerons et augmente les abondances des syrphes et des coccinelles, confirmant l’effet délétère des fourmis sur les ennemis naturels. Enfin, le prototype d’un indicateur du / In spite of their successes, agricultural systems based on the massive use of inputs are questioned for their negative externalities. Agroecology offers to substitute inputs with natural ecological processes. Apple-cider production is engaged in the development of agroecology. Here, we aimed at assessing the benefits provided by two types of agroecological infrastructures: hedgerows and flower strips. We characterised the entomological fauna encountered in 14 cider-apple orchards in northwestern France (Bretagne, Normandy) and its evolution along the season. Data analysis confirmed agroecological infrastructure attractiveness to apple pest natural enemies. The observation of rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea) population dynamics allows hierarchizing the contributions of several natural enemies to pest control and demonstrates their temporal complementaritySyrphids and coccinellids are the most effective with the firsts being the most precocious. The beneficial role to aphids of ant presence is confirmed. Flower strips reduce aphid abundances and increase the abundances of most natural enemy groups. Conversely, hedgerows are favourable to the pest. An ant-excluding device reduces significantly ant and aphid abundances and increases syrphid and coccinellid abundances, confirming the deleterious effect of ants on natural enemies. Finally, a prototype of an indicator of biological control potential against D. plantaginea was designed.

Please read the abstract in the dissertation / Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

No description available.

A energia radiante absorvida pelas plantas é a principal determinante da taxa fotossintética, condicionando o crescimento e desenvolvimento vegetal, produção e qualidade dos produtos, sendo ainda uma variável fundamental na determinação da transpiração, possibilitando estabelecer relações entre essa variável e a evapotranspiração de referência, podendo-se determinar o coeficiente basal de culturas que orientarão nos processos de irrigação. Em vista da sua importância e do reduzido número de estudos de medida e estimativa do saldo de radiação da folhagem de arbóreas, objetivou-se realizar medidas do saldo de radiação de uma laranjeira (Rnl), cv. Pêra do Rio, com um sistema móvel de integração espaço-temporal para árvores "isoladas", instalando-se oito saldo-radiômetros na armação circular vertical em torno da copa, que através do movimento de três rotações por minuto, criava uma esfera "sensora" de medida ao redor da planta, e de trechos de renques de um cafezal (Rnc) formado, variedade Mundo Novo Apuatã, e de cafezal em formação, variedade Obatã IAC 1669-20, utilizando-se um sistema móvel de integração espaço-temporal para cultivos em renques, no qual oito saldo-radiômetros, fixados em uma armação circular vertical em torno da folhagem, movimentavam-se ao longo de 4,7 m de renque, criando um cilindro "nocional" de medida. O estudo no laranjal ocorreu entre outubro/04 e junho/05, e nos cafezais entre março/04 e maio/05, com ocorrência de diferentes áreas foliares. Os dois sistemas apresentaram-se eficientes para a medida do saldo de radiação. Essas medidas foram correlacionadas à irradiância solar global (Rg) e ao saldo de radiação de gramado (Rng), medidos em estações meteorológicas automáticas. Obtiveram-se melhores ajustes das análises de regressão entre os valores de Rnl e Rg, nas escala de 15 min e horária, verificando-se ainda bom ajuste entre essas variáveis na escala diária para as diferentes áreas foliares (AF). Também na escala diária, bom ajuste foi obtido entre Rnl por área unitária de projeção da copa no solo (Rng/AP) e Rng. Bons ajustes foram também obtidos entre o saldo de radiação dos cafeeiros em formação (Rnc) com Rg e Rng, nas escalas de 15 min e horária, e também para cafeeiros formados, inclusive na escala diária. Porém, não se verificou um ajuste único de Rnc/AF com Rg ou Rng para as diferentes áreas foliares dos cafeeiros em formação, na escala diária. O uso da lei de Beer para estimativa de Rnl e Rnc no período de 6-18h levou a valores subestimados em 17% para a laranjeira e em 8% para os cafeeiros em formação, comparados aos valores medidos, devendo-se atentar, portanto, para as limitações do uso da lei. Foram propostos modelos físicomatemáticos para estimativa de Rnl e Rnc, que apresentaram boa concordância com os valores medidos em ambas as espécies, para diferentes áreas foliares, na escala de 15 min. Ao correlacionar-se os valores de saldo de radiação medidos e estimados pelos modelos na escala diária, para todos os valores de área foliar, obteve-se superestimativas de 6% para a laranjeira e de 5% para o renque de cafeeiros formados, indicando o bom desempenho dos modelos. / The solar energy absorbed by plants is the main determinant factor of photosyntetic rate, conditioning growth and crop development, production and products qualities, still being a fundamental variable to determine transpiration. In relation to transpiration, it is possible to establish relationships between this variable and reference evapotranspiration, allowing to determine the basal crop coefficient, which will guide irrigation management. Regarding to the importance and the few number of studies about measurements and estimates of net radiation of arboreal canopy, this project aimed to accomplish net radiation measurements in an orange tree canopy within an orchard (Rnl), cultivar Pêra do Rio, with a device for measuring all wave net radiation absorbed by "single" trees, deploying eight net radiometers on a circular frame which rotates around the canopy, at 3 rpm, creating a "sensing sphere", and in hedgerows (Rnc):of a mature coffee plantation, variety Mundo Novo Apuatã; and of a young coffee plantation, variety Obatã IAC 1669-20, with a device for measuring total radiation absorbed by hedgerows, deploying eight net radiometers on a vertical circular frame around the plants, moving in a rail of 4.7 m along the hedgerow, creating a "notional cylinder" of measurement. The study in the orange orchard was carried out from October/2004 to June/2005, and in the coffee plantation was from March/2004 to May/2005. Both devices for net radiation measurements worked well. These measurements were correlated to global solar radiation (Rg) and grass net radiation (Rng), routinely measured in automatic weather stations. The best fits between Rnl and Rg, using regression analyses, were obtained for data of 15 min and hourly periods. Good agreement between these was also observed when the different leaf areas (AF) were considered, at daily scale. The same was observed for the relationship between Rnl by canopy drip line (Rnl/AP) and Rng. For the young coffee hedgerow, a good correlation was observed between Rnc and Rg or Rng, for both 15 min and hourly scales, and for mature coffee hedgerow, even at daily scale. An unique relationship between Rnc and Rg or Rng was not verified for different leaf areas of young coffee hedgerow, at daily scale. The use of Beer´s law to estimate Rnl and Rnc from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. resulted in an underestimation of 17% to the orange tree and 8% to the young coffee hedgerow, when compared to measured values, which suggest caution to the limitations of this law. The physical-mathematical models proposed to estimate Rnl and Rnc presented good levels of agreement between measured and estimated values for both species, at different leaf areas, at 15 min scale. When correlating the measured and estimated values, for all leaf areas, at daily scale, it was obtained an overestimation of 6% for orange tree, and of 5% for young coffee hedgerow, showing a good performance of these models.

A energia radiante absorvida pelas plantas é a principal determinante da taxa fotossintética, condicionando o crescimento e desenvolvimento vegetal, produção e qualidade dos produtos, sendo ainda uma variável fundamental na determinação da transpiração, possibilitando estabelecer relações entre essa variável e a evapotranspiração de referência, podendo-se determinar o coeficiente basal de culturas que orientarão nos processos de irrigação. Em vista da sua importância e do reduzido número de estudos de medida e estimativa do saldo de radiação da folhagem de arbóreas, objetivou-se realizar medidas do saldo de radiação de uma laranjeira (Rnl), cv. Pêra do Rio, com um sistema móvel de integração espaço-temporal para árvores “isoladas”, instalando-se oito saldo-radiômetros na armação circular vertical em torno da copa, que através do movimento de três rotações por minuto, criava uma esfera “sensora” de medida ao redor da planta, e de trechos de renques de um cafezal (Rnc) formado, variedade Mundo Novo Apuatã, e de cafezal em formação, variedade Obatã IAC 1669-20, utilizando-se um sistema móvel de integração espaço-temporal para cultivos em renques, no qual oito saldo-radiômetros, fixados em uma armação circular vertical em torno da folhagem, movimentavam-se ao longo de 4,7 m de renque, criando um cilindro “nocional” de medida. O estudo no laranjal ocorreu entre outubro/04 e junho/05, e nos cafezais entre março/04 e maio/05, com ocorrência de diferentes áreas foliares. Os dois sistemas apresentaram-se eficientes para a medida do saldo de radiação. Essas medidas foram correlacionadas à irradiância solar global (Rg) e ao saldo de radiação de gramado (Rng), medidos em estações meteorológicas automáticas. Obtiveram-se melhores ajustes das análises de regressão entre os valores de Rnl e Rg, nas escala de 15 min e horária, verificando-se ainda bom ajuste entre essas variáveis na escala diária para as diferentes áreas foliares (AF). Também na escala diária, bom ajuste foi obtido entre Rnl por área unitária de projeção da copa no solo (Rng/AP) e Rng. Bons ajustes foram também obtidos entre o saldo de radiação dos cafeeiros em formação (Rnc) com Rg e Rng, nas escalas de 15 min e horária, e também para cafeeiros formados, inclusive na escala diária. Porém, não se verificou um ajuste único de Rnc/AF com Rg ou Rng para as diferentes áreas foliares dos cafeeiros em formação, na escala diária. O uso da lei de Beer para estimativa de Rnl e Rnc no período de 6-18h levou a valores subestimados em 17% para a laranjeira e em 8% para os cafeeiros em formação, comparados aos valores medidos, devendo-se atentar, portanto, para as limitações do uso da lei. Foram propostos modelos físicomatemáticos para estimativa de Rnl e Rnc, que apresentaram boa concordância com os valores medidos em ambas as espécies, para diferentes áreas foliares, na escala de 15 min. Ao correlacionar-se os valores de saldo de radiação medidos e estimados pelos modelos na escala diária, para todos os valores de área foliar, obteve-se superestimativas de 6% para a laranjeira e de 5% para o renque de cafeeiros formados, indicando o bom desempenho dos modelos. / The solar energy absorbed by plants is the main determinant factor of photosyntetic rate, conditioning growth and crop development, production and products qualities, still being a fundamental variable to determine transpiration. In relation to transpiration, it is possible to establish relationships between this variable and reference evapotranspiration, allowing to determine the basal crop coefficient, which will guide irrigation management. Regarding to the importance and the few number of studies about measurements and estimates of net radiation of arboreal canopy, this project aimed to accomplish net radiation measurements in an orange tree canopy within an orchard (Rnl), cultivar Pêra do Rio, with a device for measuring all wave net radiation absorbed by “single” trees, deploying eight net radiometers on a circular frame which rotates around the canopy, at 3 rpm, creating a “sensing sphere”, and in hedgerows (Rnc):of a mature coffee plantation, variety Mundo Novo Apuatã; and of a young coffee plantation, variety Obatã IAC 1669-20, with a device for measuring total radiation absorbed by hedgerows, deploying eight net radiometers on a vertical circular frame around the plants, moving in a rail of 4.7 m along the hedgerow, creating a “notional cylinder” of measurement. The study in the orange orchard was carried out from October/2004 to June/2005, and in the coffee plantation was from March/2004 to May/2005. Both devices for net radiation measurements worked well. These measurements were correlated to global solar radiation (Rg) and grass net radiation (Rng), routinely measured in automatic weather stations. The best fits between Rnl and Rg, using regression analyses, were obtained for data of 15 min and hourly periods. Good agreement between these was also observed when the different leaf areas (AF) were considered, at daily scale. The same was observed for the relationship between Rnl by canopy drip line (Rnl/AP) and Rng. For the young coffee hedgerow, a good correlation was observed between Rnc and Rg or Rng, for both 15 min and hourly scales, and for mature coffee hedgerow, even at daily scale. An unique relationship between Rnc and Rg or Rng was not verified for different leaf areas of young coffee hedgerow, at daily scale. The use of Beer´s law to estimate Rnl and Rnc from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. resulted in an underestimation of 17% to the orange tree and 8% to the young coffee hedgerow, when compared to measured values, which suggest caution to the limitations of this law. The physical-mathematical models proposed to estimate Rnl and Rnc presented good levels of agreement between measured and estimated values for both species, at different leaf areas, at 15 min scale. When correlating the measured and estimated values, for all leaf areas, at daily scale, it was obtained an overestimation of 6% for orange tree, and of 5% for young coffee hedgerow, showing a good performance of these models.

Alleycropping is an agroforestry technology of planting crops between rows of trees, preferable legumes to promote an interaction among them with positive benefits in terms of improving soil fertility and hence good crop yields. The technology has been tested with a variety of trees/shrubs species in association with crops (alleycropping) or with grasses (alleygrazing), sometimes with encouraging results and sometimes not, in a wide range of environmental conditions around the world. Research in alleycropping started in late 1970s and sinc~ then many publications have been released. However, little or nothing has been reported about this technology using black wattle and the fever tree, two nitrogen-fixing trees common in South Africa and reported as fast-growing species which produce a considerable amount of biomass within a short period of time. Due to that fact, a two-year trial was established in 2003 at the Ukulinga research farm, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa to evaluate the potential of the two tree species under alleycropping with maize and cowpeas as joint intercrops, under alleycropping with pumpkin, and under alleygrazing with Eragrostis curvula and with Panicum maximum. The trial assessed the crop yields and the biomass production from all the components, and their fodder digestibility using Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) determinations. Additionally the changes in tree grovlth vaa."'i.ables (difu~eter, total height, total \lollhl1e and biomass) were mortitored to produce regression equations to predict those variables, one from another, using regression analysis. The diameter was taken at ground level (dgl) and at the height of 1.3 m, normally called diameter at breast height (dbh). The results showed that tree growth and biomass production were better in black wattle alleycropping than in association with the fever tree. The average dgl of black wattle after 12 months was 48mm and the average dbh was 36mlll. Over the same period the total tree height was about 406cm. A tree pruning was done to one-year old black wattle in the whole trial and the prunings produced about 5.6t/ha of fresh foliage biomass in the association with maize and cowpea and 4.5t/ha in the association with pumpkin. In alleygrazing the growth variables were similar to those obtained in alleycropping but the biomass production was considerably different. The prunings produced about 7.66t/ha of fresh foliage biomass. The dry matter biomass from the prunings was 1.96t/ha, 1.58t/ha and 2.68t/ha in the association with maize and cowpeas, pumpkin and E. curvula respectively. The dry matter was obtained from 4days- oven-dried samples and it was 35% of the fresh foliage biomass and 60% of the fresh woody biomass. The fever tree did not grow significantly during the study period and due to that fact, the species was discarded from the study. Similarly, because after several endeavours using different seed lots, P. maximum had germinated very unevenly, and this grass was excluded from the experimentation. Values ofNDF and ADF less than 35% are considered good, between 35% and 60% fair and poor if greater than 50%. Using is classification the NDF and ADF values from this study were good in pumpkin (30.5% and 29.9%) and cowpeas (36.5% and 46.9%) biomass, fair in E. curvula (41.9% and 39.9%) and maize stover (53.6% and 42.1%) and poor in black wattle (76.58% and 68.1%) foliage. If black wattle is to be used as fodder, it must be mixed with highly digestible fodder like P. maximum, Digitaria sp., and other legume plants, to increase animal intake and to avoid any risk of it becoming an animal hazard due to tannin effects. The regression equations produced linear relationships between dgl and age, and biomass and dbh. The other interactions were not linear. The best equations were obtained in the interaction between dgl and age (dgl= 4.8*Age -7.03; R2 =0.86; SE= 6.6), dgl and height (h= -0.03dg12 + 10.5dgl - 21.25; R2= 0.96, SE= 42.9, h= height), biomass and dbh (lny = 2.409*lndbh; R2=0.99, SE=O.O, Y= tree foliage biomass). During the study, monkeys, cattle, birds and bushbucks posed a threat to the success of the study due to damage they caused to the crops. It was possible to keep the damage below the critical levels, although at high cost. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

[Truncated abstract] Removal of native vegetation to facilitate traditional agriculture practices has been shown to reduce ecosystem health, and restricts the native habitat. The subsequent change in the predominant vegetation water use patterns has altered the catchment water balance, and hydrology which results in land degradation through such processes of salinisation and water logging. More recently, moves toward more sustainable farming practices have been taken to help re-establish catchment hydrological equilibrium and improve catchment ecosystem services. Agroforestry is one such vehicle for this reestablishment. Perennial native vegetation has been shown to have a significant effect on catchment processes, mitigating any further degradation of the land. The effect of alternating native perennial tree belts with traditional broad acre agriculture in the alleys, referred to as alley farming, is investigated in this thesis due to the potential environmental and economic benefits that can result. This thesis investigates the impact of tree belts upon the water table and aims to gauge the ability of alley farming at controlling recharge within the low-medium rainfall zone on the valley floor. The basis of this research is the analysis of data collected from the Toolibin Alley Faring Trial. This experiment was established in 1995 to assess the viability of alley farming and incorporates different combinations of belt width, alley width and revegetation density. Transects of piezometers within each design have been monitored from October 1995 to January 2008. The piezometers were sporadically monitored over this period on a total of 39 dates. ... To further understand the response observed in the water table data, in depth hydrograph analysis of the control piezometer water levels was conducted. The statistical analysis demonstrates that the belts are having a very limited impact on the water table morphology, this is associated with the restricted use of groundwater by the perennial tree belts due to the poor quality, has been applied. This explains why there is limited signature of increased water table depth in the statistical analysis; there is evidence that alley farming as a means of reducing recharge may work however the overriding control on the trial are the rainfall trends rather than perennial growth. The low perennial biomass production at the site is an effect of limited water resources; however a significant distinction can be made between the water table depth and variability beneath high and low biomass belts. There are three main controls at the site; climate, development of perennial biomass and development of perennial root systems (both vertically and laterally). The regional climatic trends will influence water table levels creating a greater soil water storage capacity; therefore the contribution of soil water to transpiration rates will enable the tree belts to have some impact on recharge. Of the alley farming designs tested, the optimal planting density and belt/alley design, from an economic perspective, is identified as having a 4m belt width which generated the greatest biomass. As a means of controlling recharge at the site the effectiveness of alley farming is limited due the shallow saline water table limiting perennial growth.

En 2007, lors du Grenelle de l’environnement, la France décide de mettre en place la Trame Verte et Bleue (TVB). L’approche réticulaire retenue pour cette politique environnementale d’un genre nouveau doit faciliter la lutte contre « l’érosion de la biodiversité » (loi n°2009-967 août 2009). Le déploiement de la TVB sur le territoire français passe par l’identification des continuités écologiques dans les documents d’urbanismes. Leur intégration dans les documents d’urbanisme suscite de nombreuses interrogations et nous permet de renouveler les questionnements dialectiques associant cartographie et participation. Alors que ces deux termes peuvent a priori sembler inconciliables, nous proposons dans cette étude un cheminement qui permet de les articuler. Nous formulons une proposition méthodologique permettant de pluraliser les sources de connaissance au sein d’une démarche de conception participative. Cette dernière se caractérise par une démarche qualitative, exploratoire et inductive qui s’appuie sur le cadre méthodologique de la théorie ancrée. L’itinéraire méthodologique emprunté amène progressivement les participants aux ateliers à produire et à travailler à partir de photographies et de cartes, décontextualisées ou classiques. Ces changements de support traduisent une bascule de la vue tangentielle à la vue zénithale. Le travail en groupe ne constitue pas de fait un collectif. Alors pour faciliter le passage de l’individuel au collectif, nous avons permis aux participants d’élaborer et de tester leur argumentaire avant leur entrée dans l’arène publique. Le terrain d’étude mobilisé est la région Poitou-Charentes, où nous avons observé la mise en place du Schéma Régional de Cohérence Écologique (SRCE). Nos observations nous ont permis de proposer et de mettre en application une démarche participative innovante associant une pluralisation des sources de connaissance pour l’identification des continuités écologiques dans le bocage bressuirais. Les différents ateliers de conception participative nous ont permis, non pas la production d’une carte de synthèse, mais la production d’une série de cartes qui viennent enrichir les représentations spatiales des continuités écologiques. / In the wake of 2007’s “Environment conference of Grenelle”,French authorities decided to instate the Green and Blue Ecological Framework (Trame Verte et Bleue - TVB). This new type of environmental policy is design like a network and aims at reducing “biodiversity erosion” (law nr 2009-967, aug 2009). Deploying such frameworks on the national French territory requir to identify ecological continuities within urban planning documents. Integrating such new operational concepts inside urbanism documents triggers plenty of interrogations. Specifically, it calls into question the unlikely couple cartography and participation. While these terms may seem incompatible on a first sight, we argue that the two practices can be articulated, following a set methodology. By being rooted in a participative approach, our methodological proposal allows to pluralize knowledge sources. It is characterized by a scientific posture that is qualitative, exploratory and inductive. The methodological setting is based on the grounded theory. Through implementing our methodology, workshop participants were progressively led to produce and work on the basis of photograph and maps, both decontextualized and regular. Changing media implied a shift from a “tangential” point of view to a “zenithal” perspective. We understood a qualitative difference between “group work” on the one hand and “collective work” on the other hand. In order to facilitate the shift from individual- to collective–grade work, we allowed the participants to conceive and test their argumentative narrative prior to entering the public arena. Our field of study was the region “Poitou-Charentes”, where we observed the deployment of the Regional Ecological Coherence Framework (SRCE in French - Schéma Régional de Cohérence Écologique). Our observations led us to conceive an innovative and participative approach merging plurality of knowledge sources, to identify the ecological continuities in the Bressuire hedgerow. Hinging on participative conception, the various workshops organized resulted in producing a series of maps that expand the scope of spatial representations of ecological continuities, instead of producing a single synthetic map.

[Truncated abstract] Insufficient water use by annual crop and pasture species leading to costly rises in saline watertables has prompted research into potentially profitable deep-rooted perennial species in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Native mallee eucalypts are currently being developed as a short-rotation coppice crop for production of leaf oils, activated carbon and bio-electricity for low rainfall areas (300—450 mm) too dry for many of the traditional timber and forage species. The research in this study was aimed at developing a knowledge base necessary to grow and manage coppiced mallee eucalypts for both high productivity and salinity control. This firstly necessitated identification of suitable species, climatic and site requirements favourable to rapid growth, and understanding of factors likely to affect yield of the desirable leaf oil constituent, 1,8-cineole. This was undertaken using nine mallee taxa at twelve sites with two harvest regimes. E. kochii subsp. plenissima emerged as showing promise in the central and northern wheatbelt, particularly at a deep acid sand site (Gn 2.61; Northcote, 1979), so further studies focussed on physiology of its resprouting, water use and water-use efficiency at a similar site near Kalannie. Young E. kochii trees were well equipped with large numbers of meristematic foci and adequate root starch reserves to endure repeated shoot removal. The cutting season and interval between cuts were then demonstrated to have a strong influence on productivity, since first-year coppice growth was slow and root systems appeared to cease in secondary growth during the first 1.5—2.5 years after cutting. After decapitation, trees altered their physiology to promote rapid replacement of shoots. Compared to uncut trees, leaves of coppices were formed with a low carbon content per unit area, and showed high stomatal conductance accompanied by high leaf photosynthetic rates. Whole-plant water use efficiency of coppiced trees was unusually high due to their fast relative growth rates associated with preferential investments of photosynthates into regenerating canopies rather than roots. Despite relatively small leaf areas on coppice shoots over the two years following decapitation, high leaf transpiration rates resulted in coppices using water at rates far in excess of that falling as rain on the tree belt area. Water budgets showed that 20 % of the study paddock would have been needed as 0—2 year coppices in 5 m wide twin-row belts in order to maintain hydrological balance over the study period. Maximum water use occurred where uncut trees were accessing a fresh perched aquifer, but where this was not present water budgets still showed transpiration of uncut trees occurring at rates equivalent to 3—4 times rainfall incident on the tree belt canopy. In this scenario, only 10 % of the paddock surface would have been required under 5 m wide tree belts to restore hydrological balance, but competition losses in adjacent pasture would have been greater