In the Ethiopian Highlands, stone bunds (SBs) are a common practice for soil and water conservation, influencing runoff and erosion processes from sloped agricultural areas. The objective of this study was to investigate how SBs affect spatiotemporal relationships of these processes to better understand their impacts on soil water development at the smallholder farmer's field level. Study area was the Gumara‐Maksegnit Watershed in northern Ethiopia, where two representative transects were investigated: One transect crossed a 71 m‐long field intersected by 2 SBs traced along the contour. The second transect crossed a similar hillslope without conservation structures at a length of 55 m representing baseline (untreated) conditions (no stone bund). During the rainy season of 2012, bulk density and volumetric water content were monitored, and tension disc infiltrometer experiments were performed to determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity and to derive soil water retention characteristics. Our observations show that SB decreased significantly soil bulk density in center and lower zones of SB transect compared with no stone bund. No temporal change was observed. Results targeting the surface soil moisture indicate that infiltration was higher with SB and happened earlier in the rainy season in the zones around the SBs. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was positively affected by SB and increased significantly. Improved soil hydrology by SB fields may increase crop yields by higher soil water contents but also by extending the growing season after the rainy season. Therefore, SBs are a successful measure to establish climate‐resilient agriculture in the Ethiopian Highlands.

中文翻译：

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石滩对土壤物理特性时空变化的影响：埃塞俄比亚北部的实地研究

在埃塞俄比亚高地，石堤（SBs）是水土保持的一种普遍做法，影响着倾斜农业地区的径流和侵蚀过程。这项研究的目的是调查SB如何影响这些过程的时空关系，以更好地了解其对小农户田间土壤水发育的影响。研究区域是埃塞俄比亚北部的Gumara-Maksegnit流域，研究了两个代表性的样带：一个样带穿过一个71 m长的田野，并与沿轮廓线描出的两个SB相交。第二个横断面横穿类似的山坡，没有保护性结构，长度为55 m，代表基线（未经处理）情况（无石障）。在2012年的雨季期间，对堆密度和体积含水量进行了监测，进行了张力圆盘渗透仪实验，以确定饱和的水力传导率并推导了土壤保水特性。我们的观察结果表明，与没有石堤的情况相比，SB样带中部和下部区域的土壤容重显着降低。没有观察到时间变化。针对地表土壤水分的结果表明，SB的入渗较高，并且在雨季较早时在SB周围地区发生。饱和水力传导率受到SB的积极影响，并显着增加。SB田改善了土壤水文状况，可以通过提高土壤水分含量以及延长雨季后的生长期来提高作物产量。因此，SB是在埃塞俄比亚高地建立具有气候适应力的农业的成功措施。