Paper presented at the 11th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held May 31-June 3, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri.In Gold, M.A. and M.M. Hall, eds. Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice. Proceedings, 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, Columbia, Mo., May 31-June 3, 2009.Agroforestry and grass buffer practices reduce non point source pollution from corn-soybean watersheds, yet little is known about the processes and mechanisms involved. The objective of this study was to compare the soil water dynamics in crop, grass, and agroforestry areas throughout the growing season to understand soil water use and recharge differences among the treatments. The study was conducted on two corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotational watersheds with grass and agroforestry buffers at the Greenley Research Center, Knox County, MO. Campbell soil moisture sensors were installed in crop, grass, and agroforestry areas with six replications at 5, 10, 20, and 40 cm depths to record volumetric soil water content at 10 minute intervals for 2004 through 2007. Initial soil moisture was lower in tree and grass buffer areas than crop areas probably due to water use by the permanent vegetation before crops were established. The differences were larger for shallower depths as compared to the 40 cm depth. The trend continued throughout the growing season. Weekly soil moisture content was significantly higher in the crop treatment as compared to the buffer treatments. During rain events water content increased in all depths and treatments and the differences in water content among treatments diminished. At the end of the growing season, soil water content increased when water use was low and as the profile recharged by rain events. The results of the study suggest that establishment of grass and agroforestry buffers help reduce non point source pollution from row crop agriculture by using additional water that would have otherwise have been lost in runoff carrying sediments, nutrients, and pesticides.Ranjith P. Udawatta (1,2), Stephen H. Anderson (1), Peter P. Motavalli (1), and Harold E. Garrett (2) ; 1. Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences. 2. Center for Agroforestry, and University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211.Includes bibliographical references
