Hydrology and Earth System Sciences www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net 1027-5606 1607-7938 12 3 2008 10.5194/hess-12-899-2008 http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/899/2008/ http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/899/2008/hess-12-899-2008.html http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/899/2008/hess-12-899-2008.pdf 899 911 2008-06-13 Analysis of soil and vegetation patterns in semi-arid Mediterranean landscapes by way of a conceptual water balance model I. Portoghese V. Iacobellis v.iacobellis@poliba.it M. Sivapalan Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque, Bari, Italy Dipartimento di Ingegneria delle Acque e Chimica, Politecnico di Bari, Italy Centre for Water Research, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia now at: Dept. of Geography and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA This paper investigates the impact of various vegetation types on water balance variability in semi-arid Mediterranean landscapes, and the different strategies they may have developed to succeed in such water-limited environments. The existence of preferential associations between soil water holding capacity and vegetation species is assessed through an extensive soil geo-database focused on a study region in Southern Italy. Water balance constraints that dominate the organization of landscapes are investigated by a conceptual bucket approach. 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