Long-term experience with conservation tillage practices in Austria: Impacts on soil erosion processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 104669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Klik ◽  
Josef Rosner
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Long Term Experience

scholarly journals Applying the RUSLE and ISUM in the Tierra de Barros Vineyards (Extremadura, Spain) to Estimate Soil Mobilisation Rates

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Barrena-González ◽  
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
Yeboah Gyasi-Agyei ◽  
Manuel Pulido Fernández ◽  
Artemi Cerdà
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
La Mancha ◽  
Soil Erosion Rates ◽  
Soil Depletion ◽  
Mapping Techniques

Spain is one of the largest wine producers in the world, with Extremadura (south-west Spain) being its second-largest producing region after Castilla La Mancha. Within Extremadura, the most traditional and productive viticulture region is the Tierra de Barros, which boasts an annual production of 3×106 litres. However, no soil erosion assessment has been undertaken in any vineyard in the region to ascertain environmental sustainability. Therefore, the Improved Stock Unearthing Method (ISUM) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) were applied to assess the long-term soil erosion rates. Both methods were applied using an experimental plot (2.8 m × 148.5 m) encompassing 99 paired vines in a 20-year-old vineyard under a tillage management system and on bare soils throughout the year. The ISUM and RUSLE found total soil mobilization values of 45.7 Mg ha−1 yr−1 and 17.4 Mg ha−1 yr−1, respectively, a difference of about 5 times. Mapping techniques showed that soil surface declined to an average of −6.2 cm, with maximum values of −28 cm. The highest values of soil depletion were mainly observed in the upper part and the form of linear features following the hillslope direction. On the other hand, under the vines, the soil surface level showed accumulations of up to +2.37 cm due to tillage practices. Our study demonstrated the potential of high soil erosion rates occurring in conventional vineyards managed with tillage in the inter-row areas and herbicides under the vines within the Tierra de Barros. Also, we demonstrated the elevated differences in soil mobilisation rates using the ISUM and RUSLE. Therefore, further research must be conducted in other vineyards to determine the suitability of the models for assessing soil erosion rates. Undoubtedly, soil conservation measures must be designed and applied immediately due to high erosion rates.

scholarly journals RECONSTRUCTING THE LANDSCAPE OF THE PAST IN THE AGRICULTURAL TERRACES OF THE CITY OF AVDAT

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W15 ◽  
pp. 117-124
Author(s):  
R. Arav ◽  
S. Filin ◽  
Y. Avni
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Agricultural Terraces ◽  
Change Mechanism ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Anthropogenic Intervention ◽  
The City

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Large areas in the arid Southern Levant are dotted with ancient agricultural terraces and runoff harvesting installations. In the Negev Highlands, Israel, they were constructed in the 3rd&amp;ndash;4th centuries CE, maintained for 6&amp;ndash;7 centuries, and then abandoned after the 10th century. Their design pattern and foundations provide a rare insight to the prevailing environmental conditions during the middle Holocene, while their 600&amp;ndash;700 years cultivation tells the story of their maitainance and desert agriculture in these regions. From their abandonment onwards, they documented more than 1000 years of land degradation and soil erosion till present time. In this paper, we follow a complete cycle of desert agriculture of two sites near the UNESCO world-heritage town of Avdat. We reconstruct the landscape at the period pre-dating the first anthropogenic intervention, through the centuries of cultivation, and into a millennium of abandonment until the present erosion phase. We use high-resolution 3-D data to document the erosion and environmental dynamics during these two millennia, and to compute rates of siltation and erosion. Long-term measures of such kind are unique, as it is rare to find a millennium-scale documentation of soil erosion processes. Their study improves our understanding of the long-term environmental change mechanism acting in arid environments. The detailed analysis of these installations also offers insights into methods for soil conservation, for sustainable desert inhabitation, and for strategies to protect world-heritage installations. As the globe-wide struggle to combat soil erosion becomes urgent, this case study becomes even more relevant.</p>

scholarly journals Surface water ponding on clayey soils managed by conventional and conservation tillage in boreal conditions

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. ALAKUKKU ◽  
A. RISTOLAINEN ◽  
I. SARIKKA
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Crop Growth ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
Spring Cereals ◽  
Gps Devices ◽  
June July

Surface water ponding and crop hampering due to soil wetness was monitored in order to evaluate the effects of conservation tillage practices and perennial grass cover on soil infiltrability for five years in situ in gently sloping clayey fields. Thirteen experimental areas, each having three experimental fields, were established in southern Finland. The fields belonged to: autumn mouldboard ploughing (AP), conservation tillage (CT) and perennial grass in the crop rotation (PG). In the third year, direct drilled (DD) fields were established in five areas. Excluding PG, mainly spring cereals were grown in the fields. Location and surface area of ponded water (in the spring and autumn) as well as hampered crop growth (during June-July) were determined in each field by using GPS devices and GIS programs. Surface water ponding or crop hampering occurred when the amount of rainfall was clearly greater than the long-term average. The mean of the relative area of the ponded surface water, indicating the risk of surface runoff, and hampered crop growth was larger in the CT fields than in the AP fields. The differences between means were, however, not statistically significant. Complementary soil physical measurements are required to investigate the reasons for the repeated surface water ponding.;

Soil organic carbon increment sources and crop yields under long‐term conservation tillage practices in wheat‐maize systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1138-1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Liu ◽  
Tianping Gao ◽  
Shenzhong Tian ◽  
Hengyu Hu ◽  
Geng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Tillage Practices

Diseases of wheat and barley in conservation cropping systems of the semiarid Pacific Northwest

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Smiley
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Disease Management ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Conservation Farming ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Summer Fallow

AbstractDiseases continue to be important constraints in wheat and barley conservation cropping systems in the semiarid Pacific Northwest. Several diseases are more damaging in highthan low-residue seedbeds, and in crops planted during early autumn to reduce soil erosion during winter, especially unirrigated winter wheat in rotation with summer fallow in low rainfall zones (250–400 mm). Changes in cropping systems in the region have made disease management and maintenance of yield goals and farm profitability more challenging because disease management often is more complex and expensive with conservation tillage than inversion tillage. Practices being developed to meet this challenge are reviewed for diseases that are particularly trouble some in conservation farming systems of the Pacific Northwest.

scholarly journals Tracing erosion rates in loess landscape of the Trzebnica Hills (Poland) over time using fallout and cosmogenic nuclides

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Loba ◽  
Jarosław Waroszewski ◽  
Dmitry Tikhomirov ◽  
Fancesca Calitri ◽  
Marcus Christl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Undisturbed Soil ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Fallout Radionuclides ◽  
Soil Erosion Rates

Abstract Purpose Loess landscapes are highly susceptible to soil erosion, which affects soil stability and productivity. Erosion is non-linear in time and space and determines whether soils form or degrade. While the spatial variability of erosion is often assessed by either modelling or on-site measurements, temporal trends over decades to millennia are very often lacking. In this study, we determined long- and short-term erosion rates to trace the dynamics of loess deposits in south-western Poland. Materials and methods We quantified long-term (millennial) erosion rates using cosmogenic (in situ 10Be) and short-term (decadal) rates with fallout radionuclides (239+240Pu). Erosion processes were studied in two slope-soil transects (12 soil pits) with variable erosion features. As a reference site, an undisturbed soil profile under natural forest was sampled. Results and discussion The long-term erosion rates ranged between 0.44 and 0.85 t ha−1 year−1, whereas the short-term erosion rates varied from 1.2 to 10.9 t ha−1 year−1 and seem to be reliable. The short-term erosion rates are up to 10 times higher than the long-term rates. The soil erosion rates are quite consistent with the terrain relief, with erosion increasing in the steeper slope sections and decreasing in the lower parts of the slope, while still maintaining high values. Conclusions Soil erosion rates have increased during the last few decades owing to agriculture intensification and probably climate change. The measured values lie far above tolerable erosion rates, and the soils were found to be strongly imbalanced and exhibit a drastic shallowing of the productive soils horizons.

scholarly journals Horizontal ridging with mulching as the best tillage practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in a Mollisol hillslope at the maize seedling stage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yucheng Wang ◽  
Dayong Guo ◽  
Wuliang Shi ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Jinhu Cui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Maize Seedling ◽  
Seedling Stage ◽  
Buffer Strips ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Total Runoff

Soil erosion features and ideal tillage practices are not very clear at the crop seedling stage in Chinese Mollisols. Simulated rainfall experiments were conducted at the rainfall intensities of 50 and 100 mm h-1 to investigate the differences in soil erosion of a 5° hillslope during the maize seedling stage between conservation and conventional tillage measures, including cornstalk mulching (Cm), horizontal ridging (Hr), horizontal ridging + mulching (Hr+Cm), vertical ridging + mulching (Vr+Cm), flat-tillage (CK), and vertical ridging (Vr). The results demonstrated that crops could remit soil erosion at the seedling stage by reducing the kinetic energy and changing the distribution of raindrops. The conservation tillage measures significantly alleviated total runoff (11.7%–100%) and sediment yield (71.1%–100%), postponed runoff-yielding time (85 s–26.1 min), decreased runoff velocity (71.5%–96.7%), and reduced runoff and soil loss rate, compared to the conventional tillage measures. Practices with mulching showed better performance than Hr. Mulching reduced sediment concentration by decreasing runoff velocity and soil particle filtration in a manner similar to buffer strips. The contour ridge ruptured earlier at 100 mm h-1 than at 50 mm h-1 and changed the characteristics of the soil erosion by providing a larger sediment source to the surface flow. Runoff strength, rather than soil erodibility, was the key factor affecting soil erosion. Decreasing runoff velocity was more important than controlling runoff amount. The Hr + Cm treatment exhibited the lowest soil erosion and is, thus, recommended at the corn seedling stage.

scholarly journals Surface runoff, subsurface drainflow and soil erosion as affected by tillage in a clayey Finnish soil

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 332 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. TURTOLA ◽  
L. ALAKUKKU ◽  
R. UUSITALO
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Surface Runoff ◽  
Clayey Soil ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Clayey Soils ◽  
Water Conductivity ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Soil Losses

Conservation tillage practices were tested against autumn mouldboard ploughing for differences in physical properties of soil, surface runoff, subsurface drainflow and soil erosion. The study (1991 -2001) was performed on a gently (2%) sloping clayey soil of southern Finland, with two replicates of the tillage treatments on 0.5 ha plots. The annual shares of surface runoff of the total flow (surface runoff + subsurface drainflow) were 8–42% for ploughing (depth 20–23 cm), 36–66% for shallow autumn stubble cultivation (depth 5–8 cm) and 36–82% for soil left untilled over winter. Surface runoff increased with decrease in the tillage intensity, and in line with the values of depressional water storage, macroporosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity. Erodibility of this gently sloping soil was at highest after autumn and spring tillage operations and decreased with time. Shallow autumn tillage produced erosion as high as mouldboard ploughing (407–1700 kg ha–1yr–1), but 48% and 12% lower erosion levels were measured from plots left untilled in autumn, covered by grass or barley residues, respectively. Eroded soil particles moved relatively freely to the subsurface drains, which carried 37–94% of the annual soil losses from the field. The study shows that even on the relatively flat clayey soils typical for southern Finland, tillage has a great influence on soil losses. The frequency of tillage needs to be reduced rather than the depth of tillage on clayey soils with poor water conductivity and structural stability if soil loss is to be diminished by conservation tillage.;

scholarly journals What role does tillage erosion play regarding landscape evolution of an intensively used hummocky landscape?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Katharina Öttl ◽  
Peter Fiener ◽  
Florian Wilken ◽  
Michael Sommer
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Landscape Development ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Soil Redistribution ◽  
North East ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Tillage Erosion ◽  
Crop Biomass

&lt;p&gt;Hummocky landscapes under intensive arable use are substantially affected by erosion processes. Data from the Quillow catchment (size: 196 km&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;; mean annual precipitation: 500 mm) in North-East Germany are used to estimate landscape-scale water and tillage erosion with the model SPEROS-C. Recent results show that tillage erosion causes substantial soil redistribution that can distinctively exceed water erosion. In consequence, truncated soil profiles can be found on hilltops and steep slopes, whereas colluvial material is accumulated in depressions and along downslope field boarders. The resulting spatial variability of soil types with different properties and conditions is known to influence crop growth and leads to a highly variable biomass pattern in hummocky landscapes under highly mechanised arable cultivation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The main goal of our study is to link tillage-induced erosion rates to landscape development at centennial time scales. By modelling the development of the hummocky moraine landscape of North-Eastern Germany, we explain the spatial distribution of the current soil erosion state. Furthermore, the soil erosion induced impact on crop biomass patterns and the redistribution of soil organic carbon since the beginning of human land use in this area is assessed. To address this goal, a new model component is implemented into SPEROS-C that iteratively rejuvenates topography backwards in time considering modelled erosion and deposition rates. Afterwards, modelling forward in time allows estimating carbon fluxes due to soil redistribution. Furthermore, the extent and location of truncated soils will be validated with historic aerial photographs at different time steps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The benefits of implementing landscape development into SPEROS-C are that (i) an annual update of topography generates a more realistic soil erosion pattern, (ii) the current crop biomass pattern may be explained by erosion history, and (iii) estimates about the future development of crop yield patterns considering ongoing tillage practices can be drawn from a validated soil erosion and landscape development model.&lt;/p&gt;

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