scholarly journals Is soil loss due to crop harvesting the most disregarded soil erosion process? A review of harvest erosion

2022 ◽  
Vol 215 ◽  
pp. 105213
Author(s):  
Michael Kuhwald ◽  
Fritjof Busche ◽  
Philipp Saggau ◽  
Rainer Duttmann
2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1051-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avacir Casanova Andrello ◽  
Carlos Roberto Appoloni ◽  
Virgílio Franco do Nascimento Filho

The aim of this work was to assess the soil erosion process in native forest by the 137Cs methodology. The mass balance model was applied to assess the rates of soil loss in three native forests around of Londrina city, Paraná, Brazil. 137Cs distribution depth was of exponential type for the three forests and 137Cs inventory was 241 Bq m-2 for Mata 1, 338 Bq m-2 for Mata 2 and 325 Bq m-2 for Mata UEL. The soil loss value calculated for three native forests was: 6,684 kg ha-1 yr-1 for Mata 1, 1,788 kg ha-1 yr-1 for Mata 2 and 4,524 kg ha-1 yr-1 for Mata UEL.


Author(s):  
Nguyễn Quang Việt ◽  
Trương Đình Trọng ◽  
Hồ Thị Nga

Vinh Linh, the northern district of Quang Tri province is characterized by a diversified topography with a large variety of elevations, high rainfall, and decreasing land cover due to forest exploiting for cultivation land. Thus, there is a high risk of erosion, soil fertility washout. With the support of GIS technology, the authors used the rMMF model to measure soil erosion. The input data of model including 15 coefficients related to topography, soil properties, climate and land cover. The simulations of rMMF include estimates of rainfall energy, runoff, soil particle detachment by raindrop, soil particle detachment by runoff, sediment transport capacity of runoff and soil loss. The result showed that amount of soil loss in year is estimated to vary between 0 kg/m2 minimum and 149 kg/m2 maximum and is divided into 4-classes of erosion. Light class almost covers the region researched (75.9% of total area), while moderate class occupies 8.1% of total area, strong classes only hold small area (16% of total area). Therefore, protection of the forest floor in sloping areas is one of the most effective methods to reduce soil erosion.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 3763-3775 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Meusburger ◽  
G. Leitinger ◽  
L. Mabit ◽  
M. H. Mueller ◽  
A. Walter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Snow processes might be one important driver of soil erosion in Alpine grasslands and thus the unknown variable when erosion modelling is attempted. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of snow gliding as a soil erosion agent for four different land use/land cover types in a subalpine area in Switzerland. We used three different approaches to estimate soil erosion rates: sediment yield measurements in snow glide depositions, the fallout radionuclide 137Cs and modelling with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). RUSLE permits the evaluation of soil loss by water erosion, the 137Cs method integrates soil loss due to all erosion agents involved, and the measurement of snow glide deposition sediment yield can be directly related to snow-glide-induced erosion. Further, cumulative snow glide distance was measured for the sites in the winter of 2009/2010 and modelled for the surrounding area and long-term average winter precipitation (1959–2010) with the spatial snow glide model (SSGM). Measured snow glide distance confirmed the presence of snow gliding and ranged from 2 to 189 cm, with lower values on the north-facing slopes. We observed a reduction of snow glide distance with increasing surface roughness of the vegetation, which is an important information with respect to conservation planning and expected and ongoing land use changes in the Alps. Snow glide erosion estimated from the snow glide depositions was highly variable with values ranging from 0.03 to 22.9 t ha−1 yr−1 in the winter of 2012/2013. For sites affected by snow glide deposition, a mean erosion rate of 8.4 t ha−1 yr−1 was found. The difference in long-term erosion rates determined with RUSLE and 137Cs confirms the constant influence of snow-glide-induced erosion, since a large difference (lower proportion of water erosion compared to total net erosion) was observed for sites with high snow glide rates and vice versa. Moreover, the difference between RUSLE and 137Cs erosion rates was related to the measured snow glide distance (R2 = 0.64; p < 0.005) and to the snow deposition sediment yields (R2 = 0.39; p = 0.13). The SSGM reproduced the relative difference of the measured snow glide values under different land uses and land cover types. The resulting map highlighted the relevance of snow gliding for large parts of the investigated area. Based on these results, we conclude that snow gliding appears to be a crucial and non-negligible process impacting soil erosion patterns and magnitude in subalpine areas with similar topographic and climatic conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Alexandra Pagáč Mokrá ◽  
Jakub Pagáč ◽  
Zlatica Muchová ◽  
František Petrovič

Water erosion is a phenomenon that significantly damages agricultural land. The current land fragmentation in Slovakia and the complete ambiguity of who owns it leads to a lack of responsibility to care for the land in its current condition, which could affect its sustainability in the future. The reason so much soil has eroded is obvious when looking at current land management, with large fields, a lack of windbreaks between them, and no barriers to prevent soil runoff. Land consolidation might be the solution. This paper seeks to evaluate redistributed land and, based on modeling by the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) method, to assess the degree of soil erosion risk. Ownership data provided information on how many owners and what amount of area to consider, while taking into account new conditions regarding water erosion. The results indicate that 2488 plots of 1607 owners which represent 12% of the model area are still endangered by water erosion, even after the completion of the land consolidation project. The results also presented a way of evaluating the territory and aims to trigger a discussion regarding an unambiguous definition of responsibility in the relationship between owner and user.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 650
Author(s):  
Wakjira Takala Dibaba ◽  
Tamene Adugna Demissie ◽  
Konrad Miegel

Excessive soil loss and sediment yield in the highlands of Ethiopia are the primary factors that accelerate the decline of land productivity, water resources, operation and function of existing water infrastructure, as well as soil and water management practices. This study was conducted at Finchaa catchment in the Upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia to estimate the rate of soil erosion and sediment loss and prioritize the most sensitive sub-watersheds using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using the observed streamflow and sediment data. The average annual sediment yield (SY) in Finchaa catchment for the period 1990–2015 was 36.47 ton ha−1 yr−1 with the annual yield varying from negligible to about 107.2 ton ha−1 yr−1. Five sub-basins which account for about 24.83% of the area were predicted to suffer severely from soil erosion risks, with SY in excess of 50 ton ha−1 yr−1. Only 15.05% of the area within the tolerable rate of loss (below 11 ton ha−1yr−1) was considered as the least prioritized areas for maintenance of crop production. Despite the reasonable reduction of sediment yields by the management scenarios, the reduction by contour farming, slope terracing, zero free grazing and reforestation were still above the tolerable soil loss. Vegetative contour strips and soil bund were significant in reducing SY below the tolerable soil loss, which is equivalent to 63.9% and 64.8% reduction, respectively. In general, effective and sustainable soil erosion management requires not only prioritizations of the erosion hotspots but also prioritizations of the most effective management practices. We believe that the results provided new and updated insights that enable a proactive approach to preserve the soil and reduce land degradation risks that could allow resource regeneration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6763
Author(s):  
Mongi Ben Zaied ◽  
Seifeddine Jomaa ◽  
Mohamed Ouessar

Soil erosion remains one of the principal environmental problems in arid regions. This study aims to assess and quantify the variability of soil erosion in the Koutine catchment using the RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) model. The Koutine catchment is located in an arid area in southeastern Tunisia and is characterized by an annual mean precipitation of less than 200 mm. The model was used to examine the influence of topography, extreme rainstorm intensity and soil texture on soil loss. The data used for model validation were obtained from field measurements by monitoring deposited sediment in settlement basins of 25 cisterns (a traditional water harvesting and storage technique) over 4 years, from 2015 to 2018. Results showed that slope is the most controlling factor of soil loss. The average annual soil loss in monitoring sites varies between 0.01 and 12.5 t/ha/y. The storm events inducing the largest soil losses occurred in the upstream part of the Koutine catchment with a maximum value of 7.3 t/ha per event. Soil erosion is highly affected by initial and preceding soil conditions. The RUSLE model reasonably reproduced (R2 = 0.81) the spatiotemporal variability of measured soil losses in the study catchment during the observation period. This study revealed the importance of using the cisterns in the data-scarce dry areas as a substitute for the classic soil erosion monitoring fields. Besides, combining modeling of outputs and field measurements could improve our physical understanding of soil erosion processes and their controlling factors in an arid catchment. The study results are beneficial for decision-makers to evaluate the existing soil conservation and water management plans, which can be further adjusted using appropriate soil erosion mitigation options based on scientific evidence.


Solid Earth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Li ◽  
Xiao Yong Bai ◽  
Shi Jie Wang ◽  
Luo Yi Qin ◽  
Yi Chao Tian ◽  
...  

Abstract. Soil loss tolerance (T value) is one of the criteria in determining the necessity of erosion control measures and ecological restoration strategy. However, the validity of this criterion in subtropical karst regions is strongly disputed. In this study, T value is calculated based on soil formation rate by using a digital distribution map of carbonate rock assemblage types. Results indicated a spatial heterogeneity and diversity in soil loss tolerance. Instead of only one criterion, a minimum of three criteria should be considered when investigating the carbonate areas of southern China because the one region, one T value concept may not be applicable to this region. T value is proportionate to the amount of argillaceous material, which determines the surface soil thickness of the formations in homogenous carbonate rock areas. Homogenous carbonate rock, carbonate rock intercalated with clastic rock areas and carbonate/clastic rock alternation areas have T values of 20, 50 and 100 t/(km2 a), and they are extremely, severely and moderately sensitive to soil erosion. Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is defined as extreme soil erosion and reflects the risks of erosion. Thus, the relationship between T value and erosion risk is determined using KRD as a parameter. The existence of KRD land is unrelated to the T value, although this parameter indicates erosion sensitivity. Erosion risk is strongly dependent on the relationship between real soil loss (RL) and T value rather than on either erosion intensity or the T value itself. If RL > > T, then the erosion risk is high despite of a low RL. Conversely, if T > > RL, then the soil is safe although RL is high. Overall, these findings may clarify the heterogeneity of T value and its effect on erosion risk in a karst environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Dugan ◽  
Leon Josip Telak ◽  
Iva Hrelja ◽  
Ivica Kisić ◽  
Igor Bogunović

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Straw mulch impact on soil properties and initial soil erosion processes in the maize field&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ivan Dugan*, Leon Josip Telak, Iva Hrelja, Ivica Kisic, Igor Bogunovic&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of General Agronomy, Zagreb, Croatia&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(*correspondence to Ivan Dugan: [email protected])&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Soil erosion by water is the most important cause of land degradation. Previous studies reveal high soil loss in conventionally managed croplands, with recorded soil losses high as 30 t ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; under wide row cover crop like maize (Kisic et al., 2017; Bogunovic et al., 2018). Therefore, it is necessary to test environmentally-friendly soil conservation practices to mitigate soil erosion. This research aims to define the impacts of mulch and bare soil on soil water erosion in the maize (Zea mays&amp;#160;L.) field in Blagorodovac, Croatia (45&amp;#176;33&amp;#8217;N; 17&amp;#176;01&amp;#8217;E; 132 m a.s.l.). For this research, two treatments on conventionally tilled silty clay loam Stagnosols were established, one was straw mulch (2 t ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;), while other was bare soil. For purpose of research, ten rainfall simulations and ten sampling points were conducted per each treatment. Simulations were carried out with a rainfall simulator, simulating a rainfall at an intensity of 58 mm h&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, for 30 min, over 0.785 m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; plots, to determine runoff and sediment loss. Soil core samples and undisturbed samples were taken in the close vicinity of each plot. The results showed that straw mulch mitigated water runoff (by 192%), sediment loss (by 288%), and sediment concentration (by 560%) in addition to bare treatment. The bare treatment showed a 55% lower infiltration rate. Ponding time was higher (p &lt; 0.05) on mulched plots (102 sec), compared to bare (35 sec), despite the fact that bulk density, water-stable aggregates, water holding capacity, and mean weight diameter did not show any difference (p &gt; 0.05) between treatments. The study results indicate that straw mulch mitigates soil water erosion, because it immediately reduces runoff, and enhances infiltration. On the other side, soil water erosion on bare soil under simulated rainstorms could be high as 5.07 t ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, when extrapolated, reached as high as 5.07 t ha&lt;sup&gt;-1 &lt;/sup&gt;in this study. The conventional tillage, without residue cover, was proven as unsustainable agro-technical practice in the study area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key words: straw mulch, &lt;/strong&gt;rainfall simulation, soil water erosion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acknowledgment&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This work was supported by Croatian Science Foundation through the project &quot;Soil erosion and degradation in Croatia&quot; (UIP-2017-05-7834) (SEDCRO).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Literature&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bogunovic, I., Pereira, P., Kisic, I., Sajko, K., Sraka, M. (2018). Tillage management impacts on soil compaction, erosion and crop yield in Stagnosols (Croatia). Catena, 160, 376-384.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kisic, I., Bogunovic, I., Birk&amp;#225;s, M., Jurisic, A., Spalevic, V. (2017). The role of tillage and crops on a soil loss of an arable Stagnic Luvisol. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 63(3), 403-413.&lt;/p&gt;


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