scholarly journals Effect of Soil Management on Erosion in Mountain Vineyards (N-W Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1991
Author(s):  
Silvia Stanchi ◽  
Odoardo Zecca ◽  
Csilla Hudek ◽  
Emanuele Pintaldi ◽  
Davide Viglietti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Buffer Strips ◽  
Total N ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Soil Ecosystem Services ◽  
Erosion Mitigation ◽  
Management Approaches

We studied the effects of three soil management approaches (permanent grassing, chemical weeding, and buffer strips), and the additional impact of tractor passage on soil erosion in a sloping vineyard located in the inner part of Aosta Valley (N-W Italian Alps). The vineyard rows were equipped with a sediment collection system with channels and barrel tanks. A total of 12 events with sediment production were observed across 6 years, and the collected sediments were weighted and analyzed. Average erosion rates ranged from negligible (mainly in grassed rows) to 1.1 t ha−1 per event (after weeding). The most erosive event occurred in July 2015, with a total rainfall of 32.2 mm, of which 20.1 were recorded in 1 h. Despite the limited number of erosive events observed, and the low measured erosion rates, permanent grassing reduced soil erosion considerably with respect to weeding; buffering had a comparable effect to grassing. The tractor passage, independent of the soil management approaches adopted, visibly accelerated the erosion process. The collected sediments were highly enriched in organic C, total N, and fine size fractions, indicating a potential loss of fertility over time. Despite the measured erosion rates being low over the experiment’s duration, more severe events are well documented in the recent past, and the number of intense storms is likely to increase due to climate change. Thus, the potential effects of erosion in the medium and long term need to be limited to a minimum rate of soil loss. Our experiment helped to compare soil losses by erosion under different soil management practices, including permanent grassing, i.e., a nature-based erosion mitigation measure. The results of the research can provide useful indications for planners and practitioners in similar regions, for sustainable, cross-sectoral soil management, and the enhancement of soil ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Analysis of Weather-Type-Induced Soil Erosion in Cultivated and Poorly Managed Abandoned Sloping Vineyards in the Axarquía Region (Málaga, Spain)

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 117862211983940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
José María Senciales ◽  
José Antonio Sillero-Medina ◽  
Yeboah Gyasi-Agyei ◽  
José Damián Ruiz-Sinoga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Weather Type ◽  
Rainfall Event ◽  
Management Options

New trends related to market incomes, cultural human development, non-sustainable soil management practices, and climate change are affecting land abandonment in Mediterranean sloping vineyards. It is generally accepted that hydrological processes and, subsequently, soil erosion rates are usually different between cultivated and abandoned soils. However, these alterations are still poorly studied in relation to the general weather conditions in vineyards and abandoned vineyards. Thus, the main goals of this research are to (1) estimate the differences in soil properties, (2) quantify water and soil losses due to rainfall and specific soil management practices, and (3) analyze which kind of weather type and rainfall event is able to generate specific surface flows and soil loss rates. To achieve these goals, we focused on the specific case of the sloping vineyards of the Montes de Málaga (South Spain). We used 4 paired-erosion plots with Gerlach troughs to quantify soil loss and surface flow and conducted an analysis of the weather conditions during each rainfall event. The weather types that generated the highest amount of rainfall in the studied area came from the western (32.6%) and southeast (28.2%) types. The low rainfall events came from the south type (5.9%) and at the 500 hPa level, whereas the rainiest ones came from the southwest (47.7%) and south (34.1%). It is confirmed that there is a bimodality in the rainfall patterns. The results of soil erosion showed that there is a mixed mechanism depending on the state of the soil (vegetation cover, compaction, and initial soil moisture), soil management (tillage, trampling effect, and the use of herbicides). It is observed that the intensity of surface flow is highly correlated to the total rainfall amount and intensity. In the poorly managed abandoned plot, it is important to remark that the effect of tillage in the past, the elimination of the vegetation cover to preserve the soil in bare condition, and its use as a grazing area by cultivating barley highly affects the generation of the highest erosive events. Therefore, it is confirmed that these soil management options are not the most sustainable way to conserve the soil after the abandonment of cultivation.

scholarly journals Cropping system effects on soil quality in the Great Plains: Synthesis from a regional project

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J. Wienhold ◽  
J.L. Pikul ◽  
M.A. Liebig ◽  
M.M. Mikha ◽  
G.E. Varvel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Soil Functions ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Environmental Function

AbstractSoils perform a number of essential functions affecting management goals. Soil functions were assessed by measuring physical, chemical, and biological properties in a regional assessment of conventional (CON) and alternative (ALT) management practices at eight sites within the Great Plains. The results, reported in accompanying papers, provide excellent data for assessing how management practices collectively affect agronomic and environmental soil functions that benefit both farmers and society. Our objective was to use the regional data as an input for two new assessment tools to evaluate their potential and sensitivity for detecting differences (aggradation or degradation) in management systems. The soil management assessment framework (SMAF) and the agro-ecosystem performance assessment tool (AEPAT) were used to score individual soil properties at each location relative to expected conditions based on inherent soil-forming factors and to compute index values that provide an overall assessment of the agronomic and environmental impact of the CON and ALT practices. SMAF index values were positively correlated with grain yield (an agronomic function) and total organic matter (an agronomic and environmental function). They were negatively correlated with soil nitrate concentration at harvest (an indicator of environmental function). There was general agreement between the two assessment tools when used to compare management practices. Users can measure a small number of soil properties and use one of these tools to easily assess the effectiveness of soil management practices. A higher score in either tool identifies more environmentally and agronomically sustainable management. Temporal variability in measured indicators makes dynamic assessments of management practices essential. Water-filled pore space, aggregate stability, particulate organic matter, and microbial biomass were sensitive to management and should be included in studies aimed at improving soil management. Reductions in both tillage and fallow combined with crop rotation has resulted in improved soil function (e.g., nutrient cycling, organic C content, and productivity) throughout the Great Plains.

scholarly journals Impacts of soil management practices on soil fertility in potato-based cropping systems in the Bolivian Andean highlands

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Javier Aguilera Alcón
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Solanum Tuberosum L ◽  
Chenopodium Quinoa ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Sheep Manure ◽  
Andean Highlands

Due to changes in climate and socioeconomic developments, current soil management practices in the Bolivian Andean Highlands may be increasing soil degradation thereby threatening food security. A study was established in four representative communities during the 2006-09 growing seasons to identify an integrated soil management strategy that may help to improve soil fertility and productivity by increasing soil organic matter. Soil samples collected from fields of different lengths of cropping (LC) and fallow (LF) showed that LC decreased and LF increased total (TOC) and active soil organic C (AOC), and total (TN), inorganic (TIN) and active soil N (AIN). Field trials established with combinations of soil inorganic fertilizers (SIF) and local and alternative soil organic fertilizers (i.e., cow and sheep manure, household compost and a biofertilizer) revealed that the cow and sheep manure combined with SIF significantly affected soil properties, such as pH, soil test P, TN, TIN and TOC, soil water content and bulk density and significantly increased the production of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and a subsequent quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) crop. Results of testing a portable field method to assess N status of potato plant tissue suggest that use of the Cardy nitrate-N meter may have some promise for tissue testing for potato in the Andean highlands of Bolivia, where access to soil and plant tissue testing services is limited.

scholarly journals Sediment Enrichment Ratio and Nutrient Leached by Runoff and Soil Erosion on Cacao Plantation

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Oteng Haridjaja
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Upland Rice ◽  
Enrichment Ratio ◽  
Total N ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Nutrient Contents ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Soil Sediment ◽  
Cacao Plantation

Soil consevation management system is an activity for diminishing sediment enrichment ratio and nutrient leacheds by water run off and soil erosion processes. The research was aimed to study sediment enrichment ratio and nutrient leached by run off and soil erosion on cacao plantations. Arachis pintoi with strips parallel contour and multiple strip cropping of upland rice or soybean (Glycine max) were planted to improve soil physical characterictic on cacao plantation as a main plant. The expriment were conducted with treatments as 10-15% and 40-45% slopes, 5-7 months and 25-27 months cacao ages (as main plants). As sub plots are T1 as a monoculture which to be cleaning under the plant canopy, T2 as a multiple strip cropping of upland rice or soybean, T3 as a combination of T2 and A. Pintoi strip. The results showed that  total N, P2O5, and K2O and organic-C contents in water run off and soil sediments indicated that T3 >T2 >T1 treatment, with the contents of each nutrient: T3 (total N 0.18%; 24.87 mg 100 g-1 P2O5: K2O 15.16 mg 100 g-1), T1 (total N 0.16%, 22.39 mg 100g-1 P2O5, K2O 11.50 mg 100g-1).  The total N, P2O5, K2O and organic-C soil contents < accumulation nutrient contents of total water run off and soil sediment transport. All of treathments have sediment enrichment ratios > 1.

Effects of human occupation on soil loss over the past two millennia in the Teotihuacan Valley, central Mexico

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110477
Author(s):  
María Lourdes González-Arqueros ◽  
Armando Navarrete-Segueda ◽  
Lorenzo Vázquez-Selem ◽  
Emily McClung de Tapia
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Geographical Information Systems ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
The Face

Soil erosion is one of the greatest risks worldwide for land degradation. Avoiding it is one of the greatest socio-environmental and economic challenges within sustainable development in connection with food production and maintenance of soil functions in the context of climate change. This study will allow us to answer how long-term occupation dynamics influenced by notable changes in the landscape have led to soil erosion through time. We used Geographical Information Systems to apply the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation to assess soil erosion on prehispanic and present occupation scenarios that differ in climate and land use management in the Teotihuacan Valley, central Mexico. We analyzed how a heterogeneous landscape and its occupation dynamics over the last two millennia were affected by soil erosion in order to identify which biophysical and anthropogenic components affect soil loss. The settlements extended during Aztec periods over previously forested hillslopes which caused an increase in erosion rates. The greatest soil loss occurred during the humid Aztec period, followed by the Modern period. The differences between average erosion and potential erosion of these periods demonstrate greater effectiveness in controlling erosion during the Aztec period. The most relevant factors involved were land use and soil management, followed by climate and support practices. Our results indicate that in the face of climatic variations, soil management has a significant impact, even greater than rain erosivity. Our results suggest that pre-Hispanic cultures in the highlands of central Mexico may have caused soil erosion at least at rates similar to or even higher than those at present. The comparisons of the scenarios enable researchers and decision makers to identify high-risk areas and to implement sustainable measures against soil erosion.

Soil erosion in Austria – National calculations using regional data delivering local results for the ÖPUL programme

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmar Schmaltz ◽  
Georg Dersch ◽  
Christine Weinberger ◽  
Carmen Krammer ◽  
Peter Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Error Sources ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Local Results ◽  
Erosion Hotspots

&lt;p&gt;Empirical models, such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) are in use since the 1950s to estimate the mean annual soil loss for single agricultural fields or spatially-distributed for larger areas (municipalities, regions or states). A particular focus on the computation of the RUSLE lies in the calculation of the respective factors on which the equation is built on and represent the erosivity of rainfall events, the erodibility of soils, the topography and land management. However, the RUSLE is highly susceptible to large errors in the prediction of the erosion rates of single agricultural parcels, due to the high variability of these factors in large areas (e.g. on national scale).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this study, we present a parcel-sharp erosion map for the entire territory of Austria. We discuss frequent error sources of the factor computations and their consequences for the representativeness of erosion maps at nation-scale. Based on our results we discuss furthermore regional erosion hotspots and evaluate nationally funded management practices for soil erosion reduction as they are defined in the Austrian programme for an environmentally responsible agriculture (&amp;#214;PUL).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since our approach depicts a novelty for Austria, we further describe opportunities for analysis of our results and highlight potential sources of errors, as well as regional and legal discrepancies of the distribution of national funds for soil conservation.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals NITROGEN LOSS BY EROSION FROM MECHANICALLY TILLED AND UNTILLED SOIL UNDER SUCCESSIVE SIMULATED RAINFALLS

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 1204-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julieta Bramorski ◽  
Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin ◽  
Silvio Crestana
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrogen Loss ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Ground Water Quality ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Nutrient Use ◽  
Soil Depletion ◽  
Intervening Factors

The description of the fate of fertilizer-derived nitrogen (N) in agricultural systems is an essential tool to enhance management practices that maximize nutrient use by crops and minimize losses. Soil erosion causes loss of nutrients such as N, causing negative effects on surface and ground water quality, aside from losses in agricultural productivity by soil depletion. Studies correlating the percentage of fertilizer-derived N (FDN) with soil erosion rates and the factors involved in this process are scarce. The losses of soil and fertilizer-derived N by water erosion in soil under conventional tillage and no tillage under different rainfall intensities were quantified, identifying the intervening factors that increase loss. The experiment was carried out on plots (3.5 × 11 m) with two treatments and three replications, under simulated rainfall. The treatments consisted of soil with and soil without tillage. Three successive rainfalls were applied in intervals of 24 h, at intensities of 30 mm/h, 30 mm/h and 70 mm/h. The applied N fertilizer was isotopically labeled (15N) and incorporated into the soil in a line perpendicular to the plot length. Tillage absence resulted in higher soil losses and higher total nitrogen losses (TN) by erosion induced by the rainfalls. The FDN losses followed another pattern, since FDN contributions were highest from tilled plots, even when soil and TN losses were lowest, i.e., the smaller the amount of eroded sediment, the greater the percentage of FDN associated with these. Rain intensity did not affect the FDN loss, and losses were greatest after less intense rainfalls in both treatments.

The effects of post-fire forest management on soil erosion rates 3 and 4 years after a wildfire, demonstrated on the 2010 Mount Carmel fire

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rami Zituni ◽  
Lea Wittenberg ◽  
Dan Malkinson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Wood Chips ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Rain Event ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Trail Formation ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Physical Features ◽  
Positive Effect

During 2–5 December 2010, an area of 2500ha in the Carmel forests was consumed by a severe wildfire, causing soil erosion from the exposed slopes. Whereas most studies show that post-fire erosion rates tend to decline after the second year, in this case, we aim to address the ongoing consequences that different management practices had on soil erosion 3 and 4 years after a fire. Three management operations were applied: (a) preservation management (PM) – mulching wood chips on the burned area; (b) tree-clearing management (TCM) – burned trees were cut and removed; and (c) skid-trail formation (ST) – provisional pathways were formed while trees were dragged outside. Consequently, the objectives of the study were: (1) to monitor the effects of these post-fire practices 3 and 4 years after fire; and (2) to characterise the physical features of the eroded soil. The sediments were collected after every effective rain event over two rainy seasons (2013–14, 2014–15). TCM and ST practices resulted in significantly elevated soil-erosion yields compared to PM. The sediments following PM had a high percentage of fine material. Furthermore, PM had an evident positive effect on the soil, whereas all other practices inhibited vegetation renewal and system rehabilitation.

scholarly journals Spatial distribution of water erosion risk in a watershed with eucalyptus and Atlantic Forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 427-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junior Cesar Avanzi ◽  
Marx Leandro Naves Silva ◽  
Nilton Curi ◽  
Lloyd Darrell Norton ◽  
Samuel Beskow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Erosion Risk ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Soil Loss Tolerance ◽  
Loss Tolerance

The process of water erosion occurs in watersheds throughout the world and it is strongly affected by anthropogenic influences. Thus, the knowledge of these processes is extremely necessary for planning of conservation efforts. This study was performed in an experimental forested watershed in order to predict the average potential annual soil loss by water erosion using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and a Geographic Information System (GIS), and then compared with soil loss tolerance. All the USLE factors were generated in a distributed approach employing a GIS tool. The layers were multiplied in the GIS framework in order to predict soil erosion rates. Results showed that the average soil loss was 6.2 Mg ha-1 yr-1. Relative to soil loss tolerance, 83% of the area had an erosion rate lesser than the tolerable value. According to soil loss classes, 49% of the watershed had erosion less than 2.5 Mg ha-1 yr-1. However, about 8.7% of the watershed had erosion rates greater than 15 Mg ha-1 yr-1, being mainly related to Plinthosol soil class and roads, thus requiring special attention for the improvement of sustainable management practices for such areas. Eucalyptus cultivation was found to have soil loss greater than Atlantic Forest. Thus, an effort should be made to bring the erosion rates closer to the native forest. Implementation of the USLE model in a GIS framework was found to be a simple and useful tool for predicting the spatial variation of soil erosion risk and identifying critical areas for conservation efforts.

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