scholarly journals Dynamics of Runoff and Soil Erosion on Abandoned Steep Vineyards in the Mosel Area, Germany

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeger ◽  
Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
Iserloh ◽  
Brings ◽  
Ries

The Mosel Wine region has suffered during the last decades a decrease in productive area, mostly on steep sloping vineyards. To avoid the spread of diseases, the extraction of grapevines on abandoned vineyards is mandatory in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the same time, the organic production of wine is growing slowly, but well established in the area. We assess in this paper the degree of the land-use changes, as well as their effect on runoff generation and sediment production, depending on the age of the abandonment, as well as the type and age of the land management, whether organic or conventional. Land use data were obtained to identify land-use change dynamics. For assessment of runoff generation and soil erosion, we applied rainfall simulation experiments on the different types of vineyard management. These were organically managed, conventionally managed and abandoned ones, all of varying ages. During the last decades of the last century, a decrease of around 30% of vineyard surface could be observed in Germany’s Mosel Wine Region, affecting mostly the steep sloping vineyards. Despite a high variability within the types of vineyard management, the results show higher runoff generation, and soil erosion associated with recently installed or abandoned vineyards when compared to organic management of the vineyards, where erosion reached only 12%. In organic management, runoff and erosion are also reduced considerably, less than 16%, after a decade or more. Thus, organic vineyard management practices show to be very efficient for reduction of runoff and erosion. Consequently, we recommend to adopt as far as possible these soil management practices for sustainable land management of steep sloping vineyards. In addition, soil protection measures are highly recommended for vineyard abandonment according to the law.

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. O.A. Coelho ◽  
A. J.D. Ferreira ◽  
A. Laouina ◽  
A.-K. Boulet ◽  
M. Chaker ◽  
...  

The ongoing intensification of grazing as well as the replacement of traditional land management systems in the Maghreb has brought to the forefront the fundamental role of land-use in determining soil erosion hazard. This paper reports on erosion rates and soil hydrological characteristics of a variety of land uses in Morocco and Tunisia. The results were obtained through rainfall simulation experiments carried out in the field using a portable simulator, following the design of CERDÀ et al. (1997). Traditional land management systems - typically involving a combination of agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry - produced the least amounts of overland flow and the lowest soil erosion rates. Over-exploitation of these systems apparently has only minor hydrological and erosional impacts. Heavily grazed, degraded "maquis" shrublands, on the other hand, produced considerable amounts of overland flow. At the plot scale of the rainfall simulation experiments (0.24 m2), the corresponding sediment loads are rather insignificant. Nevertheless, slopes where "maquis" shrublands (which generally have very compacted soils) occur upslope from more erodible soils may present a major erosion hazard.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Mason ◽  
A. Navabi ◽  
B. Frick ◽  
J. O'Donovan ◽  
D. Niziol ◽  
...  

AbstractCanadian Western Hard Red Spring (CWRS) wheat is recognized as premium quality wheat, ideal for breadmaking due to its superior milling qualities, baking characteristics and protein content. Organic wheat production is becoming more prevalent in Canada, due to increasing consumer demand for organic wheat products. Differences may exist in the baking and milling quality of wheat grown under conventional and organic management, a result of the dissimilarity between organic and conventional soil and crop management practices. Five CWRS cultivars released from 1885 to 1997 were grown under conventional and organic management and were assessed for their breadmaking potential. Several traits were investigated, including test weight, protein content, flour yield, kernel hardness and several mixograph parameters. Test weight was higher under conventional management, while no differences in protein content were observed between organic and conventionally grown wheat. Higher sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation (SDSS) volume, a reflection of gluten strength, was observed under conventional management, while there was a trend towards higher dough strength under organic management. Cultivars differed in grain protein, flour yield, kernel hardness and mixograph parameters, with Park and McKenzie superior to the others, particularly Red Fife, a much older cultivar. Management×cultivar interaction effects suggest that cultivars exhibit somewhat different baking characteristics when grown in the two management systems. There was no evidence that older cultivars (developed prior to the widespread use of pesticides and fertilizers) are better suited, in terms of breadmaking quality, for organic production.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7

To understand how various factors influence phenological patterns like fruit production and the extent of phenological variability as survival strategy in different environments, fruit production of shea trees was studied in different agroclimatic zones (North Sudanian, South Sudanian and North Guinean) in Mali. Three sites were selected for this study and in each site; two stands (field and fallow) were concerned. For each stand, three “land use history or land management" i.e. new fields/fallows (1-5 years), medium (6-10 years) and old (10 years) were considered and permanent plots of 0.25 ha were established. 60 adult shea trees (DBH) ≥ 10 cm) were selected by site and monitored for fruit production assessment. The nested analysis of variance on the yield showed a significant site effect and significant effect of land use history within stand. However, stand effect within site was not significant. Factors like site and land management (land use history) appear to be determinant for fruit production of V. paradoxa. The site of Mperesso in the South Sudanian zone showed the highest fruit mean yield (11 kg/tree), significantly higher than the fruit mean yield observed at Daelan (7 kg/tree) in the North Sudanian zone and that observed at Nafégué (6 kg/tree) in the North Guinean zone. For field stand, old fields showed highest mean yield in all sites. For fallow stand, old fallows showed the lowest mean yield in most of cases. Different pattern was observed between field and fallow stands regarding the effect of land management. More fields are aged, more they influence positively fruit production whereas more fallows are aged, and more they influence negatively fruit production. This study highlighted the importance of land management practices and therefore, any domestication program to be successful should consider the potential effect of management practices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. D. Panditharathne ◽  
N. S. Abeysingha ◽  
K. G. S. Nirmanee ◽  
Ananda Mallawatantri

Soil erosion is one of the main forms of land degradation. Erosion contributes to loss of agricultural land productivity and ecological and esthetic values of natural environment, and it impairs the production of safe drinking water and hydroenergy production. Thus, assessment of soil erosion and identifying the lands more prone to erosion are vital for erosion management process. Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (Rusle) model supported by a GIS system was used to assess the spatial variability of erosion occurring at Kalu Ganga river basin in Sri Lanka. Digital Elevation Model (30 × 30 m), twenty years’ rainfall data measured at 11 rain gauge stations across the basin, land use and soil maps, and published literature were used as inputs to the model. The average annual soil loss in Kalu Ganga river basin varied from 0 to 134 t ha−1 year−1 and mean annual soil loss was estimated at 0.63 t ha−1 year−1. Based on erosion estimates, the basin landscape was divided into four different erosion severity classes: very low, low, moderate, and high. About 1.68% of the areas (4714 ha) in the river basin were identified with moderate to high erosion severity (>5 t ha−1 year−1) class which urgently need measures to control soil erosion. Lands with moderate to high soil erosion classes were mostly found in Bulathsinghala, Kuruwita, and Rathnapura divisional secretarial divisions. Use of the erosion severity information coupled with basin wide individual RUSLE parameters can help to design the appropriate land use management practices and improved management based on the observations to minimize soil erosion in the basin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 648 ◽  
pp. 1462-1475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kindiye Ebabu ◽  
Atsushi Tsunekawa ◽  
Nigussie Haregeweyn ◽  
Enyew Adgo ◽  
Derege Tsegaye Meshesha ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunfeng Jia ◽  
Baoping Sun ◽  
Xinxiao Yu ◽  
Xiaohui Yang

Vegetation plays an important role in reducing soil erosion. By exploring the allocation and coverage of different types of vegetation, we can improve management practices that can significantly reduce soil erosion. In this experiment, we study runoff and sediment losses on a shrub-grass planted, grass planted, and bare slope under different rainfall intensities. Results showed that the runoff generation time for the three subgrade types decreased as rainfall intensity increased (p < 0.05). The slopes planted with either grass or shrub-grass were able to effectively delay runoff generation. As rainfall intensity increased, the runoff amount increased for all treatments, with runoff in the bare slope increasing the most. The runoff reduction rate from the shrub-grass slope ranged from 54.20% to 63.68%, while the reduction rate from the slope only planted with grass ranged from 38.59% to 55.37%. The sediment yield from the bare slope increased from 662.66 g/m2 (15 mm/h) to 2002.95 g/m2 (82 mm/h) with increasing rainfall intensity in the plot. When compared with the bare slope, both the shrub-grass and planted grass slopes were able to retain an additional 0.9 g/m2 to 4.9 g/m2 of sediment, respectively. An accurate relationship between rainfall intensity, sloped vegetation types, and runoff reduction rate was obtained by regression analysis and validated. These results can provide a reference for improving soil and water conservation via improved vegetation allocation on a sloped roadbed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Bogunovic ◽  
Leon Josip Telak ◽  
Paulo Pereira

&lt;p&gt;Soil erosion by water is one of the most important degradation processes. Land use has important effects on soil properties, therefore it is key to identify the type of management that have more impacts and find solutions to mitigate it. In order to understand the effects of land use management on soil and soil erosion in the Istria region (Croatia), we studied the impacts of different agriculture practices (vineyard, cropland, and olive orchard) on soil properties and runoff. The simulated rainfall was carried out at 58 mm h&lt;sup&gt;&amp;#8722;1&lt;/sup&gt; in the summer of 2018 (30% soil water content) for 30 min on 0.785 m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; circular plots. The results showed that bulk density was significantly higher in cropland plots than in the vineyard and olive orchard. Soil organic matter, mean weight diameter, and aggregate stability were significantly higher in olive orchard plots than in the vineyard and cropland. Runoff and sediment losses were higher in olive orchard compared to vineyard plots. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus losses were highest in olive orchard plots with 3.9 kg ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, 405.2 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; and 73.6 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, respectively, while lower values were measured in the vineyard plots, where nutrients losses were lower with 0.9 kg ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, 73.8 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; and 6.5 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, respectively. No runoff was observed in cropland plots. Even with the highest measured values of runoff and erosion in the herbicide treated olive orchard, results indicate that both herbicide application and tillage represent a threat to the sustainability of Istrian soils. Vegetation cover on cropland reduces the runoff generation indicating the need for adoption of conservation strategies. In current management, vegetation removal should be avoided since it contributes to practice to reduce nutrient losses and increase the sustainability of the soils.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keywords&lt;/strong&gt;: Soil water erosion, Soil tillage, Rainfall simulation, Agriculture land management, Mediterranean&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acknowledgements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&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;


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Yumashev ◽  
Victoria Janes-Bassett ◽  
Jess Davies

&lt;p&gt;In this study, we explore plausible future states of soil organic matter, biomass, food production and soil greenhouse gas emissions across the UK under a range of climate, land use and land management scenarios. We use state-of-the-art soil biochemistry model, N14CP-Ag, combined with UKCP18 climate scenarios and ASSET land cover change and crop scenarios mapped onto a UK-wide grid with around 100,000 land parcels. Historic runs cover the period from the start of the Holocene interglacial (-12 kyr BP) to 2015; scenarios run from 2016 out to 2100. The results show variations of soil organic carbon (SOC) of around 10% between 2016 and 2100 relative to the simulated starting value of 1.4 Gton in 2015, with reductions of up to 7% under arable expansion scenarios and increases of up to 3% under grassland restoration scenarios. The effect of changing cropping patterns on UK-wide SOC is comparatively small. As climate scenarios move from lower to higher global emissions, the SOC reductions under arable expansion become more pronounced, while the SOC increases under grassland restoration diminish and eventually turn into losses. UK-wide crop yields show resilience to climate change and are maximised for the arable expansion scenario with protected sites of special scientific interest. Soil CO2 and nitrogen emissions get progressively higher in warmer climates. The results of this study are expected to contribute to a future UK agricultural policy aimed at rewarding farmers for sustainable land management practices.&lt;/p&gt;


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