Search results for "Water and Land Use"
showing 10 items of 14 documents
Connectivity in hydrology and sediment dynamics
2020
Connectivity has emerged as a significant conceptual framework for understanding the transfer of surface water and sediment through landscapes. The concept has been widely adopted in the field of catchment hydrology but has also been valuable to investigate rates of soil erosion by water and sediment export across landscapes. To study connectivity, we gathered a group of scientists that worked on synthesizing and consolidating all theories and aspects of connectivity research. Within the EU-funded ESSEM COST Action CONNECTEUR (ES1306), five working groups were established: (a) theory, (b) measuring, (c) modelling, (d) indices, and (e) society. One of the outputs of this COST Action is this …
Long-term organic farming on a citrus plantation results in soil organic carbon recovery
2019
[ES] Se ha demostrado que el manejo del suelo bajo agricultura ecológica puede aumentar el contenido de carbono orgánico en el suelo moderando el incremento de los gases de efecto invernadero, pero hasta la fecha las evaluaciones cuantitativas basadas en mediciones a largo plazo han sido escasas, especialmente bajo condiciones mediterráneas. En esta investigación se examinaron los cambios en el contenido de carbono orgánico como respuesta a la agricultura ecológica con cobertura vegetal en una plantación de cítricos en el área mediterránea, utilizando una base de datos de 21 años. El incremento de contenido de carbono orgánico en el suelo fue más evidente tras cinco años desde el cambio del…
Using Beerkan experiments to estimate hydraulic conductivity of a crusted loamy soil in a Mediterranean vineyard
2019
Abstract In bare soils of semi-arid areas, surface crusting is a rather common phenomenon due to the impact of raindrops. Water infiltration measurements under ponding conditions are becoming largely applied techniques for an approximate characterization of crusted soils. In this study, the impact of crusting on soil hydraulic conductivity was assessed in a Mediterranean vineyard (western Sicily, Italy) under conventional tillage. The BEST (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters) algorithm was applied to the infiltration data to obtain the hydraulic conductivity of crusted and uncrusted soils. Soil hydraulic conductivity was found to vary during the year and also spatially (i.e., ro…
Straw mulch as a sustainable solution to decrease runoff and erosion in glyphosate-treated clementine plantations in Eastern Spain. An assessment usi…
2019
[EN] In many Mediterranean areas, citrus orchards exhibit high soil loss rates because of the expansion of drip irrigation that allows cultivation on sloping terrain and the widespread use of glyphosate. To mitigate these non-sustainable soil losses, straw mulch could be applied as an efficient solution but this has been poorly studied. Therefore, the main goal of this paper was to assess the use of straw mulch as a tool to reduce soil losses in clementine plantations, which can be considered representative of a typical Mediterranean citrus orchard. A total of 40 rainfall simulation experiments were carried out on 20 pairs of neighbouring bare and mulched plots. Each experiment involved app…
Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards.
2016
The aim of this study was to enable a quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes in European vineyards using the same methodology and equipment. The study was conducted in four viticultural areas with different characteristics (Valencia and Málaga in Spain, Ruwer-Mosel valley and Saar-Mosel valley in Germany). Old and young vineyards, with conventional and ecological planting and management systems were compared. The same portable rainfall simulator with identical rainfall intensity (40 mm h− 1) and sampling intervals (30 min of test duration, collecting the samples at 5-min-intervals) was used over a circular test plot with 0.28 m2. The results of 83 simulations have been an…
Assessing impacts of soil management measures on ecosystem services
2018
Only a few studies have quantified and measured ecosystem services (ES) specifically related to soil. To address this gap, we have developed and applied a methodology to assess changes in ecosystem services, based on measured or estimated soil property changes that were stimulated by soil management measures (e.g., mulching, terracing, no-till). We applied the ES assessment methodology in 16 case study sites across Europe representing a high diversity of soil threats and land use systems. Various prevention and remediation measures were trialled, and the changes in manageable soil and other natural capital properties were measured and quantified. An Excel tool facilitated data collection, c…
The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
2016
Abstract. In this forum paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has important links to several of the SDGs, which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions (see graphical abstract in the Supplement). We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally, in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet th…
Effectiveness of cover crops to reduce loss of soil organic matter in a rainfed vineyard
2020
Cover crops (CCs) minimize the loss of soil in permanent cropping systems where the soil is usually bare due to intense tillage or overuse of herbicides. The topsoil, the richer layer in soil organic carbon and organic matter (OM), is affected by water erosion. Nature-based solutions appear as a suitable option for sustainable farming. In this study, the effectiveness of two years of CC management to reduce the OM loss is evaluated in a rainfed vineyard in a rolling landscape (Huesca, NE Spain). Two sediment traps collected runoff over 15 months. Topsoil OM contents (1.64% and 1.60%) and sediment/soil OM enrichment ratio (2.61 and 3.07) were similar. However, the average annual rate of OM l…
Soil erosion processes in European vineyards: A qualitative comparison of rainfall simulation measurements in Germany, Spain and France
2016
Small portable rainfall simulators are considered a useful tool to analyze soil erosion processes in cultivated lands. European research groups in Spain (Valencia, Málaga, Lleida, Madrid and La Rioja), France (Reims) and Germany (Trier) have used different rainfall simulators (varying in drop size distribution and fall velocities, kinetic energy, plot forms and sizes, and field of application) to study soil loss, surface flow, runoff and infiltration coefficients in different experimental plots (Valencia, Montes de Málaga, Penedès, Campo Real and La Rioja in Spain, Champagne in France and Mosel-Ruwer valley in Germany). The measurements and experiments developed by these research teams give…
Relationship of Weather Types on the Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Rainfall, Runoff, and Sediment Yield in the Western Mediterranean Basin
2020
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