Search results for "land management"
showing 10 items of 105 documents
Soil erosion modelling: a global review and statistical analysis
2021
40 Pags.- 10 Figs.- 2 Tabls.- Suppl. Informat. The definitive version is available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00489697
Comparing Beerkan infiltration tests with rainfall simulation experiments for hydraulic characterization of a sandy-loam soil
2017
[EN] Saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, K-s, data collected by ponding infiltrometer methods and usual experimental procedures could be unusable for interpreting field hydrological processes and particularly rainfall infiltration. The K-s values determined by an infiltrometer experiment carried out by applying water at a relatively large distance from the soil surface could however be more appropriate to explain surface runoff generation phenomena during intense rainfall events. In this study, a link between rainfall simulation and ponding infiltrometer experiments was established for a sandy-loam soil. The height of water pouring for the infiltrometer run was chosen, establishing a sim…
Grassland fire effect on soil organic carbon reservoirs in a semiarid environment
2013
Abstract. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of an experimental fire used for grassland management on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. The study was carried out on Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf (Hh) grassland and Ampelodesmos mauritanicus (Desf.) T. Durand & Schinz (Am) grasslands located in the north of Sicily. Soil samples were collected at 0–5 cm before and after the experimental fire, and SOC was measured. During the grassland fire, soil surface temperature was monitored. Biomass of both grasses was analysed in order to determine dry weight and its chemical composition. The results showed that SOC varied significantly with vegetation type, while it is not affecte…
Sustainable management systems to prevent and adaptat to desertification: Case Studies from the LIFE Desert Adapt project
2021
Around 40% of the ice-free terrestrial surface is under desertification risk, and the Mediterranean is one of the most sensible regions. Concomitantly, most areas occupied by agriculture suffer from lack of organic matter in the soil, as well as very low tree cover, making them more vulnerable to climate change. The LIFE (Desert Adapt) project aims to develop a desert adaptation model to enhance resistence and resilience of farms, both public and private, to desertification by appliyng an integrative sustainable land management in Italy, Spain and Portugal. In Italy three sites in Sicily are involved, two private areas in Caltanissetta and Catagirone and the municiaplity of Lampedusa.The mo…
Role of rock fragment cover on runoff generation and sediment yield in tilled vineyards
2017
The soil in conventional Mediterranean vineyards is an active and non-sustainable source of sediment and water. Lack of vegetation cover, small soil organic matter content and intense ploughing result in large rates of erosion in a millennia-old tillage system. There is a need for soil conservation strategies that enable sustainability of wine and grape production; therefore, it is essential to measure the rates and to investigate the processes and factors of soil erosion. This study evaluated factors that can reduce soil losses in traditional Mediterranean vineyards. The investigation was carried out with 96 rainfall simulation experiments at the pedon scale (0.24 m2) to measure soil detac…
Shifts in microbial diversity through land use intensity as drivers of carbon mineralization in soil
2015
10 pages; International audience; Land use practices alter the biomass and structure of soil microbial communities. However, the impact of land management intensity on soil microbial diversity (i.e. richness and evenness) and consequences for functioning is still poorly understood. Here, we addressed this question by coupling molecular characterization of microbial diversity with measurements of carbon (C) mineralization in soils obtained from three locations across Europe, each representing a gradient of land management intensity under different soil and environmental conditions. Bacterial and fungal diversity were characterized by high throughput sequencing of ribosomal genes. Carbon cycl…
Soil macrofauna and organic matter in irrigated orchards under Mediterranean climate
2017
Soil fauna abundance and diversity and organic matter content are key indicators for the rate of soil degradation in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The soil macrofauna populations were examined in three orange (Citrus sinensis) orchards and one persimmon (Diospyros kaki) orchard, with the same soil type and different management systems, to establish whether organic management benefits soil fauna and soil quality and what is the effect of flood irrigation. Vegetation cover, soil organic matter, bulk density and moisture were measured at each experimental site within the Canyoles watershed in Eastern Spain in summer of 2015. Earthworm abundance was highest at the organic orchard with flood ir…
Long-term effects of soil management on ecosystem services and soil loss estimation in olive grove top soils
2016
Soil management has important effects on soil properties, runoff, soil losses and soil quality. Traditional olive grove (OG) management is based on reduced tree density, canopy size shaped by pruning and weed control by ploughing. In addition, over the last several decades, herbicide use has been introduced into conventional OG management. These management strategies cause the soil surface to be almost bare and subsequently high erosion rates take place. To avoid these high erosion rates several soil management strategies can be applied. In this study, three strategies were assessed in OG with conventional tillage in three plots of 1. ha each. Soil properties were measured and soil erosion …
Nitrogen losses in vineyards under different types of soil groundcover. A field runoff simulator approach in central Spain
2017
The soils of Mediterranean vineyards are usually managed with continuous tillage, resulting in bare soil, low infiltration and high soil erosion rates. Soil nutrients, such as nitrogen, could be lost dissolved in the runoff, causing a decrease in soil fertility on such degraded soils and producing eutrophication downstream. The influences of groundcover on the soil erosion processes and sediment yields in Mediterranean vineyards have been widely addressed. However, the runoff process itself, excluding the effect of raindrop impacts, has barely been studied. Thus, a field runoff simulator was built to assess runoff and nutrient losses under different soil management strategies in Central Spa…
Goal Oriented Soil Mapping
2017
Abstract Soil mapping is very important for the correct implementation of sustainable land use management. In recent decades, soil mapping methods and data availability have increased exponentially, improving the quality of the maps produced. Despite these advances, local knowledge is a great source of information, refined for centuries and useful for soil mapping and the implementation of a sustainable land management. Local wisdom and experience should be an important aspect of soil mapping because farmers will be one of the major end-users of the maps produced and they should account for the farmers’ reality. However, several problems have been identified in the spatial correlation betwe…