Search results for "soil erosion"
showing 10 items of 149 documents
The role of plant species on runoff and soil erosion in a Mediterranean shrubland.
2021
Shrubland is a Mediterranean biome characterized by densely growing evergreen shrubs adapted to fire events. To date, scientific research has focused on the impact of vegetation on soil erosion mainly through the control that plant biomass or plant cover exerts on sediment delivery and runoff discharge, being the individual plant species influence on hydrological and erosional processes not achieved in detail. The objective of this research is to determine: i) runoff and soil losses in a shrubland-covered rangeland at Sierra de Enguera, Spain; and ii) how four plant species affect soil and water losses. We measured soil cover, soil properties, runoff discharge and sediment yield under natur…
Improving soil and water conservation and ecosystem services by sustainable soil management practices: From a global to an Italian soil partnership
2020
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify the need to restore degraded soils in order to improve productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. The aim is to support food production, store and supply clean water, conserve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and improve soil resilience in a context of climate change. Within this framework, in order to achieve the SDGs and to correct land management in the long-term, soil management is considered mandatory. The reduction of land degradation should be based on various sustainable soil management practices that improve and maintain soil organic matter levels, increase water infiltration, and improve soil water management. This tec…
Effects of parent material on soil erosion within Mediterranean new vineyard plantations
2018
[EN] Parent material can determine specific physical and chemical soil properties and, therefore, soil erosion rates. However, for new vine plantations, there is not enough research on soil erosion assessment on different parent materials which could be helpful for agricultural management plans. The main aim of this research was to quantify soil erosion rates of two recent vineyard plantations under similar climate and land use management conditions, but on different parent materials, namely colluvium (2 years old) and marls (8 years old), located within the Les Alcusses valley vineyards in Eastern Spain. To achieve this goal, the ISUM (improved stock unearthing method) was applied. ISUM in…
Applying the RUSLE and ISUM in the Tierra de Barros Vineyards (Extremadura, Spain) to Estimate Soil Mobilisation Rates
2020
Spain is one of the largest wine producers in the world, with Extremadura (south-west Spain) being its second-largest producing region after Castilla La Mancha. Within Extremadura, the most traditional and productive viticulture region is the Tierra de Barros, which boasts an annual production of 3×
The Effect of Hydrology on Soil Erosion
2020
In this Special Issue, we have tried to include manuscripts about soil erosion and degradation processes and the accelerated rates due to hydrological processes and climate change. We considered that the main goal was successfully reached. The new research focused on measurements, modelling, and experiments under field or laboratory conditions developed at different scales (pedon, hillslope, and catchment) were submitted and published. This Special Issue received investigations from different parts of the world such as Ethiopia, Morocco, China, Iran, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain, among others. We are happy to see that all papers presented findings characterized as unconventional, provo…
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF GULLY-EROSION PROCESS: SUSCEPTIBILITY ASSESSMENT AND TEMPORAL VALIDATION IN A WATERSHED OF NORTH-CENTRAL SICILY, ITALY
2010
Estimating Human Impacts on Soil Erosion Considering Different Hillslope Inclinations and Land Uses in the Coastal Region of Syria
2020
Soils in the coastal region of Syria (CRoS) are one of the most fragile components of natural ecosystems. However, they are adversely affected by water erosion processes after extreme land cover modifications such as wildfires or intensive agricultural activities. The main goal of this research was to clarify the dynamic interaction between erosion processes and different ecosystem components (inclination, land cover/land use, and rainy storms) along with the vulnerable territory of the CRoS. Experiments were carried out in five different locations using a total of 15 erosion plots. Soil loss and runoff were quantified in each experimental plot, considering different inclinations and land u…
Roughness effect on the correction factor of surface velocity for rill flows
2021
Flow velocity is one of the most important hydrodynamic variables for both channelized (rill and gullies) and interrill erosive phenomena. The dye tracer technique to measure surface flow velocity Vs is based on the measurement of the travel time of a tracer needed to cover a known distance. The measured Vs must be corrected to obtain the mean flow velocity V using a factor αv = V/Vs which is generally empirically deduced. The Vs measurement can be influenced by the method applied to time the travel of the dye-tracer and αv can vary in different flow conditions. Experiments were performed by a fixed bed small flume simulating a rill channel for two roughness conditions (sieved soil, gravel)…
Rethinking vineyard ground management to counter soil tillage erosion
2022
Tillage erosion is a relevant process of soil redistribution in sloping arable land, but little research has analysed the effect of shallow tillage on soil erosion in vineyards. The goal of this study was to quantify the soil tillage effect on soil translocation and erosion at the territorial level in a large vineyard area in Sicily. The soil loss and soil erosion tolerance limits were compared to identify the vineyards with a high risk of soil degradation. An alternative management scenario to traditional tillage was proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of the best management practices on soil conservation. The experimental trials were conducted in 14 vineyards with different slopes and …
Supporting USLE-MM reliability by analyzing soil loss measurement errors
2017
Sampling the collected suspension in a storage tank is a common procedure to obtain soil loss data. A calibration curve of the tank has to be used to obtain actual concentration values from those measured by sampling. However, literature suggests that using a tank calibration curve was not a common procedure in the past. For the clay soil of the Sparacia (Italy) experimental station, this investigation aimed to establish a link between the relative performances of the USLE-M and USLE-MM models, usable to predict plot soil loss at the event temporal scale, and soil loss measurement errors. Using all available soil loss data, lower soil loss prediction errors were obtained with the USLE-MM (e…