Soil erosion control is critical to global food production and ecosystem
health. The Mediterranean region is particularly concerned because it is
prone to erosion and is expected to be strongly affected by climatic and
anthropogenic changes. In this paper we explore how land use and
management (LUM) can mitigate climate change impacts and increase
agricultural attractiveness in pasture-dominated Mediterranean mountain
environments. For that, soil erosion for different combinations of
current and plausible future climate and LUM conditions were simulated
on a small watershed located in eastern Sicily (Italy) using the
LandSoil model. LUM scenarios were established as a modulation of
environmental protection and agricultural production/diversification.
The main management distinctions tested in this paper included intensive
vs. extensive practices for pasture, and conventional vs. conservative
practices for cereals and orchards. Simulations showed that the impact
of climate change was very low and not significant in the studied
watershed. Our results also emphasised that agricultural diversification
coupled with adaptations in practices and management can improve the
attractiveness of agriculture in pasture-dominated environments while
maintaining soil protection at an acceptable level.
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