A review of runoff generation and soil erosion across scales in semiarid south-eastern Spain

Cantón, Yolanda; Solé‐Benet, Albert; Vente, Joris de; Boix‐Fayos, Carolina; Calvo-Cases, Adolfo; Asensio, Carlos; Puigdefàbregas, Joan

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.03.004

Cited by 233 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 65 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

118

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Belnap (2006) suggested that differences in flora and morphology also contribute to these differences, which was confirmed by Chamizo et al (2012). According to the literature, these biocrust have runoff coefficients comparable with bare soil and larger than those from the rest of surface classes (Alexander & Calvo-Cases 1990;Cantón et al 2011;Li et al 2005;Solé-Benet et al 1997). Despite these high runoff coefficients, evidence for the ability of biocrusts to reduce erosion was found long ago, as reported by Booth (1941), who reviewed studies since 1888 and proposed a role for soil algae in controlling erosion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Therefore, water erosion depends on rainfall erosivity (mainly determined by the amount and intensity) (Angulo-Martinez & Begueria 2009;Wei et al 2010), soil erodibility, which is controlled by the soil texture, the amount and stability of the aggregates and the organic matter content (De Baets et al 2006;Solé-Benet et al 1997) and land cover (cover, size and density of the vascular plants, of biocrusts, stones, litter) (Boix-Fayos et al 2007;Zavala et al 2009;Cantón et al 2011). Erosion also depends on topography (including surface roughness, as well as the slope angle and the size of the drainage areas) and antecedent soil moisture (Bowker et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sediment content and chemical properties of water runoff on biocrusts in drylands

Lázaro

Mora

2014

Biologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In drylands, water erosion can be a process with important economic and ecological implications, and is very dependent on the soil surface cover. There is broad agreement that biocrusts protect the soil from erosion in a wide range of circumstances. However, there is little information available on the effect of rain and biocrust types on this protective capacity and there is particularly very little knowledge on the erosive effects of runoff on biocrusts, which are expected to be larger in larger drainage areas, on the resistance of biocrusts to the combined effect of raindrops plus runoff flow and on the solute mobilisation by runoff in biocrusts. To answer these questions, we performed 96 rainfall-simulationin situ factorial experiments, including two biocrust types (cyanobacteria and lichens), three rain types (42, 63 and 77 mm h −1 , always 20 min rain), four plot lengths (1, 2, 3 and 4 m long) and four replicates. In each experiment, runoff volume was measured and a runoff sample was taken to determine (i) the amount of dry matter in runoff, (ii) the amount of organic matter among the dry matter, (iii) the electrical conductivity, pH and alkalinity in runoff water. The main findings were: biocrusts strongly protected soil against water erosion, even under the most erosive conditions, and the protection increased with the successional development. Biocrusts were very resistant to the impact of raindrops and also to runoff flow, although an emergent hypothesis arose: under the most erosive conditions, a threshold of erodibility could be reached at the cyanobacterial biocrust. The lichen crust also protected the soil against the removal of soil soluble substances. The development of a biocrust could change the chemical composition of the solutes in runoff.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment content and chemical properties of water runoff on biocrusts in drylands

Lázaro

Mora

2014

Biologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a core subject of soil and water conservation research in sustainable ecosystems, soil erosion is affected by various natural and human factors [1,2]. Climate, lithology, soil types, and especially intense land use/cover changes make soil vulnerable to runoff generation and water erosion, leading to the loss of nutrients from the soil, reservoir siltation, and devastating floods [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Scale Effect of Soil Erosion Using Landscape Pattern Metrics and Information Entropy: A Case Study in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, China

Huang

Yang

et al. 2017

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The regular patterns of soil erosion tend to change at different scales of observation, affecting the mechanism of soil erosion and its evolution characteristics. This phenomenon has essential scientific significance for the rational allocation of land resources and for studies on sustainable ecosystems. As an important agricultural area in China, Danjiangkou reservoir is threatened by severe soil erosion. In this study, we selected four kinds of landscape pattern metrics, including patch density, fractal dimension, Shannon diversity index, and connectivity, to analyze soil erosion intensity in the Danjiangkou reservoir area at different scales based on landscape ecological principles. In addition, we determine the optimum research scale of the experimental area by calculating the information entropy value of soil patches at different scales. The findings suggest that: (1) the landscape pattern of soil erosion in the experimental area is obviously scale-dependent, and the responses to scale differ from index to index; (2) as the scale of observation increases, the fragmentation of soil patches is weakened, the stability of different landscape components is enhanced, and the soil becomes less vulnerable to erosion; and (3) based on information entropy theory, 60 m is confirmed to be the optimum scale of this study.

show abstract

“…Lithological material is predominantly sedimentary, identified as a series of marls in contact with Miocene evaporites. Most soil is covered by Mediterranean shrubs, alternating with patches of annual grasses, biological crusts and bare surfaces (Cantón et al, 2011). The study area is on the property of the "Oro del Desierto" olive oil company, which has around 25 000 olive trees of different ages scattered on about 100 ha surrounded by scrubland and other ecological crops, such as candyleaf, almonds and grapes.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil wind erosion in ecological olive trees in the Tabernas desert (southeastern Spain): a wind tunnel experiment

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Wind erosion is a key component of the soil degradation processes. The purpose of this study is to find out the influence of material loss from wind on soil properties for different soil types and changes in soil properties in olive groves when they are tilled. The study area is located in the north of the Tabernas Desert, in the province of Almería, southeastern Spain. It is one of the driest areas in Europe, with a semiarid thermo-Mediterranean type of climate. We used a new wind tunnel model over three different soil types (olive-cropped Calcisol, Cambisol and Luvisol) and studied micro-plot losses and deposits detected by an integrated laser scanner. We also studied the image processing possibilities for examining the particles attached to collector plates located at the end of the tunnel to determine their characteristics and whether they were applicable to the setup. Samples collected in the traps at the end of the tunnel were analyzed. We paid special attention to the influence of organic carbon, carbonate and clay contents because of their special impact on soil crusting and the wind-erodible fraction. A principal components analysis (PCA) was carried out to find any relations on generated dust properties and the intensity and behavior of those relationships. Component 1 separated data with high N and OC contents from samples high in fine silt, CO = 3 and available K content. Component 2 separated data with high coarse silt and clay contents from data with high fine sand content. Component 3 was an indicator of available P 2 O 5 content. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to analyze the effect of soil type and sampling height on different properties of trapped dust. Calculations based on tunnel data showed overestimation of erosion in soil types and calculation of the fraction of soil erodible by wind done by other authors for Spanish soils. As the highest loss was found in Cambisols, mainly due to the effect on soil crusting and the wind-erodible fraction aggregation of CaCO 3 , a Stevia rebaudiana cover crop was planted between the rows in this soil type and this favored retention of particles in vegetation.

show abstract

A review of runoff generation and soil erosion across scales in semiarid south-eastern Spain

Cited by 233 publications

References 65 publications

Sediment content and chemical properties of water runoff on biocrusts in drylands

Sediment content and chemical properties of water runoff on biocrusts in drylands

Evaluating the Scale Effect of Soil Erosion Using Landscape Pattern Metrics and Information Entropy: A Case Study in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, China

Soil wind erosion in ecological olive trees in the Tabernas desert (southeastern Spain): a wind tunnel experiment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About