Analysis of Weather-Type-Induced Soil Erosion in Cultivated and Poorly Managed Abandoned Sloping Vineyards in the Axarquía Region (Málaga, Spain)

Gully erosion may cause considerable soil losses and produce large volumes of sediment. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary assessment on the presence of ephemeral gullies in Greece by sampling representative cultivated fields in 100 sites randomly distributed throughout the country. The almost 30-ha sampling surfaces were examined with visual interpretation of multi-temporal imagery from the online Google Earth for the period 2002–2019. In parallel, rill and sheet erosion signs, land uses, and presence of terraces and other anti-erosion features, were recorded within every sample. One hundred fifty-three ephemeral gullies were identified in total, inside 22 examined agricultural surfaces. The mean length of the gullies was 55.6 m, with an average slope degree of 9.7%. Vineyards showed the largest proportion of gullies followed by olive groves and arable land, while pastures exhibited limited presence of gullies. Spatial clusters of high gully severity were observed in the north and east of the country. In 77% of the surfaces with gullies, there were no terraces, although most of these surfaces were situated in slopes higher than 8%. It was the first time to use visual interpretation with Google Earth image time-series on a country scale producing a gully erosion inventory. Soil conservation practices such as contour farming and terraces could mitigate the risk of gully erosion in agricultural areas.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Towards an Assessment of the Ephemeral Gully Erosion Potential in Greece Using Google Earth

Karydas¹,

Panagos

2020

“…The research on the impact of abandonment of agriculture on environmental issues focused on rainfed land [37], as the irrigated land used to be intensified [38,39]. Our research contributes to new data generated in flood irrigated land that is being abandoned due to socioeconomic changes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Impact of Farmland Abandonment on Water Resources and Soil Conservation in Citrus Plantations in Eastern Spain

Cerdà

Ackermann

Terol

et al. 2019

Self Cite

Due to the reduction in the prices of oranges on the market and social changes such as the ageing of the population, traditional orange plantation abandonment in the Mediterranean is taking place. Previous research on land abandonment impact on soil and water resources has focused on rainfed agriculture abandonment, but there is no research on irrigated land abandonment. In the Valencia Region—the largest producer of oranges in Europe—abandonment is resulting in a quick vegetation recovery and changes in soil properties, and then in water erosion. Therefore, we performed rainfall simulation experiments (0.28 m2; 38.8 mm h−1) to determine the soil losses in naveline orange plantations with different ages of abandonment (1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years of abandonment) which will allow for an understanding of the temporal changes in soil and water losses after abandonment. Moreover, these results were also compared with an active plantation (0). The results show that the soils of the active orange plantations have higher runoff discharges and higher erosion rates due to the use of herbicides than the plots after abandonment. Once the soil is abandoned for one year, the plant recovery reaches 33% of the cover and the erosion rate drops one order of magnitude. This is related to the delay in the runoff generation and the increase in infiltration rates. After 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years, the soil reduced bulk density, increase in organic matter, plant cover, and soil erosion rates were found negligible. We conclude that the abandonment of orange plantations reduces soil and water losses and can serve as a nature-based solution to restore the soil services, goods, and resources. The reduction in the soil losses was exponential (from 607.4 g m−2 in the active plot to 7.1 g m−2 in the 10-year abandoned one) but the water losses were linear (from 77.2 in active plantations till 12.8% in the 10-year abandoned ones).

“…Moreover, it is very difficult to isolate the measurements of splash erosion from those of sheet and rill surface erosion since they all interact [32]. In general, soil erosion rates that are measured under simulated and natural rainfall by means of plots, erosion pins, silt fences, or flumes [33,34] can measure the soil erosion processes, but they cannot detect the individual mechanisms: splash, sheet surface wash, and rill flow. The information that is generated from experiments that separate individual soil erosion mechanisms, such as the one developed here, will be very effective in producing soil erosion models to foresee the soil loss changes in time and space.There are many different types of devices that claim to measure splash erosion, and the number increases due to the contribution of new ideas.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Analysis of Splash Erosion Devices for Rainfall Simulation Experiments: A Laboratory Study

Fernández‐Raga

Campo

Rodrigo‐Comino

et al. 2019

Self Cite

For the study of soil erosion it is important to set up the experiments well. In the experimental design one of the key factors is the choice of the measurement device. This is especially important when one part of the erosion process needs to be isolated, such as for splash erosion. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to list the general characteristics of the commonly used splash erosion devices and to discuss the performance, to be able to relate them, and make suggestions regarding their use. The devices we selected for this comparative comparison were: the splash cup, funnel, Morgan tray, Tübingen cup, tower, and the gutter. The devices were tested under the same conditions (rainfall characteristics, slope, and soil type) to assess their hydrological response under different intensities of simulated rainfall. All devices were installed on a sloping plot (10°) with sandy soil, and were exposed to 10 min. of simulated rain with intensities ranging from 60 to 172 mm/h to measure the splashed sediment, and to describe problems and differences among them. The results showed that the Tübingen cup was the best performing device to measure kinetic energy of the rain, but, because of its design, it is not possible to measure the detached splashed sediment under natural (field) conditions. On the other hand, the funnel device showed a significant relation with rain intensity because it loses little sediment to washing. In addition, the device is easy to use and cheap. Therefore, this device is highly recommended to estimated splash erosion. to the good performance measuring the actual splash erosion, because it loses little sediment by washing. The device is also cheap and easy to install and manage.