Controlling rainfall-induced soil loss from small experimental plots through inoculation of bacteria and cyanobacteria

Abstract

Soil erosion is a major limitation for achieving sustainable development. Controlling soil detachment in initial stage of soil erosion induced by rainfall is necessary. Several organic and inorganic amendments have been used to reduce rainfall-induced erosion. Meanwhile, the impact of soil microorganisms has been approved on improving soil aggregation by previous studies. However, studying the feasibility of inoculation of soil microorganisms to reduce soil loss by rainfall-induced erosion has not been considered yet. Hence, the present study was planned to investigate the controllability of soil loss induced by rainfall-induced through the inoculation of bacteria and cyanobacteria into a study soil. Soil samples were collected from an erosion-prone area from which suitable existing bacteria and cyanobacteria for soil and water conservation were selected, purified and proliferated. The bacteria and cyanobacteria were then inoculated

Effects of Cyanobacterial Soil Crusts on Surface Roughness and Splash Erosion

“…The erosion protection offered by the cyanobacteria increased with the number of days over which the CBC was allowed to develop. The CBCs in this study were grown for 60 days and reduced soil erosion splash loss by 83%–95% for 2‐mm rainfall, and 91%–94% for 2 + 5‐mm rainfall ( t = 7), which compares well with Kherifam et al's () findings that 60‐day‐old cyanobacterial crusts reduced soil loss by 99% (Table ). Chamizo et al () found that cyanobacterial crust growing on a sandy loam soil only reduced soil losses by 50% compared to CBC on a silty loam where soil loss was reduced by 90%.…”

“…As the soils had only very fine aggregates, the absolute reduction of SSR due to disaggregation was small and the primary determinant of SSR, particularly after the 2‐mm rainfall applications, was raindrop impact and the microtopography associated with the development of a sieving crust (Bullard et al, ). The presence of CBCs before the rainfall treatment made the soil surface rougher than the abiotic soil, but despite being early successional stage, this was sufficient to protect the soil from raindrop impact and erosion, as has been demonstrated elsewhere during inoculation studies (Kheirfam et al, ; Sadeghi et al, ). The surface roughness of the soils with CBCs did increase very slightly with each treatment (slight increases in RR and TR).…”

“…This is comparable to other studies a selection of which is summarized in Table and suggest remarkably similar percentage reductions in soil loss where CBCs are present despite the variability in rainfall duration, intensity, and overall experimental design. Kheirfam et al () found soil loss was 5 times higher on soils with no CBC compared to those with soils on which CBC had been growing for 15 days. The erosion protection offered by the cyanobacteria increased with the number of days over which the CBC was allowed to develop.…”

“…A large proportion of the work with which the results presented here are compared has taken this approach and has thus been subject to the same limitations. A particular difference in the experiments described in this paper is that the cyanobacterial crust was grown from the natural assemblage present in the soils rather than being grown from a culture, often restricted to a single species, and added to the soil (McKenna Neuman et al, ; O'Brien & McKenna Neuman, Kheirfam et al, ).…”

The Effect of Forest Trees Group Cutting on Accumulation, Density and Temperature of Snow (Case Study: Kheiroud Forest Research Station) in Iran

“…The main parts of soils in case study are soils made by erosion of calcareous stones [14]. It should be mentioned that in Kheiroud kenar region [13], four main soil category of soil can be observed as following: contain of Entisols, Inseptisols, Vertisols and Alfisols [27,20].…”