Dynamics of Runoff and Soil Erosion on Abandoned Steep Vineyards in the Mosel Area, Germany

Abstract

The Mosel Wine region has suffered during the last decades a decrease in productive area, mostly on steep sloping vineyards. To avoid the spread of diseases, the extraction of grapevines on abandoned vineyards is mandatory in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the same time, the organic production of wine is growing slowly, but well established in the area. We assess in this paper the degree of the land-use changes, as well as their effect on runoff generation and sediment production, depending on the age of the abandonment, as well as the type and age of the land management, whether organic or conventional. Land use data were obtained to identify land-use change dynamics. For assessment of runoff generation and soil erosion, we applied rainfall simulation experiments on the different types of vineyard management. These were organically managed, conventionally managed and abandoned ones, all of varying ages. During the last decades of the last century, a decrease of around 30% of vineyard surface could be observed in Germany’s Mosel Wine Region, affecting mostly the steep sloping vineyards. Despite a high variability within the types of vineyard management, the results show higher runoff generation, and soil erosion associated with recently installed or abandoned vineyards when compared to organic management of the vineyards, where erosion reached only 12%. In organic management, runoff and erosion are also reduced considerably, less than 16%, after a decade or more. Thus, organic vineyard management practices show to be very efficient for reduction of runoff and erosion. Consequently, we recommend to adopt as far as possible these soil management practices for sustainable land management of steep sloping vineyards. In addition, soil protection measures are highly recommended for vineyard abandonment according to the law.

Evaluating Soil Carbon as a Proxy for Erosion Risk in the Spatio-Temporal Complex Hydropower Catchment in Upper Pangani, Northern Tanzania

“…The results of this study indicated that the cultivated lands have a lower content compared to the natural land cover types. These results are in line with other studies elsewhere, indicating that cultivation usually markedly decreases soil carbon [67][68][69][72][73][74]. The forest conversion to cultivation land and settlement (Table 3) likely influences the level of organic carbon due to soil loss, and the more rapid oxidation process of SOC leads to rapid reductions in the SOM values of surface soils [75].…”

Soil organic carbon physical fractions and aggregate stability influenced by land use in humid region of northern Iran

“…Land use change, abandonment and the conversion of natural ecosystems to cultivated lands has an impact on the distribution of SOC in the various size fractions of aggregates, this has already been studied in various soils and diverse climatic conditions (Bronick and Lal, 2005;Helfrich et al, 2006;Hoyos andComerford, 2005, Cerdà et al, 2018;Seeger et al, 2019). However, few studies have been conducted concerning the effects of land use change on SOC pools and soil aggregate size fractions in the vulnerable ecosystem of Hyrcanian forest soils in north of Iran.…”

Degradation of traditional vineyards in Slovakia by abandonment and soil erosion: A case‐study of Vráble

“…Erosion might increase in dry regions, where vegetation recovery is low or interrupted by wildfires (García‐Ruiz & Lana‐Renault, 2011; Rodrigo‐comino et al, 2018). For example, the transition from initially higher erosion rates following abandonment to lower rates following vegetation recovery has been observed in Eastern Spain (Cerdà et al, 2018) and Germany (Seeger et al, 2019). Decreased erosion rates were observed in vineyards in Northern Italy (Sciubba et al, 2021) and central (Quintana et al, 2021) and northeastern Spain (Dunjó et al, 2003) following abandonment.…”

“…Vineyards are one of the most erosion‐prone types of cultivated land in Europe (Biddoccu et al, 2020; Cerdan et al, 2010; Rodrigo‐Comino, 2018), including the Mediterranean region (García‐Ruiz et al, 2013; Prosdocimi et al, 2016), central Europe (Burg et al, 2018; Szilassi et al, 2006), and Slovakia (Cebecauer & Hofierka, 2008; Šúri et al, 2002) due to the combination of fragile or bare soils, steep slopes, and cultivation practices (García‐Ruiz, 2010; Rodrigo Comino et al, 2017). At the same time, the vineyards in particular regions are threatened by abandonment (Cossart et al, 2020; Foronda‐Robles, 2018; Incze & Novák, 2016; Seeger et al, 2019). The area of vineyards in Slovakia has dramatically decreased over the last 30 years (Lieskovský et al, 2013; Slámová & Belčáková, 2020).…”