Impact of Conservation Agriculture on Soil Erosion in the Annual Cropland of the Apulia Region (Southern Italy) Based on the RUSLE-GIS-GEE Framework

Abstract

The processes of soil erosion and land degradation are more rapid in the case of inappropriate agricultural management, which leads to increased soil loss rates. Moreover, climatic conditions are one of the most important determining factors affecting agriculture, especially in the Mediterranean areas featuring irregular rainfall and high summer temperatures. Conservation agriculture (CA) can make a significant contribution to reducing soil erosion risk on the annual cropland (ACL) of the Mediterranean region in comparison with conventional management (CM). The objective of this study is to provide soil loss rate maps and calculate the values for each altitude and slope class and their combination for the Apulia region in four annual production cycles for the scenarios CM and CA. The present study estimates the significance of the adoption of CA on soil erosion assessment at regional scale based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. The parameters of the RUSLE model were estimated by using remote sensing (RS) data. The erosion probability zones were determined through a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Google Earth Engine (GEE) approach. Digital terrain model (DTM) at 8 m, ACL maps of the Apulia region, and rainfall and soil data were used as an input to identify the most erosion-prone areas. Our results show a 7.5% average decrease of soil loss rate during the first period of adoption of the four-year crop cycle—from 2.3 t ha−1 y−1 with CM to 2.1 t ha−1 y−1 with the CA system. CA reduced soil loss rate compared to CM in all classes, from 10.1% in hill class to 14.1% for hill + low slope class. These results can therefore assist in the implementation of effective soil management systems and conservation practices to reduce soil erosion risk in the Apulia region and in the Mediterranean basin more generally.

Tillage Practices and Liming: Comparative Study of Soil Properties and Forage Corn Production

“…In addition, soil temperature and gravimetric moisture were recorded at each CO 2 trap replacement, at 5 cm depth in the soil, near the chamber's outer edge, using a digital thermometer (TP-101, WMETERS, Nanjing, China) and the cylinder method, respectively. The last method used a cylinder of 99 cm 3 , where the extracted soil had the same cylinder volume, and the fresh and dry soil weights (fsw, dsw, respectively) were recorded by drying in an oven at 105 • C for 48 h, so the soil gravimetric moisture (M • ) was determined by applying the following formula [42]:…”

“…Traditional agriculture (TA) is characterized by tillage and bare soil management, which are practices identified as the main factors of soil degradation [1][2][3]. In the last 40 years, one-third of productive land worldwide is estimated to have been lost due to erosive processes derived from soil tillage [4], leading to severe soil erosion through mass downslope transport due to high stocking rates and over-grazing [5,6].…”

“…Conservation agriculture (CA) is characterized by no burning crop residues, minimum mechanical soil disturbance for sowing, and permanent cover crops, whose objective is to improve the soil's physicochemical and biological properties [21][22][23]. Also, CA is crucial in preserving biodiversity, especially pest control and crop yields [24,25], is a recognized method to attenuate soil erosion [3,16,17], and emerges as a friendly alternative with natural resources, showing suitable conductivity hydraulics [15,26], lower bulk density [27], and higher soil moisture [28,29] than those in TA. Organic matter oxidation is excessive in TA-tilled soil, emitting a higher CO 2 amount than in CA-untilled soil [30].…”

An Open-Source Platform for GIS Data Management and Analytics

“…Frigerio et al [28] proposed a methodology that exploits socio-economic factors to identify how different areas of the country can react to catastrophic natural events. Furthermore, GISs have proven to be valuable tools in preventing soil erosion and degradation processes [29].…”

Water Erosion Risk Assessment for Conservation Planning in the East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia

“…Water erosion is a pressing global issue with profound geoenvironmental, social, and economic implications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. This process involves the detachment, transport, and deposition of soil and rock debris over a single event or extended period, which can result in the loss of fertile topsoil layers and the exposure of underlying materials [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Waterborne erosion is influenced by natural factors, such as surface topography, geological and pedological conditions, dynamic climate patterns (including precipitation and temperature), hydrological and ecological processes, and alterations in groundwater fluctuations [7,10,11].…”