Piping dynamics in mid‐altitude mountains under a temperate climate: Bieszczady Mountains, eastern Carpathians

517

272

Soil erosion is a geomorphological and, at the same time, a land degradation process that may cause environmental and property damage, loss of livelihoods and services as well as social and economic disruption. Erosion not only lowers soil quality on-site, but causes also significant sediment-related problems off-site. Given the large number of research papers on this topic, one might therefore conclude that we know now almost everything about soil erosion and its control so that little new knowledge can be added. This conclusion can be refuted by pointing to some major research gaps. There is a need for more research attention to (1) improved understanding of both natural and anthropogenic soil erosion processes and their interactions, (2) scaling up soil erosion processes and rates in space and time, and (3) innovative techniques and strategies to prevent soil erosion or reduce erosion rates. This is illustrated with various case studies from around the world. If future research addresses these research gaps, we will (1) better understand processes and their interactions operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales, predict their rates as well as their onsite and off-site impacts, which is academically spoken rewarding but also crucial for better targeting erosion control measures, and (2) we will be in a better position to select the most appropriate and effective soil erosion control techniques and strategies which are highly necessary for a sustainable use of soils in the Anthropocene.

Section: Innovative Techniques and Strategies To Prevent Erosion Or Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil erosion in the Anthropocene: Research needs

Poesen

2017

517

272

“…and neighbouring catchments (e.g. Bernatek, 2015; Bernatek‐Jakiel and Kondracka, 2016; Bernatek‐Jakiel et al ., 2017a, 2019).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment detachment in piping‐prone soils: Cohesion sources and potential weakening mechanisms

Bernatek‐Jakiel

Bruthans

Vojtíšek

et al. 2020

Self Cite

Soil piping is a widespread land degradation process that may lead to gully formation. However, the processes involved in sediment detachment from soil pipe walls have not been well studied, although their recognition is a crucial step to protect soils from piping erosion. This study aims to recognize the factors affecting cohesion and to identify the mechanisms which are likely to be responsible for the disintegration of soil. The study has been conducted in mid-altitude mountains under a temperate climate (the Bieszczady Mountains, the Carpathians, SE Poland). The research was based on the detailed field and laboratory analyses of morphology, and the physical and chemical properties of soil profiles with and without soil pipes. Moreover, experiments with flooding the undisturbed soil samples using different solutions (deionized water, ammonium oxalate, dithionate citrate, 35% hydrochloric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide) were conducted in order to check the role of air slaking, the removal of soil organic carbon (SOC), and Fe and Al oxides on sediment detachment. The obtained results have confirmed that soil pipes develop in quite cohesive soils (silt loams), which allow the formation and maintenance of pipes with a diameter up to 30cm. Soil cohesion, and thus susceptibility to piping, are impacted by the content of major oxides, soil particle size distribution, biological activity and porosity. The tested soils affected by piping erosion have a lower content of Al 2 O 3 and Fe 2 O 3 , and free Fe (Fe (DCB)), lower clay content, higher biological activity (more roots and animal burrows), higher porosity, and more and larger pores than the profile without soil pipes. The experiments have indicated that especially SOC along with Fe and Al oxides are an important cohesion source in the study area. This suggests that the removal of SOC, and Fe and Al oxides may weaken and disintegrate aggregates in soil pipes. Further study of soil leaching and tensile strength will broaden understanding of which chemical processes control where pipes will develop in other cohesive piping-prone soils.

“…For agricultural landscapes, functional relationships to predict the entrainment of soils typically include texture (sand, silt, and clay content), soil chemistry (concentrations of Na, K, Ca, and Fe and organic content), bulk density, and/or water content (Bryan, 1968;Römkens et al, 1977;Gilley et al, 1993;Liu et al, 2017; see reviews in Clark and Wynn, 2007;Ollobarren Del Barrio et al, 2018;Su et al, 2018). Moreover, soil detachment may also depend upon the erosive forces applied (Rose, 1960(Rose, , 1985Park et al, 1982;Nearing et al, 1997), and subsurface hydrologic conditions including piping (Tanaka, 1982;Huang and Laflen, 1996;Römkens et al, 2001;Bernatek-Jakiel et al, 2017;Wilson et al, 2018). It is no surprise that such temporal and spatial variability at a given location or within a single experiment result in significant differences in the observed erosion rates (Römkens et al, 2001;Knapen et al, 2007), and that no single, simple erodibility parameter currently exists (Bryan, 2000).…”

Section: The Erodibility Of Gully Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gully erosion processes, disciplinary fragmentation, and technological innovation

Bennett

Wells

2018

The development and evolution of gullies on soil‐mantled hillslopes can devastate agricultural regions and cause widespread soil and landscape degradation. Since 2000, international symposia have been organized to address gully erosion processes, and this paper and special issue provide additional context for the 7th International Symposium on Gully Erosion held at Purdue University in 2016. Several important themes of gully erosion emerged during this symposium that warranted additional discussion here. These topics include the importance and impact of technology transfer, disciplinary fragmentation as an impediment for research advancement, the difficulty in defining the erodibility of sediment within gullies, and the opportunities afforded by remote sensing technology. It is envisioned that such symposia will continue to enhance the capabilities of researchers and practitioners to monitor, model, and manage these important geomorphic processes and to mitigate landscape degradation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.