Reclaiming the erosion susceptible landscape of the Italian badlands for arable cultivation

Phillips, C.P

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-145x(199807/08)9:4<331::aid-ldr296>3.0.co;2-p

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The high number of sites analysed in that study allowed the author to formulate the observation that a high organic matter content is associated with a low ESP. Our results confirm this association: data in figure 8 are arranged in a soil Organic Matter -ESP plane, where thresholds for soil dispersive conditions are drawn at 2% organic matter and 12% ESP, according to Phillips, 1998b (for a discussion see Piccarreta et al, 2006). All data from bare soil fall in the dispersive condition quadrant, whereas soil samples from vegetated sites fall in non-dispersive conditions due to high O.M., low ESP or both.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 77%

Shrinking Behaviour of Badland Soil Under Different Soil Covers

Tommaso¹,

Lovelli²,

Amato³

et al. 2009

Ital J Agronomy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Indicators used to estimate the soil structure stability facing erosion are the basis of major indicators of soil quality, and their behaviour is affected by permanent soil properties, vegetation and management. The relation between the pore-volume fraction occupied by water and the pore size distribution in clay soils is studied by the shrinkage curve describing clay soil porosity dynamics as a function of soil moisture. The aim of this work is to study the shrinking behaviour of the surface soil in a badland site through the shrinkage curve and to assess its relations with vegetation. Six treatments with different soil vegetation cover and aspect were selected on a badland site in Pisticci (Southern Italy). Shrinkage curves were built from natural aggregates collected in the 0-10 cm soil depth. Soil stability under shaking in water was also determined, with pre-treatments in water, alcohol and benzene for the determination of the SSI (Soil Stability Index). Soil organic matter, electrical conductivity, ESP were determined in order to investigate the relations between soil cover, chemical properties, SSI and shrink-swell behaviour. Vegetation was associated with lower soil salinity and ESP, and higher soil organic matter content. Vegetated sites showed a higher SSI and a lower overall swelling. The shrinkage curves for samples from vegetated areas lack of the structural phase of shrinkage, likely due to the combined effect of lower ESP and the mechanical effect of plant roots. All soil properties and indicators point to a higher stability of soils under grass in the south aspect and under shrub in the north one

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 77%

Shrinking Behaviour of Badland Soil Under Different Soil Covers

Tommaso¹,

Lovelli²,

Amato³

et al. 2009

Ital J Agronomy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a result, sheet wash, rilling, gully incision and piping, are common on reclaimed fields, leading to localized crop failure and reduced yields (Phillips, 1997). Despite these problems farmers continue to cultivate such slopes because the loss in yield is small in comparison to the rewards available through subsi- dies (Phillips, 1998a). In addition, there is effectively a limitless supply of Plio -Pleistocene clay to rework for the next season: the Basento Valley in Basilicata contains clays up to 500 m deep Keyser (1961); whilst in the Siena Basin deposits 1000 m deep have been recorded (Brondi et al, 1992).…”

Section: Stability Of Remodelled Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of land use on the credibility of dispersive clay soils in central and southern Italy

Phillips¹,

Robinson

1998

Soil Use and Management

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Tracts of dispersive Plio‐Pleistocene clays in central and southern Italy suffer from severe erosion, which has led to the creation of badlands characterized by ‘calanchi’(unvegetated knife‐edge ridges) and ‘bian‐cane’(cone‐shaped hummocks). In recent decades, large areas of this eroded land have been reclaimed for arable cultivation by remodelling the landscape with heavy earth moving equipment. This exposes the clay to erosive rainfall. Wet aggregate strength was used to assess those physical and chemical properties that govern the erodibility of the clays. Regression analysis demonstrated that the most significant variables in predicting soil erodibility were the % organic matter and the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP). Threshold values of 1–2% and 3–4% organic matter were obtained, dependent on the method of pre‐wetting. Reclaimed land is on the borderline of these thresholds and therefore at risk of erosion. Nevertheless, the stability of reclaimed land is significantly higher than that of the badland parent material, ascribable to a lower ESP. Careful land management is required to avoid a recurrence of erosion and the reestablishment of badlands.

show abstract

“…There has also been much emphasis on badland reclamation in recent years in Mediterranean Europe, largely as a consequence of agricultural subsidies, e.g. using mechanical levelling (Phillips, 1998a;Clarke and Rendell, 2000;Capolongo et al, 2008) or various forms of green engineering (Rey, 2009). Such approaches have not often been successful, even at fully reestablishing native vegetation to stabilise slopes at the humid end of the spectrum (Vallauri, Aronson and Barbero, 2002), and have often led to significant increases in surface-erosion rates (Piccarreta et al, 2006;Robinson and Phillips, 2001), piping (Romero Díaz et al, 2007) and mass movements (Linares et al, 2002).…”

Section: Rcmentioning

confidence: 99%