Soil Erosion as an Environmental Concern in Vineyards: The Case Study of Celler del Roure, Eastern Spain, by Means of Rainfall Simulation Experiments

Abstract

Soil erosion in vineyards is considered as an environmental concern as it depletes soil fertility and causes damage in the fields and downstream. High soil and water losses decrease soil quality, and subsequently, this can reduce the quality of the grapes and wine. However, in specialized journals of viticulture and enology, soil erosion studies are not present. This paper surveys the soil erosion losses in the vineyards of Celler del Roure, Eastern Spain, as an example of Mediterranean vineyards. We applied rainfall simulation experiments (10 plots) using a small portable rainfall simulator and 55 mm h −1 in one hour to characterize soil erodibility, runoff discharge, and soil erosion rates under low-frequency-high-magnitude rainfall events at different positions along the vine inter-row areas. We found that 30% of the rainfall was transformed into superficial runoff, the sediment concentration was 23 g L −1 , and the soil erosion rates reached 4.1 Mg ha −1 h −1 ; these erosion rates are among the highest found in the existing literature. We suggest that the vineyard management should be improved to reduce land degradation, and also should be shifted to sustainable agricultural production, which could improve grape and wine quality.

Estimation of Soil Erosion in the Chaohu Lake Basin through Modified Soil Erodibility Combined with Gravel Content in the RUSLE Model

“…It often has a negative impact on downstream areas, including lowered water levels in reservoirs [4], threats from floods and mudslides [5], damage to habitats of species [6], and reduced agricultural productivity [7,8]. For example, the Mediterranean vineyards are among the most degraded agricultural ecosystems affected by extreme soil erosion rates [9,10], and this situation has also been observed in citrus plantations [11,12]. As one of the most severe areas of soil erosion in the world, the Loess Plateau in China has caused great damage to the natural environment, and the economic and social development of the region [13].…”

An enhanced rainfall–runoff model with coupled canopy interception

“…Rainfall–runoff is the primary cause of soil erosion and nutrient loss from sloping land; it can result in serious land degradation and nonpoint source pollution problems, especially in arid and semiarid areas. Understanding the runoff generation process is essential in predicting sediment and chemical transport on hillslopes (Cerdà et al, ; Keesstra et al, ; Rodrigo‐Comino, Keesstra, & Cerdà, ). However, this process is difficult to model as it is affected by many factors (e.g., rainfall intensity, soil properties, surface roughness, topographical features, and vegetation cover; Baiamonte & Agnese, ; Bojie et al, ; Yang et al, ).…”

Estimating Non-Sustainable Soil Erosion Rates in the Tierra de Barros Vineyards (Extremadura, Spain) Using an ISUM Update

“…This will be a fundamental issue to evaluate the accuracy of the ISUM to standardize the method and to clarify how many sampling points, and where, should be taken. There is a debate about whether the position in a vineyard affects the soil detachment and runoff activation under rainfall simulation experiments [33], but there is no long-term research and this paper investigated this issue.…”