Spatial Variability of Soil Moisture in Newly Implemented Agricultural Bench Terraces in the Ethiopian Plateau

Abstract

In arid areas prone to desertification and soil erosion, the effectiveness of radical bench terracing in reducing drought risk is dependent on its correct implementation. However, the relationship between proper terracing implementation and the landscape capacity of holding soil moisture is still not understood. Moreover, spatial patterns of Soil Water Content (SWC) within the same terraced hillslope are weakly studied. The present paper analyses SWC variations in four newly implemented terraced sites in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. In all sites, terraced areas show SWC significantly higher than non-terraced ones, with the lower part of the terraced hillslope more humid than the others. A Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis highlighted significant dependency of SWC from the date of analysis, the position in the terraced slope, and its significant positive correlation with the percent of Water Stable Aggregates (WSA) analyzed at the study sites. Since high soil disturbance induces low soil aggregates stability, this result shows how low soil disturbance can significantly increase SWC of radical terraces. Overall, the results of the present paper testify the good performances of bench terraces in Northern Ethiopia in terms of soil water conservation, and can represent a benchmark study informing future terracing implementation in some arid and semi-arid agricultural areas of the world.

Terraced Landscapes and Hydrological-Geological Hazards: Innovative Approaches and Future Perspectives

“…Mesfin et al [14] focus their analysis on the effect of drought risk reduction induced by terracing in arid and semiarid areas. The paper studies four newly implemented terraced sites in Ethiopia, highlighting how agricultural terracing can enhance the soil water content in terraced areas.…”

“…Such kinds of research efforts could be considered of particular interest, since, while most of the "historical" terraced landscapes were created a long time ago, they offer the possibility of analyzing the different parts of the terracing implementation, highlighting possible errors, their consequences, but also innovative design methodologies. Some of the case studies focused on issues related to terrace abandonment (Figure 3) [13,15,17,19,20], which represent an issue at the global scale [1,6,7], while others focused instead on new terrace system implementation [14,16]. Such kinds of research efforts could be considered of particular interest, since, while most of the "historical" terraced landscapes were created a long time ago, they offer the possibility of analyzing the different parts of the terracing implementation, highlighting possible errors, their consequences, but also innovative design methodologies.…”

“…Some of the papers presented in the Special Issue also highlighted the importance of advanced hydrological analyses at the terraced landscape scale [14,18,20]. Such approaches are not frontier research, but the papers submitted considered different and heterogeneous case studies (Moroccan Anti-Atlas, Ethiopian and Philippine rice terraces), which were understudied under this point of view, and which therefore could be further explored.…”

Establishment and validation of site specific fertilizer recommendation for increased barley (Hordeum spp.) yield, northern Ethiopia

“…Farmers in the study area continuously cultivate crops with very limited nutrient replacement which often results in low crop yields ( Agegnehu and Bird, 2014 ; Mengistu and Abera, 2014 ). The management of organic materials such as crop residue and manure in the farming systems are also constrained due to removal of crop residues for animal feed and low applications of manure because local farmers use cow dung for fuel ( Mesfin et al., 2018a , 2018b , 2019 , 2020c ; Lema et al., 2016 , 2019 ; Gebremedhin et al., 2017 ; Lemma et al., 2017 ; Tadesse et al., 2016 ).…”

Modelling spatial and temporal soil organic carbon dynamics under climate and land management change scenarios, northern Ethiopia

“…Land degradation, such as soil organic carbon (SOC) decline in developing countries such as Ethiopia, has been a serious concern due to its negative implications for the livelihood of rural communities and the environment on which they largely depend (Gebremedhin, Gebresamual, Abadi, Teka, & Mesfin, 2017; Mesfin, Gebresamuel, Zenebe, & Haile, 2020b). Climate change and seasonal rainfall intensity, together with rugged topography and low vegetation cover caused by overgrazing and deforestation, have increased soil susceptibility to water erosion (Mesfin, Oliveira, Yazew, Bresci, & Castelli, 2019), which in turn caused SOC depletion in the Ethiopian highlands. Soil is one of the important stores of carbon; however, it is undergoing substantial change due to the impacts of changes in both climate and land management (Hu, Sørensen, Eivind, & J., 2018).…”