The effect of land management practices on soil erosion and land desertification in an olive grove

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Kairis ◽  
C. Karavitis ◽  
A. Kounalaki ◽  
L. Salvati ◽  
C. Kosmas
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Olive Grove ◽  
Land Desertification

scholarly journals Analysis of Farmers’ Perception on the Impact of Land Degradation Hazard on Agricultural Land Productivity in Jeldu District in West Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Tesfaye Samuel Saguye
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Land Productivity ◽  
Community Knowledge ◽  
Process Indicators ◽  
The Impact

Land degradation is increasing in severity and extent in many parts of the world. Success in arresting land degradation entails an improved understanding of its causes, process, indicators and impacts. Various scientific methodologies have been employed to assess land degradation globally. However, the use of local community knowledge in elucidating the causes, process, indicators and effects of land degradation has seen little application by scientists and policy makers. Land degradation may be a physical process, but its underlying causes are firmly rooted in the socio-economic, political and cultural environment in which land users operate. Analyzing the root causes and effects of land degradation from local community knowledge, perception and adapting strategies perspective will provide information that is essential for designing and promoting sustainable land management practices. The main objective of this study was to analyze the perceptions of farmers’ on the impact of land degradation hazard on agricultural land productivity decline associated with soil erosion and fertility loss. The study used a multistage sampling procedure to select sample respondent households. The sample size of the study was 120 household heads and 226 farm plots managed by these farmers. The primary data of the study were collected by using semi-structured Interview, focus group discussions and field observation. Both descriptive statistics and econometric techniques were used for data analysis. Descriptive results show that 57percent of the respondents were perceived the severity and its consequence on agricultural land productivity. The following indicators of soil erosion and fertility loss were generally perceived and observed by farmers’ in the study area: gullies formations, soil accumulation around clumps of vegetation, soil deposits on gentle slopes, exposed roots, muddy water, sedimentation in streams and rivers, change in vegetation species, increased runoff, and reduced rooting depth. The direct human activities which were perceived to be causing land degradation in the study area include: deforestation and clearing of vegetation, overgrazing, steep slope cultivation and continuous cropping. The farmers’ possibility of perceiving the impact of land degradation hazard on agricultural land productivity was primarily determined by institutional, psychological, demographic and by bio-physical factors. Farmers who perceive their land as deteriorating and producing less than desired, tend to adopt improved land management practices. On the other hand, farmers who perceive their land to be fertile tend to have low adoption of conservation practices. In order to overcome this land degradation and its consequent effects, the study recommended a need for the government to enforce effective policies to control and prevent land degradation and these policies should be community inclusive /participatory founded up on indigenous and age-honored knowledge and tradition of farmers' natural resource management as well as introduced scientific practices.

Development of a Coupled Water Quality Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1153-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Wang ◽  
Dennis C. Flanagan ◽  
Keith A. Cherkauer
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Total Phosphorus ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Nutrient Losses ◽  
Soluble Phosphorus

Abstract. . Nonpoint-source (NPS) pollutants, especially from agriculture, continue to be a primary source of waterquality degradation problems. Effective land management decisions at the field scale must be made to minimize nutrient losses that could pollute streams. Existing NPS models often cannot directly estimate the impacts of different land management practices or determine the effectiveness of combined best management practices (BMPs) in a distributed way at the farm scale. In many cases, they rely on application of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) or its improved versions, which represent fields in a lumped fashion and use empirical rather than process-based modeling methodologies. In this study, a coupled Water Erosion Prediction Project and Water Quality (WEPP-WQ) model was completed, updated, improved, and evaluated for simulation of hydrology, soil erosion, and water quality. The WEPP model is a well-established process-based model that simulates runoff and erosion processes from a hillslope. The water quality components are based on those of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). A single overland flow element (OFE) on a hillslope is used to represent a single soil and land use management. The WEPP-WQ model was tested by comparing simulated values from the coupled model with observed nutrient and sediment concentrations in surface runoff following storm events at experimental sites near Waterloo in northeastern Indiana and at the Throckmorton Purdue Agricultural Center in west central Indiana. Time series evaluation of the WEPP-WQ model was performed with observed nutrient and sediment losses from an experimental plot near Tifton, Georgia. The model performed quite well in simulating nutrient losses for single storm events, with R2 greater than 0.8, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) greater than 0.65, and percent bias (PBIAS) less than 31% for runoff, sediment, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, soluble phosphorus, and total phosphorus losses. In predicting time series nutrient loss, the WEPP-WQ model simulated daily nitrate nitrogen losses adequately, with the ratio of the root mean square error to the standard deviation of measured data (RSR) less than 0.7, NSE greater than 0.55, and PBIAS within the range of ±40%. Comparisons between simulated soluble phosphorus, total phosphorus, and literature results were performed due to the absence of an available observational dataset. The WEPP-WQ model with a single OFE in this study provides a basic but important step for the development of WEPP-WQ models with multiple OFEs that can evaluate the effectiveness of BMPs Keywords: Modeling, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Soil erosion, Water quality, WEPP.

scholarly journals Evaluating potential impacts of land management practices on soil erosion in the Gilgel Abay watershed, upper Blue Nile basin

Heliyon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. e04777
Author(s):  
Temesgen Gashaw ◽  
Abeyou W. Worqlul ◽  
Yihun T. Dile ◽  
Solomon Addisu ◽  
Amare Bantider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nile Basin ◽  
Blue Nile ◽  
Blue Nile Basin ◽  
Upper Blue Nile Basin

Erodibility evaluation and the effect of land management practices on soil erosion from steep slopes in Leyte, the Philippines

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.L. Presbitero ◽  
M.C. Escalante ◽  
C.W. Rose ◽  
K.J. Coughlan ◽  
C.A. Ciesiolka
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Steep Slopes

scholarly journals Mapping soil erosion hotspots and assessing the potential impacts of land management practices in the highlands of Ethiopia

Geomorphology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 292 ◽  
pp. 153-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lulseged Tamene ◽  
Zenebe Adimassu ◽  
James Ellison ◽  
Tesfaye Yaekob ◽  
Kifle Woldearegay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Erosion Hotspots

scholarly journals Dynamics of Runoff and Soil Erosion on Abandoned Steep Vineyards in the Mosel Area, Germany

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeger ◽  
Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
Iserloh ◽  
Brings ◽  
Ries
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Rainfall Simulation ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Organic Management ◽  
Wine Region ◽  
Vineyard Management

The Mosel Wine region has suffered during the last decades a decrease in productive area, mostly on steep sloping vineyards. To avoid the spread of diseases, the extraction of grapevines on abandoned vineyards is mandatory in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the same time, the organic production of wine is growing slowly, but well established in the area. We assess in this paper the degree of the land-use changes, as well as their effect on runoff generation and sediment production, depending on the age of the abandonment, as well as the type and age of the land management, whether organic or conventional. Land use data were obtained to identify land-use change dynamics. For assessment of runoff generation and soil erosion, we applied rainfall simulation experiments on the different types of vineyard management. These were organically managed, conventionally managed and abandoned ones, all of varying ages. During the last decades of the last century, a decrease of around 30% of vineyard surface could be observed in Germany’s Mosel Wine Region, affecting mostly the steep sloping vineyards. Despite a high variability within the types of vineyard management, the results show higher runoff generation, and soil erosion associated with recently installed or abandoned vineyards when compared to organic management of the vineyards, where erosion reached only 12%. In organic management, runoff and erosion are also reduced considerably, less than 16%, after a decade or more. Thus, organic vineyard management practices show to be very efficient for reduction of runoff and erosion. Consequently, we recommend to adopt as far as possible these soil management practices for sustainable land management of steep sloping vineyards. In addition, soil protection measures are highly recommended for vineyard abandonment according to the law.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document