scholarly journals Tillage Impacts on Initial Soil Erosion in Wheat and Sainfoin Fields under Simulated Extreme Rainfall Treatments

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 789
Author(s):  
Tugrul Yakupoglu ◽  
Recep Gundogan ◽  
Turgay Dindaroglu ◽  
Kadir Kusvuran ◽  
Veysel Gokmen ◽  
...  

The main aim of this research was to determine the potential effects of different tillage systems (TT: traditional tillage and RT: reduced tillage) on runoff and erosion at two different locations (Kahramanmaras and Tarsus, Southern Turkey) under (i) fallow, (ii) wheat (Triticumaestivum L.), and (iii) sainfoin (Onobrychissativa L.) crops. Rainfall simulations with intensity of 120 mm h−1 and 30-min duration, representing a typical extreme thunderstorm in this area, were used. We quantified the elapsed time to runoff generation (ET), total runoff volume (R), soil loss (SL), sediment concentration (SC), and runoff coefficient (RC). At both locations, the fallow plots indicated the first runoff response ranging between 1.2 and 3.1 min, while the range was between 9.4 and 8.9 min for the sainfoin plots. The highest runoff coefficient was recorded for the fallow parcel in Tarsus (57.7%), and the lowest runoff coefficient was recorded for the sainfoin parcel in Kahramanmaras (4%). For both study sites, the fallow plots showed higher soil erosion rates (871 and 29.21 g m−2) compared with the wheat plots (307 and 11.25 g m−2), while sainfoin recorded the lowest soil losses (93.68 and 3.45 g m−2), for Tarsus and Kahramanmaras, respectively. Runoff and sediment yield generated from sainfoin and wheat parcels under the RT system were less than under the TT system at the Kahramanmaras location. At the Tarsus location, the effect of soil tillage on soil and water losses was insignificant on the sainfoin planted plots. The reduced tillage system was successful in reducing sediment yield and runoff generated from parcels growing wheat and sainfoin compared to traditional tillage in Tarsus location, but runoff and soil loss were found to be very high compared to parcels constructed in the Kahramanmaras location.

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tugrul Yakupoglu ◽  
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
Artemi Cerdà

New management and techniques to reduce soil and water losses are necessary to achieve goals related to sustainability and develop useful agronomical plans. Among the strategies to reduce soil losses, the use of polymers has been studied but little is known about the effect of them on soil aggregates under extreme rainfall conditions. The main aim of this study was to compare the effects of polyacrylamide (PAM) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on initial soil erosion process activation. We applied both products on soils and soil aggregate stability was measured on polymer treated and control plots. Laboratory erosion plots (pans) were placed on 15% slope, and sequential simulated rainfalls (under dry and wet conditions) with 360 mm h−1 intensity were applied for 12 min. Time to runoff, total runoff, runoff sediment yield, and splash sediment yield were determined. The results show that polymers do not delay runoff initiation; however, they reduced total runoff, sediment yield, and soil transported by the splash. PVA was not effective in reducing the total runoff during the first rainfall being PAM more effective in this way. However, under the sequential rainfall, both polymers obtained positive results, showing PAM some improvements in comparison to PVA. The effect of the polymer to reduce soil transported by splash after performing the second rainfall simulation was clearly demonstrated, meanwhile the effects during the first simulation were not significant. The effectiveness of the polymers on soil aggregates increased with increasing aggregate size. The application of polymers reached the highest efficiency on aggregates of 6.4 mm in diameter.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 827-842
Author(s):  
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
Enric Terol ◽  
Gaspar Mora ◽  
Antonio Giménez-Morera ◽  
Artemi Cerdà

AbstractElevated soil loss and runoff rates can reduce soil fertility; therefore, soil erosion control strategies must be implemented at the hillslope and watershed scale when plantations are established and the soil is bare. In this research, we propose the use of the Vicia sativa Roth. to reduce the soil losses during the first year to control the peak of soil erosion after the plantation in tilled vineyards. To test its efficiency, rainfall simulation experiments were carried out with field surveys in The Casa Pago Gran, in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula. Our results demonstrate that soil properties (organic matter and soil bulk density) and soil erosion (soil loss, runoff and sediment concentration) were significantly different between the control plot (tilled) and with cover crops along with August 2016, 2017 and 2018 measurement periods, but not during January 2016, coinciding with the initial survey before the vetch sown. Runoff initiation was delayed in 3.7 times after 3 years (from 190 till 709 s). The runoff discharge was reduced by the Vicia sativa from 32.87 till 13.68%, the sediment concentration went down from 18.54 till 3.81 gr l−1 and the soil erosion from 3.36 to 0.29 Mg ha−1 year−1. An increase in soil bulk density was registered but did not affect the runoff generation either the soil losses, that was reduced by the plant cover. We conclude that it is necessary to include soil erosion control measures such as the use of Vicia sativa to reduce soil erosion processes during the first stages of the vineyard plantations due to the soil quality improvements and the reduction in soil and water losses.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Artemi Cerdà ◽  
Xavier Úbeda ◽  
Gaspar Mora-Navarro ◽  
Enric Terol ◽  
Antonio Giménez-Morera

Ash cover the forest fire affected soil for some weeks or months and act as a key factor to determine the soil and water losses. Ash depth is researched here to determine how affect the soil detachment and the runoff generation. Seventy rainfall simulation experiments on paired 0.50 m2 plots (five plots with 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15- and 30-mm ash depth), and repeated one week later) under thunderstorms of 48 mmh-1 for one hour were carried out under laboratory conditions. In the first experiment, after the bed of ash was applied, the results show that ash depth determines the runoff rates as they reduce the discharge from 23.1% to 13.9%. The sediment concentration increased from 23.8 till 38.3 g L−1, and the total soil erosion from 22.9 till 27.6 Mg ha−1 y−1. In the second experiment after the bed of ash was applied, the results show that runoff discharge was higher and moved from 43.2% till 55.33%. The sediment concentration increased from 13.8 till 18.9 g L−1 and the total soil erosion slightly increased from 33.9 till 47.6 Mg ha−1 y−1. This research confirms that the fresh ash beds contribute to reduce the runoff losses and as deeper is the ash bed lower is the runoff discharge. However, the ash bed also acts as a source of sediments and as deep is the ash bed the runoff sediment concentration is higher. The soil erosion increased with the depth of the ash bed. After the simulated thunderstorms, the soils shown a reduction in their capacity to hold water due to the crust formation and runoff was enhanced. Sediment concentration is reduced due to the ash compaction and the final soil erosion rates increased as a consequence of the larger runoff discharge. This research demonstrates the highly dynamic response of the ash after the fire due to the wetting and drying processes after the thunderstorms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artemi Cerdà ◽  
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
Agata Novara ◽  
Eric Charles Brevik ◽  
Ali Reza Vaezi ◽  
...  

Land abandonment is widespread in the Mediterranean mountains. The impact of agricultural abandonment results in a shift in ecosystem evolution due to changes in soil erosion, but little is known about long-term soil and water losses. This paper uses 11 years of measurements in two paired plots (abandoned vs control) with four subplots to determine how soil and water losses evolved after abandonment within an agricultural parcel. For two years (2004–2005) both plots were under tillage, and after 2006 one plot was abandoned. The monitored plots measured runoff and sediment concentration after each rainfall event. The results show that during the two years after abandonment there was an increase in sediment yield followed by a decrease. Once the field was abandoned, a sudden increase in runoff (× 2.1 times) and sediment concentration (× 1.2 times) was found due to the lack of vegetation and tillage. After one year, the sediment concentration and, after two years, the runoff rates were lower in the abandoned than in the tilled plots. This short transition period ended in contrasting responses between the control and abandoned plot as the impact of abandonment resulted in 21 times less sediment yield after nine years of abandonment. This occurred despite the fact that the year after the abandonment the abandoned plot had 2.9 times more erosion due to low vegetation recovery and the development of a soil crust. Agriculture land abandonment resulted in lower erosion rates over the long term, but showed an increase in soil and water losses over the short term (two years). Therefore, in the first two years after abandonment there is a particular need to apply nature-based soil and water conservation strategies to prevent soil erosion.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 3763-3775 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Meusburger ◽  
G. Leitinger ◽  
L. Mabit ◽  
M. H. Mueller ◽  
A. Walter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Snow processes might be one important driver of soil erosion in Alpine grasslands and thus the unknown variable when erosion modelling is attempted. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of snow gliding as a soil erosion agent for four different land use/land cover types in a subalpine area in Switzerland. We used three different approaches to estimate soil erosion rates: sediment yield measurements in snow glide depositions, the fallout radionuclide 137Cs and modelling with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). RUSLE permits the evaluation of soil loss by water erosion, the 137Cs method integrates soil loss due to all erosion agents involved, and the measurement of snow glide deposition sediment yield can be directly related to snow-glide-induced erosion. Further, cumulative snow glide distance was measured for the sites in the winter of 2009/2010 and modelled for the surrounding area and long-term average winter precipitation (1959–2010) with the spatial snow glide model (SSGM). Measured snow glide distance confirmed the presence of snow gliding and ranged from 2 to 189 cm, with lower values on the north-facing slopes. We observed a reduction of snow glide distance with increasing surface roughness of the vegetation, which is an important information with respect to conservation planning and expected and ongoing land use changes in the Alps. Snow glide erosion estimated from the snow glide depositions was highly variable with values ranging from 0.03 to 22.9 t ha−1 yr−1 in the winter of 2012/2013. For sites affected by snow glide deposition, a mean erosion rate of 8.4 t ha−1 yr−1 was found. The difference in long-term erosion rates determined with RUSLE and 137Cs confirms the constant influence of snow-glide-induced erosion, since a large difference (lower proportion of water erosion compared to total net erosion) was observed for sites with high snow glide rates and vice versa. Moreover, the difference between RUSLE and 137Cs erosion rates was related to the measured snow glide distance (R2 = 0.64; p < 0.005) and to the snow deposition sediment yields (R2 = 0.39; p = 0.13). The SSGM reproduced the relative difference of the measured snow glide values under different land uses and land cover types. The resulting map highlighted the relevance of snow gliding for large parts of the investigated area. Based on these results, we conclude that snow gliding appears to be a crucial and non-negligible process impacting soil erosion patterns and magnitude in subalpine areas with similar topographic and climatic conditions.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 650
Author(s):  
Wakjira Takala Dibaba ◽  
Tamene Adugna Demissie ◽  
Konrad Miegel

Excessive soil loss and sediment yield in the highlands of Ethiopia are the primary factors that accelerate the decline of land productivity, water resources, operation and function of existing water infrastructure, as well as soil and water management practices. This study was conducted at Finchaa catchment in the Upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia to estimate the rate of soil erosion and sediment loss and prioritize the most sensitive sub-watersheds using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using the observed streamflow and sediment data. The average annual sediment yield (SY) in Finchaa catchment for the period 1990–2015 was 36.47 ton ha−1 yr−1 with the annual yield varying from negligible to about 107.2 ton ha−1 yr−1. Five sub-basins which account for about 24.83% of the area were predicted to suffer severely from soil erosion risks, with SY in excess of 50 ton ha−1 yr−1. Only 15.05% of the area within the tolerable rate of loss (below 11 ton ha−1yr−1) was considered as the least prioritized areas for maintenance of crop production. Despite the reasonable reduction of sediment yields by the management scenarios, the reduction by contour farming, slope terracing, zero free grazing and reforestation were still above the tolerable soil loss. Vegetative contour strips and soil bund were significant in reducing SY below the tolerable soil loss, which is equivalent to 63.9% and 64.8% reduction, respectively. In general, effective and sustainable soil erosion management requires not only prioritizations of the erosion hotspots but also prioritizations of the most effective management practices. We believe that the results provided new and updated insights that enable a proactive approach to preserve the soil and reduce land degradation risks that could allow resource regeneration.


Author(s):  
Yi Wang ◽  
Jiupai Ni ◽  
Chengsheng Ni ◽  
Sheng Wang ◽  
Deti Xie

Abstract Due to the difficulty in monitoring subsurface runoff and sediment migration, their loss loads are still not clear and need further study. This study monitored water and soil loss occurring within experimental field plots for two calendar years under natural rainfall events. The sediment loss load was quantified by considering the corresponding water flow flux and its sediment concentration. The results showed that 60.04% of the runoff and 2.83% of the sediment were lost underground. The annual underground sediment loss reached up to 54.6 kg*ha−1*yr−1. A total of 69.68% of the runoff yield and 67.25% of the sediment yield were produced during the corn planting stage (CPS: March–July). Heavy rain and torrential rain events produced 94.45%, 65.46% of the annual runoff and 94.45%, 76.21% of the sediment yields during the corn-planting stage and summer fallow period (SFP: August–September). The rain frequency, rainfall, and rainfall duration of each planting stage significantly affected the resulting runoff and sediment yield. Measures aimed at the prevention and control of water-soil loss from purple soil sloping land should heavily focus on torrential rain and heavy rain events during the CPS and SFP. This paper aims to provide a practical reference for quantifying the water and soil loss from purple soil sloping cropland.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 553-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ataollah KAVIAN ◽  
Leila GHOLAMI ◽  
Maziar MOHAMMADI ◽  
Velibor SPALEVIC ◽  
Moghadeseh FALAH SORAKI

Soil erosion is one of the key challenges in soil and water conservation. Vegetation that covers soil and organic and inorganic mulch is very useful for the control of erosion processes. This study examined treatment with wheat residual (as agriculture mulch) on infiltration, time to runoff, runoff coefficient, sediment concentration and soil erosion processes. The study has been conducted for sandy-loam soil taken from summer rangeland (Northern Iran) with simulated rainfall intensities of 50 and 100 mm h-1. The experiment was conducted in slopes of 30% in three replications with two amounts of wheat residual of 50 and 90 %. The results showed that conservation percent of soil erosion for wheat residual 50 and 90% was 61.68 and 73.25%, respectively (in rainfall intensity of 50 mm h-1). Also, the conservation percent of soil erosion for wheat residual of 50 and 90% cover was 70.68 and 90.55, respectively (in rainfall intensity of 100 mm h-1). It was concluded that the conservation treatments could reduce runoff coefficient, sediment concentration and soil erosion and increase the time to runoff and infiltration coefficient. This effect was significant on time for infiltration, sediment concentration and soil erosion variables (R2=0.99), time to runoff and runoff coefficient variables (R2=0.95). The interaction effects of rainfall intensity and soil conservation was significant for sediment concentration and soil erosion variables (R2=0.99).


2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 337-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Parsakhoo ◽  
M. Lotfalian ◽  
A. Kavian ◽  
S.A. Hosseini ◽  
M. Demir

The effects of Rubus hyrcanus L. and Philonotis marchica (Hedw.) Bridon on runoff generation and soil loss from cutslopes of forest roads were investigated. The study was conducted at the northern forest of Iran, about 30 km south of the city of Sari. Runoff and sedimentation after each rainfall simulation and chemical and physical soil properties were measured in 14 plots with an area of 0.48 m<sup>2</sup>. The obtained results indicate that the vegetation dominated by Philonotis marchica exhibited the higher runoff coefficient and soil loss, with averages of 27.25% and 92.40&nbsp;g&middot;m<sup>&ndash;2</sup>&middot;h<sup>&ndash;1</sup>(gram per square meter per hour), respectively, in comparison to Rubus hyrcanus. For Philonotis marchica (Hedw.) Brid. the sediment concentration increased quickly at the beginning of rainfall simulations and after 10&ndash;12 min there was a fast decrease in sediment concentration. The peak of sediment concentration was for the Rubus hyrcanus L. in the 13<sup>th</sup>&ndash;15<sup>th</sup> min In conclusion, Rubus hyrcanus L. prevented or decreased the risk of runoff and soil loss from cutslopes of forest roads in our study area. &nbsp;


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Gholami ◽  
Kazimierz Banasik ◽  
Seyed Hamidreza Sadeghi ◽  
Abdulvahed Khaledi Darvishan ◽  
Leszek Hejduk

Abstract Mulches have extraordinary potential in reducing surface runoff, increasing infiltration of water into the soil and decreasing soil erosion. The straw mulches as a biological material, has the ability to be a significant physical barrier against the impact of raindrops and reduce the detachment of soil aggregates. The present study is an attempt to determine the efficiency of straw mulch as conservation treatment in changes in the splash erosion, time-to-runoff, runoff coefficient, infiltration coefficient, time-to-drainage, drainage coefficient, sediment concentration and soil loss. The laboratory experiments have been conducted for sandy-loam soil taken from deforested area, about 15 km of Warsaw west, Poland under lab conditions with simulated rainfall intensities of 60 and 120 mmh–1, in 4 soil moistures of 12, 25, 33 and 40% and the slope of 9%. Compared with bare treatments, results of straw mulch application showed the significant conservation effects on splash erosion, runoff coefficient, sediment concentration and soil loss and significant enhancement effects on infiltration and drainage. The results of Spearman-Rho correlation showed the significant (p < 0.05) correlation with r = –0.873, 0.873, 0.878 and 0.764 between rainfall intensity and drainage coefficient, downstream splash, sediment concentration and soil loss and with r = –0.976, 0.927 and –0.927 between initial soil moisture content and time-to-runoff, runoff coefficient and infiltration coefficient, respectively.


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