Actual geomorphological processes in sloping vineyards. A comparison between Ruwer-Mosel Valley (Trier, Germany) and Montes de Málaga (Málaga, Spain)

Los resultados de este trabajo demostraron que los viñedos en pendiente de los Montes de Málaga (España) y del valle Ruwer-Mosel (Alemania) con suelos desnudos pueden experimentar altas tasas de erosión, pero sin demostrar patrones claros a simple vista debido al impacto del ser humano. La distribución espacio-temporal de los procesos hidrológicos y geomorfológicos es desigual y está altamente condicionada por factores muy específicos, Fecha de lectura de Tesis: 5 de julio de 2018.Los viñedos muestran particularidades en el manejo agrícola y unas condiciones medioambientales identificables de suelo, clima y paisaje, con influencias directas en las uvas. Numerosos estudios han evidenciado procesos de degradación en estas áreas durante décadas, inducidas por la implementación en los usos tradicionales del suelo de maquinaria pesada (tractores, cosechadoras, etc.), de nuevos productos químicos (fertilizantes, herbicidas, etc.) y por la intensificación de la producción. Así, en la ciencia del suelo y, en especial, en la geografía están aumentando los estudios que pretenden detectar los flujos hídricos que activa la erosión y la transferencia de contaminantes en las laderas. Por lo tanto, los principales objetivos de este trabajo serán: i) medir la variación espacio-temporal de los procesos hidrológicos y geomorfológicos en dos parcelas experimentales en Almáchar (Montes de Málaga, Axarquía, España), y Waldrach (Valle del Ruwer-Mosela, Trier, Alemania), ambos bajo dos contextos climáticos y manejos del suelo distintos; y ii) desentrañar qué factores (naturales y antropogénicos) son los desencadenantes de los procesos erosivos tras las lluvias y las prácticas agrícolas. Para alcanzar los objetivos planteados en esta tesis, se pretende combinar a lo largo del estudio una serie de técnicas de análisis comunes para ambos lugares (análisis de suelos, simulaciones de lluvia o ensayos de permeabilidad) y, en otras ocasiones, se diseñarán métodos específicos (experimentos de escorrentía o mediciones de los tocones) adaptados a las condiciones de cada medio y los resultados previos obtenidos

Impact of Farmland Abandonment on Water Resources and Soil Conservation in Citrus Plantations in Eastern Spain

[EN] Due to the reduction in the prices of oranges on the market and social changes such as the ageing of the population, traditional orange plantation abandonment in the Mediterranean is taking place. Previous research on land abandonment impact on soil and water resources has focused on rainfed agriculture abandonment, but there is no research on irrigated land abandonment. In the Valencia Regionthe largest producer of oranges in Europeabandonment is resulting in a quick vegetation recovery and changes in soil properties, and then in water erosion. Therefore, we performed rainfall simulation experiments (0.28 m(2); 38.8 mm h(-1)) to determine the soil losses in naveline orange plantations with different ages of abandonment (1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years of abandonment) which will allow for an understanding of the temporal changes in soil and water losses after abandonment. Moreover, these results were also compared with an active plantation (0). The results show that the soils of the active orange plantations have higher runoff discharges and higher erosion rates due to the use of herbicides than the plots after abandonment. Once the soil is abandoned for one year, the plant recovery reaches 33% of the cover and the erosion rate drops one order of magnitude. This is related to the delay in the runoff generation and the increase in infiltration rates. After 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years, the soil reduced bulk density, increase in organic matter, plant cover, and soil erosion rates were found negligible. We conclude that the abandonment of orange plantations reduces soil and water losses and can serve as a nature-based solution to restore the soil services, goods, and resources. The reduction in the soil losses was exponential (from 607.4 g m(-2) in the active plot to 7.1 g m(-2) in the 10-year abandoned one) but the water losses were linear (from 77.2 in active plantations till 12.8% in the 10-year abandoned ones)This paper is part of the results of research projects GL2008-02879/BTE, LEDDRA 243857 and RECARE-FP7 (ENV.2013.6.2-4)Cerda, A.; Ackermann, O.; Terol, E.; Rodrigo-Comino, J. (2019). Impact of Farmland Abandonment on Water Resources and Soil Conservation in Citrus Plantations in Eastern Spain. Water. 11(4):824-839. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040824S824839114Stefler, D., Pikhart, H., Kubinova, R., Pajak, A., Stepaniak, U., Malyutina, S., … Bobak, M. (2015). Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality in Eastern Europe: Longitudinal results from the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe study. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 23(5), 493-501. doi:10.1177/2047487315582320Alford, M., Barrientos, S., & Visser, M. (2017). Multi-scalar Labour Agency in Global Production Networks: Contestation and Crisis in the South African Fruit Sector. Development and Change, 48(4), 721-745. doi:10.1111/dech.12317Cerdà, A., Rodrigo-Comino, J., Giménez-Morera, A., Novara, A., Pulido, M., Kapović-Solomun, M., & Keesstra, S. D. (2018). Policies can help to apply successful strategies to control soil and water losses. The case of chipped pruned branches (CPB) in Mediterranean citrus plantations. Land Use Policy, 75, 734-745. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.12.052Ortega-Reig, M., Sanchis-Ibor, C., Palau-Salvador, G., García-Mollá, M., & Avellá-Reus, L. (2017). Institutional and management implications of drip irrigation introduction in collective irrigation systems in Spain. Agricultural Water Management, 187, 164-172. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2017.03.009Cerdà, A., Rodrigo-Comino, J., Giménez-Morera, A., & Keesstra, S. D. (2017). An economic, perception and biophysical approach to the use of oat straw as mulch in Mediterranean rainfed agriculture land. Ecological Engineering, 108, 162-171. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.08.028Keesstra, S. D., Rodrigo-Comino, J., Novara, A., Giménez-Morera, A., Pulido, M., Di Prima, S., & Cerdà, A. (2019). Straw mulch as a sustainable solution to decrease runoff and erosion in glyphosate-treated clementine plantations in Eastern Spain. An assessment using rainfall simulation experiments. CATENA, 174, 95-103. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2018.11.007Levers, C., Schneider, M., Prishchepov, A. V., Estel, S., & Kuemmerle, T. (2018). Spatial variation in determinants of agricultural land abandonment in Europe. Science of The Total Environment, 644, 95-111. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.326Kou, M., Jiao, J., Yin, Q., Wang, N., Wang, Z., Li, Y., … Cao, B. (2015). Successional Trajectory Over 10 Years of Vegetation Restoration of Abandoned Slope Croplands in the Hill-Gully Region of the Loess Plateau. Land Degradation & Development, 27(4), 919-932. doi:10.1002/ldr.2356Ito, J., Nishikori, M., Toyoshi, M., & Feuer, H. N. (2016). The contribution of land exchange institutions and markets in countering farmland abandonment in Japan. Land Use Policy, 57, 582-593. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.06.020Lasanta, T., Arnáez, J., Pascual, N., Ruiz-Flaño, P., Errea, M. P., & Lana-Renault, N. (2017). Space–time process and drivers of land abandonment in Europe. CATENA, 149, 810-823. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.02.024Cerdà, A. (1997). Soil erosion after land abandonment in a semiarid environment of southeastern Spain. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation, 11(2), 163-176. doi:10.1080/15324989709381469García-Ruiz, J. M., & Lana-Renault, N. (2011). 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Agricultural abandonment and re-cultivation during and after the Chechen Wars in the northern Caucasus. Global Environmental Change, 55, 149-159. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.01.005Baba, Y. G., Tanaka, K., & Kusumoto, Y. (2019). Changes in spider diversity and community structure along abandonment and vegetation succession in rice paddy ecosystems. Ecological Engineering, 127, 235-244. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.12.007Klee, R. J., Zimmerman, K. I., & Daneshgar, P. P. (2019). Community Succession after Cranberry Bog Abandonment in the New Jersey Pinelands. Wetlands, 39(4), 777-788. doi:10.1007/s13157-019-01129-yAgnoletti, M., Errico, A., Santoro, A., Dani, A., & Preti, F. (2019). Terraced Landscapes and Hydrogeological Risk. Effects of Land Abandonment in Cinque Terre (Italy) during Severe Rainfall Events. Sustainability, 11(1), 235. doi:10.3390/su11010235Fredh, E. D., Lagerås, P., Mazier, F., Björkman, L., Lindbladh, M., & Broström, A. (2019). Farm establishment, abandonment and agricultural practices during the last 1,300 years: a case study from southern Sweden based on pollen records and the LOVE model. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 28(5), 529-544. doi:10.1007/s00334-019-00712-xLasanta, T., Nadal-Romero, E., & Arnáez, J. (2015). Managing abandoned farmland to control the impact of re-vegetation on the environment. The state of the art in Europe. Environmental Science & Policy, 52, 99-109. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2015.05.012Bell, S., Alves, S., Silveirinha de Oliveira, E., & Zuin, A. (2010). Migration and Land Use Change in Europe: A Review. Living Reviews in Landscape Research, 4. doi:10.12942/lrlr-2010-2Rodrigo-Comino, J., Senciales, J. M., Sillero-Medina, J. A., Gyasi-Agyei, Y., Ruiz-Sinoga, J. D., & Ries, J. B. (2019). Analysis of Weather-Type-Induced Soil Erosion in Cultivated and Poorly Managed Abandoned Sloping Vineyards in the Axarquía Region (Málaga, Spain). 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Land Management Impacts on Soil Properties and Initial Soil Erosion Processes in Olives and Vegetable Crops

This research aims to assess the impacts of soil use management on runoff, soil losses, and their main soil controls in vegetable cropland (CROP), tilled olives (OT), and grass-covered olive orchards (OGC) on Leptosol in Croatia. Soil analysis and rainfall simulation experiments were conducted to quantify runoff (Run), soil, and nutrient losses. Bulk density (BD) was significantly higher at OT plots, in addition to the CROP plots. Water-stable aggregates (WSA), mean weight diameter (MWD), and soil organic matter (OM) were significantly higher in OGC plots compared to the other land uses. Run and soil loss (SL) were significantly higher in CROP and OT plots compared to the OGC plots. The CROP plots showed soil management that can be considered as unsustainable with 52, 68- and 146-times higher losses of phosphorus (P loss), nitrogen (N loss), and carbon (C loss) compared to the OGC plots. The principal component analysis showed that MWD was associated with vegetation cover (VC), water-holding capacity (WHC), WSA, OM, total nitrogen (TN), time to ponding (TP), and time to runoff (TR). These variables were negatively related to P2O5, Run, SL, and P, N, and C loss. Results indicate the need for the adoption of conservation strategies in croplands and olive orchards

Short-term low-severity spring grassland fire impacts on soil extractable elements and soil ratios in Lithuania.

Spring grassland fires are common in boreal areas as a consequence of slash and burn agriculture used to remove dry grass to increase soil nutrient properties and crop production. However, fewworks have investigated fire impacts on these grassland ecosystems, especially in the immediate period after the fire. The objective of this work was to study the short-termimpacts of a spring grassland fire in Lithuania. Four days after the firewe established a 400 m2 sampling grid within the burned area and in an adjacent unburned area with the same topographical, hydrological and pedological characteristics. Wecollected topsoil samples immediately after the fire (0 months), 2, 5, 7 and 9 months after the fire. We analysed soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), major nutrients including calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), sodium(Na), and potassium(K), and theminor elements aluminium(Al), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). We also calculated the soil Na and K adsorption ratio (SPAR), Ca:Mg and Ca:Al. The results showed that this low-severity grassland fire significantly decreased soil pH, Al, and Mn but increased EC, Ca,Mg, and K,. There was no effect on Na, Fe, and Zn. Therewas a decrease of EC, Ca,Mg, and Na from 0months after the fire until 7 months after the fire,with an increase during the last sampling period. Fire did not significantly affect SPAR. Ca:Mg decreased significantly immediately after the fire, but not to critical levels. Ca:Al increased after the fire, reducing the potential effects of Al on plants. Overall, fire impactsweremainly limited to the immediate period after the fire

Manure Effect on Soil–Plant Interactions in Capia Pepper Crops under Semiarid Climate Conditions

One of the biggest threats to agro-ecosystems, especially in arid and semiarid areas, is the deterioration of soil quality, which is associated with low soil organic matter levels. Despite the elevated volume of publications related to soil quality and crops, information about specific plants such as the Capia pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv.) with clear economic relevance in semiarid environments is missing. The aim of present study is to investigate the effects of different doses of manure on Capia pepper focusing on soil–plant interaction, soil quality, and plant yield in an experimental area located in Turkey. Key soil properties were monitored and relationships between plant and soil properties were evaluated using the principal component analysis (PCA). At the end of the first and second growing season, the effects of manure application on some plant and soil characteristics were statistically significant at different levels. According to the PCA result, 15 plant characteristics and 7 soil characteristics were grouped into five factors and defined 85.4% and 90.9% of the total variability in the population in the first and second growing seasons, respectively. Our research concluded that sustainable soil management such as the use of specific dose of manure improves soil quality and plant productivity

Sprawlscapes. Landscape transformation in periurban areas and the inherent rule of regional landscape planning: The case for metropolitan Barcelona, Spain

Based on a comprehensive database of town master plans and ancillary socioeconomic indicators of metropolitan development in Barcelona, a homogeneous classification of planned land-use was proposed with the objective to predict spatial directions and intensity in the expansion of built-up settlements. The spatial distribution of buildable land at the municipal scale revealed useful to assess the directions where cities will expand, in accordance with specific urbanization drivers. Our results shed light on short-term urban growth patterns and processes in a Mediterranean city emphasizing the progressive shift towards dispersed settlements that are going to replace the compact urbanization model observed since the 1980s. The planned expansion of urban settlements has contributed partly to a balanced and polycentric regional structure. Use of specific land-use indicators derived from local scale planning regulations and prescriptions for the assessment of future urbanization scenarios in Southern Europe was finally discussed

Finding Possible Weakness in the Runoff Simulation Experiments to Assess Rill Erosion Changes without Non-Intermittent Surveying Capabilities

The Terrestrial Photogrammetry Scanner (TEPHOS) offers the possibility to precisely monitor linear erosion features using the Structure from Motion (SfM) technique. This is a static, multi-camera array and dynamically moves the digital videoframe camera designed to obtain 3-D models of rills before and after the runoff experiments. The main goals were to (1) obtain better insight into the rills; (2) reduce the technical gaps generated during the runoff experiments using only one camera; (3) enable the visual location of eroded, transported and accumulated material. In this study, we obtained a mean error for all pictures reaching up to 0.00433 pixels and every single one of them was under 0.15 pixel. So, we obtained an error of about 1/10th of the maximum possible resolution. A conservative value for the overall accuracy was one pixel, which means that, in our case, the accuracy was 0.0625 mm. The point density, in our example, reached 29,484,888 pts/m2. It became possible to get a glimpse of the hotspots of sidewall failure and rill-bed incision. We conclude that the combination of both approaches—rill experiment and 3D models—will make easy under laboratory conditions to describe the soil erosion processes accurately in a mathematical–physical way

Editorial: Agricultural diversification: Benefits and barriers for sustainable soil management

ISSN:2296-665

Hydrological and erosional impact and farmer's perception on catch crops and weeds in citrus organic farming in Canyoles river watershed, Eastern Spain

[EN] It is needed to find the proper management from a biophysical point of view to promote sustainable agriculture. However, it is also necessary that farmers accept new strategies that propose cultural and technical shifts. A survey of the fannerg perception, and an assessment of the biophysical impact of catch crops (CC) and weeds (W) on soil organic matter, bulk density, infiltration capacity, runoff initiation, runoff discharge and soil detachment at the pedon scale were carried out. The field measurements in the Alcoleja experimental station demonstrated that organic matter and bulk density after 10 years of Vicla saliva L and Avena saliva L catch crops and weeds managed plots are similar. Both CC and W plots enhanced high infiltration rates under single ring ponding conditions, the runoff discharge was delayed and decreased; and soil erosion rates were lower in comparison to soil erosion rates measured in chemically managed farms. Soil quality was high for both management strategies and soil erosion rates much sustainable due to the live mulch that catch crops and weeds developed. However, an assessment of the farmed perception in the Canyoles river watershed citrus production area in Eastern Spain demonstrated that the farmer's community did not accept the use of catch crops or weeds. The survey proved that the farmers would accept the use of CC and W if subsidies were paid. The farmers claimed for the payment of the seeds and sowing expenses plus a 57 (sic) ha(-1) for the CC and 75 (sic) ha(-1) for Won average. The farmers considered the use of CC and W as benefit for the society, but not for them.This paper is part of the results of research projects GL2008-02879/BTE, LEDDRA 243857 and RECARE-FP7 (ENV.2013.6.2-4, http://recare-project.eu). We thank the editors and reviewers for their improvements to and careful review of the paper. The second coauthor, J. Rodrigo-Comino, was issued a grant to complete this study and some other about vineyards under the framework of a short-term scientific mission (COST-STSM-ECOST-STSM-ES1306-010217-081877).Cerda, A.; Rodrigo-Comino, J.; Giménez Morera, A.; Keesstra, SD. (2018). Hydrological and erosional impact and farmer's perception on catch crops and weeds in citrus organic farming in Canyoles river watershed, Eastern Spain. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment. 258:49-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.02.015S495825