The age of vines as a controlling factor of soil erosion processes in Mediterranean vineyards

Vineyards incur the highest soil and water losses among all Mediterranean agricultural fields. The state-of-the-art shows that soil erosion in vineyards has been primarily surveyed with topographical methods, soil erosion plots and rainfall simulations, but these techniques do not typically assess temporal changes in soil erosion. When vines are planted they are about 30 cm high × 1 cm diameter without leaves, the root system varies from 2 to over 40 cmdepth, and sometimes the lack of care used during transplanting can result in a field with highly erodible bare soils. This means that the time since vine plantation plays a key role in soil erosion rates, but very little attention has been paid to this by the scientific community. Thus, the main goal of this research was to estimate soil losses and assess soil erosion processes in two paired vineyard plantations of different ages. To achieve this goal, the improved stock unearthing method (ISUM) was applied to vineyards on colluvial parent materials with similar soil properties, topographical characteristics and landmanagements in the Les Alcusses Valley, southwestern Valencia province, Spain. Our findings suggested that the old vineyards showed lower erosion rates (−1.61 Mg ha−1 yr−1) than those that were recently planted (−8.16 Mg ha−1 yr−1). This is because of the damage that the plantation of the vines causes to soil. Tillage after planting (4 times per year) resulted in changes in the inter-rowand rowmorphology, promoting the development of a ridge underneath the vines that disconnected the inter-rows and reduced soil losseswith time. After the second year and until the 25th year after plantation, soil erosionwas approximately 1Mg ha−1 y−1,whichmeans thatmost of the erosion took place during the first two years after the plantation. Soil conservation strategies should be applied immediately after the plantationworks to allow sustainable grape production. That is when soil erosion most needs to be controlled

The Contrasted Impact of Land Abandonment on Soil Erosion in Mediterranean Agriculture Fields

Abandonment of agricultural land results in on- and off-site consequences on soil system and there is a need to evaluate the impact on soil erosion to understand the ecosystem's changes. The aim of this research is to assess the impact of abandonment in four Mediterranean crops (vineyards, almonds, citrus and olives) on soil and water losses. To achieve this goal, 105 rainfall simulation experiments were conducted in agriculture fields (vineyards in Málaga, almonds in Murcia, and citrus and olive in Valencia) and on the paired abandoned plots. After abandonment, soil detachment decreased drastically in the olive and citrus orchards, meanwhile vineyards did not show any difference and almonds registered higher erosion rates after the abandonment. Terraced orchards of citrus and olives recovered a dense vegetation cover after the abandonment, meanwhile the sloping terrain of almonds and vineyards enhanced the development of crusts and rills and a negligible plant cover that resulted in high erosion rates. The contrasted response of the abandonment is discussed

Role of rock fragment cover on runoff generation and sediment yield in tilled vineyards.

The soil in conventional Mediterranean vineyards is an active and non-sustainable source of sediment and water. Lack of vegetation cover, small soil organic matter content and intense ploughing result in large rates of erosion in a millennia-old tillage system. There is a need for soil conservation strategies that enable sustainability of wine and grape production; therefore, it is essential to measure the rates and to investigate the processes and factors of soil erosion. This study evaluated factors that can reduce soil losses in traditional Mediterranean vineyards. The investigation was carried out with 96 rainfall simulation experiments at the pedon scale (0.24m2) to measure soil detachment and runoff yield under low frequency-high magnitude rainfall events of 1 hour at 55mmhour−1. On average, runoff was 40.6% of the rainfall, and the rate of soil erosion (i.e. amount of soil lost) was 71.5 g m−2. The key factor controlling erosion was the rock fragment cover. There was a clear decrease in soil losses with increased rock fragment cover on the soil surface, but an increase in surface runoff. The results of our study showed that rock fragments at the pedon scale reduced soil erosion in Mediterranean vineyards, but when a layer of embedded rock fragments developed, large rates of runoff were triggered

An economic, perception and biophysical approach to the use of oat straw as mulch in Mediterranean rainfed agriculture land

Soil erosion is a key cause of land degradation in agriculture lands; and it is a worldwide threat that must be solved by means of nature-based strategies to be able to achieve sustainability. The use of mulches can be a solution, but there is a lack of information on long-term effects of the use of straw. Furthermore, little is known about the perception of farmers and the economic cost on the implantation of straw as a conservation measure. Eight paired plots were selected in Sierra de Enguera on an agriculture field to determine the effect of straw cover on soil erosion. Four plots were tilled three times per year (Control) and four plots were not ploughed and 0.125 kg m−2 y−1 of oat straw cover was applied yearly (Straw). The plots were established in 2002, and runoff and sediment was continuously collected after each rainfall event from 2004 till 2014 when the two managements were applied. The results show an immediate effect of the straw mulches as in these plots the runoff (from 7.7 till 5.9%) and soil erosion (from 47 till 26 Mg ha−1 y−1) was reduced already in the first year. The combined effect of the use of straw yearly and the no-tillage strategy resulted in a reduction of the sediment yield, and 11 years later soil erosion rates were two orders of magnitude lower than in the control plot. However, the perception of the farmers on the use of straw is very negative and they claim that subsidies need to be implemented, as the cost of straw mulch is 1.9 times more expensive than traditional tillage

Effects of parent material on soil erosion within Mediterranean new vineyard plantations

Parent material can determine specific physical and chemical soil properties and, therefore, soil erosion rates. However, for new vine plantations, there is not enough research on soil erosion assessment on different parent materials which could be helpful for agricultural management plans. The main aim of this research was to quantify soil erosion rates of two recent vineyard plantations under similar climate and land use management conditions, but on different parent materials, namely colluvium (2 years old) and marls (8 years old), located within the Les Alcusses valley vineyards in Eastern Spain. To achieve this goal, the ISUM (improved stock unearthing method) was applied. ISUM involves measurements of vertical distances from a horizontally stretched meter band attached to opposite pair vine plants to the topsoil surface at 5 sampling points along the cross sections of the pair vine rows. The original surface level was determined from the fixed distance of 2 cm of the graft unions from the soil surface. Digital elevation modelling of the vertical measurements was used to infer the erosion rates. Annual total soil erosion rates were 87.7 Mg ha−1 year−1 and 4.35 Mg ha−1 year−1 in the marls and colluvium plots, respectively. For the marls plot, 67% of the depletion occurred in the inter-row areas, whereas for the colluvium plot the inter-row areas registered 4.78 Mg ha−1 year−1 depletion and the row areas showed only a deposition of 0.44 Mg ha−1 year−1. We hypothesised that the inter-row areas registered the highest erosion rates due to the tillage practices. In the row areas, the cover of the vines possibly reduced soil erosion rates and acted as sinks for sediments. This behaviour of the inter-row areas acting as sources and the row areas as sinks for sediments was more evident on the colluvium plot, while most sections on the marls plot showed intense erosion features. It is suggested that more attention should be paid by policymakers and stakeholders to these differences when new plantations are introduced on marls and colluvium vineyards. We claim that initial soil erosion control measures should be applied during the first few years of plantations instead of when the vineyards are much older and soil has already been mobilised

Evaluation of multi-hazard map produced using MaxEnt machine learning technique

Natural hazards are diverse and uneven in time and space, therefore, understanding its complexity is key to save human lives and conserve natural ecosystems. Reducing the outputs obtained after each modelling analysis is key to present the results for stakeholders, land managers and policymakers. So, the main goal of this survey was to present a method to synthesize three natural hazards in one multi-hazard map and its evaluation for hazard management and land use planning. To test this methodology, we took as study area the Gorganrood Watershed, located in the Golestan Province (Iran). First, an inventory map of three different types of hazards including flood, landslides, and gullies was prepared using field surveys and different official reports. To generate the susceptibility maps, a total of 17 geo-environmental factors were selected as predictors using the MaxEnt (Maximum Entropy) machine learning technique. The accuracy of the predictive models was evaluated by drawing receiver operating characteristic-ROC curves and calculating the area under the ROC curve-AUCROC. The MaxEnt model not only implemented superbly in the degree of fitting, but also obtained significant results in predictive performance. Variables importance of the three studied types of hazards showed that river density, distance from streams, and elevation were the most important factors for flood, respectively. Lithological units, elevation, and annual mean rainfall were relevant for detecting landslides. On the other hand, annual mean rainfall, elevation, and lithological units were used for gully erosion mapping in this study area. Finally, by combining the flood, landslides, and gully erosion susceptibility maps, an integrated multi-hazard map was created. The results demonstrated that 60% of the area is subjected to hazards, reaching a proportion of landslides up to 21.2% in the whole territory. We conclude that using this type of multi-hazard map may be a useful tool for local administrators to identify areas susceptible to hazards at large scales as we demonstrated in this research

Surveying topographical changes and climate variations to detect the urban heat island in the city of Málaga (Spain)

Acknowledgements We would like to thank REDIAM (Junta de Andalucía) the availability of climatic dataPeer reviewedPublisher PD

A Conceptual Model for Planning and Management of Areas of Public Space and Meeting in Colombia

A refined investigation of new trends in urban analysis assuming a sustainable design of Areas of Public Space and Meeting (APSM) is a fundamental response to the challenges of inclusive and efficient cities. Even though the APSM are districts regarded as urban structuring systems, there is a lack of territorial planning instruments and conceptual models aimed at explaining their long-term dynamics. Based on these premises, we developed a conceptual model that articulates relevant variables of interest for the planning and management of APSM. The construction of the model includes the review and analysis of the literature and the validation process based on a consultation with a panel of experts on the subject. Our findings demonstrate that the existing research does not address the APSM issue adequately, and the methodologies proposed so far do not lead to accurate and comprehensive analyses of urban complexity in light of sustainability targets. There are only isolated, disjointed, and partial approaches to variables of interest, making it difficult to carry out holistic studies. Our technical and scientific proposal offers a framework for an exhaustive evaluation of these areas. The model has been structured according to the assumptions of urban sustainability and can be applied to diverse urban environments in South America

Soil degradation and socioeconomic systems’ complexity: Uncovering the latent nexus

Understanding Soil Degradation Processes (SDPs) is a fundamental issue for humankind. Soil degradation involves complex processes that are influenced by a multifaceted ensemble of socioeconomic and ecological factors at vastly different spatial scales. Desertification risk (the ultimate outcome of soil degradation, seen as an irreversible process of natural resource destruction) and socioeconomic trends have been recently analyzed assuming “resilience thinking” as an appropriate interpretative paradigm. In a purely socioeconomic dimension, resilience is defined as the ability of a local system to react to external signals and to promote future development. This ability is intrinsically bonded with the socio-ecological dynamics characteristic of environmentally homogeneous districts. However, an evaluation of the relationship between SDPs and socioeconomic resilience in local systems is missing in mainstream literature. Our commentary formulates an exploratory framework for the assessment of soil degradation, intended as a dynamic process of natural resource depletion, and the level of socioeconomic resilience in local systems. Such a framework is intended to provide a suitable background to sustainability science and regional policies at the base of truly resilient local systems