Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Abstract
Resumen del trabajo presentado al IV International Symposium on Gully Erosion, celebrado en la Universidad Pública de Navarra del 17 al 19 de septiembre de 2007.Soil erosion by water causes significant soil degradation
worldwide. Most erosion process research and erosion
control has focussed on sheet and rill erosion. Relatively
little research has dealt with (ephemeral) gully erosion
which is illustrated, for instance, by a recent review of soil
erosion studies in Europe (Boardman and Poesen 2006).
Gullies typically occupy less than 5 % of the upland area,
but gully erosion may be held responsible for relatively
large soil losses (up to 80 %) by water erosion and related
sediment production with significant on and off site
consequences. Hence, controlling soil erosion in
concentrated flow zones pays of. However, innovation in
research on gully erosion control is rather limited compared
to progress in research on gully (or more generally
concentrated flow) erosion processes (Poesen et al. 2003).
The objectives of this study are therefore to review recent
developments in gully erosion research that have
implications for improving the effectiveness of (ephemeral)
gully erosion control measures and to formulate some
important challenges