Only recently have erosion models begun to be used in research work in Cuba, specifically the USLE and the thematic cartography of factors in a GIS framework without using a specific model. It therefore becomes necessary to include simulation models for karst regions that make possible an integral assessment of the specific types of soil erosion in those environments and take into consideration the effects of climate change in soil management systems. Morphometric analysis of karst doline absorption forms in regions of La Habana Province in 1986, 1997, and 2009 allowed the characterisation and application of the Morgan Morgan Finney (MMF) conceptual empirical erosion model in the Country for the first time. The results showed previously unreported losses of 12·3–13·7 t of soil ha −1 y−1, which surpasses the permissible erosion threshold. Furthermore, it clearly shows the unsustainable trend of Red Ferralitic and Ferrasol Rhodic (World Reference Base) soils use. The model applied considered the effects of extreme rainfall events associated with climate change in recent years. The results found have led to strategies for coping with future climate change in each scenario and have made it possible to evaluate the consequences. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

To date, neither the method nor diagnostic indices employed in Cuba to evaluate erosion of Red Ferralitic or Ferrasol Rhodic soil in karstic regions has taken into consideration morphogenesis in such geo‐ecosystems or their relationship with erosion, which has led to sequential degradation of the most productive soils in Cuba. We explore the case for considering A + B horizon depth as one of the basic indices for evaluating the severity of erosion. There is no methodology available for estimating the volume of soil lost through karstic absorption forms (dolines). This article forecasts loss of soil cover using a model which estimates losses of 268·52 to 450·52 mm y−1 for future scenarios (periods of 25 and 50 years). A mean loss rate of 1·07 mm y−1 was found in areas cultivated as pastureland during the period from 1986 to 2009, which exceeds the tolerance thresholds proposed by the Universal Soil Loss Equation and the soil formation rates estimated for limestone in Cuba and it is likely there is with a marked tendency for this to increase. These results should be interpreted as a first estimate for setting loss tolerances as there is no similar experience with own data for a more precise definition of the erosion of soil in karstic regions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Specialized literature continues classifying Red Ferralitic soil, or Rhodic Ferralsol in the World Reference Base, as "not eroded" in spite of the gradual degradation of the most productive soils in Cuba. Depth of Red Ferralitic soil has traditionally been the dominant criterion for estimating ancestral erosion rates. However, this did not take karst erosion into consideration. This new approach considers the influence of karstic morphogenesis on soil erosion using the amount of karst formation as a diagnostic index for evaluating soil erosion in karst regions. The potential and current erosion indices were mapped as medium and high using the CORINE and EVERC methodologies. Quantitative soil losses of as much as 13.71 t ha −1 year −1 were found with the Morgan-Morgan-Finney method. This article, based on research done over more than two decades in reference localities in the west of the country, revalidates the influence of intensive anthropogenesis. This reinforces water and karst erosion, which coexist spatially by zones in karst plains and highlands karst environments, and have a strong tendency to increase, threatening Cuban "red soils," traditionally considered to be the most productive in the world, with extinction. F: rate of soil scattered by splashing 16.90 (t ha −1 ) G: surface flow transport capacity Watershed A: 1.63 (t ha −1 year −1 ) Watershed B: 1.14 (t ha −1 year −1 ) Watershed C: 0.47 (t ha −1 year −1 ) Adapted from Vega-Carreño and Febles-González (2013). FIG. 7. Stones and clastic rocks widely strewn on the surface impede farm work.