Assessing Soil Properties Controlling Interrill Erosion: An Empirical Approach under Mediterranean Conditions

Abstract

Soil erodibility is a complex phenomenon that comprises a number of different soil properties. However, most current (empirical) erodibility indices are based on only a few soil properties. A feasible soil characterization of interrill erosion (IE) prediction at large scale should be based on simple, quick and inexpensive tests to perform. The objective of this work was to identify and assess those soil properties that best reflect soil vulnerability to IE. Twenty‐three agricultural soil samples located in Spain and Italy were studied. Forty‐nine different physical and chemical soil properties that presumably underpin IE were defined. Experiments were carried out in the field (in microplots using simulated rainfall) and in the lab. The most relevant variables were detected using multivariate analysis. Six key variables were finally identified: RUSLE K factor, a granulometric/organic matter content index, exchangeable sodium percentage, shear strength, penetration resistance and permeability of soil seal. The latter is proposed as a useful technique to evaluate soil susceptibility to crusting even when the crust is not present at the time of the field survey. The selected variables represented a wide range of soil properties, and they could also be successfully applied to different soils with different characteristics than those evaluated in our experiments. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Runoff and soil erosion responses to rainfall and vegetation cover under various afforestation management regimes in subtropical montane forest

“…Numerous studies have reported the quantitative relationships between soil loss and rainfall and vegetation cover using various modeling approaches, such as regression, conceptual, and physics-based models (de Vente & Poesen, 2005), using observations made at microplots (less than 10 m 2 ; e.g., Ha et al, 2012;Lacombe et al, 2018) and/or rainfall simulation experiments (Ollobarren Del Barrio, Giménez, & Campo-Bescós, 2017). The low data requirement, small number of variables, and extrapolation to the same region increase the applicability of regression models on annual erosion at the slope scale, though the process dynamics are not precisely presented.…”

Prediction of Internal Erosion Parameters of Clay Soils Using Initial Physical Properties

“…There are few investigations in the literature that studied the internal erosion of soil. Barrio et al [29] concluded that the shear strength and permeability relate well with soil erodibility. Few researchers investigated the behavior and the factors affecting soil internal erosion.…”

Degraded Land Analyses of Brantas River Basin to Support Land Rehabilitation

“…Yang berpengaruh terhadap erosi tidak hanya jenis penutupan lahan saja tetapi juga tingkat kelerengan, tekstur drainase, dan tingkat penutupan vegetasi (Sigalos et al, 2016). Hasil penelitian lain menunjukkan bahwa ada beberapa faktor lagi yang juga mempengaruhi erosi yaitu erodibilitas tanah (K), BO (Bahan Organik), persentase natrium yang bisa ditukar, kekuatan geser, serta daya penetrasi dan permeabilitas tanah (Barrio et al, 2017). Pada kasus di DAS Brantas, pengaruh kemiringan lahan secara individual tidak terlihat nyata karena tingkat erosi tinggi dan sangat tinggi terdapat diseluruh kelas kemiringan lahan (Tabel 6).…”