Effects of Crop Canopies on Rain Splash Detachment

Abstract

Crops are one of the main factors affecting soil erosion in sloping fields. To determine the characteristics of splash erosion under crop canopies, corn, soybean, millet, and winter wheat were collected, and the relationship among splash erosion, rainfall intensity, and throughfall intensity under different crop canopies was analyzed through artificial rainfall experiments. The results showed that, the mean splash detachment rate on the ground surface was 390.12 g/m2·h, which was lower by 67.81% than that on bare land. The inhibiting effects of crops on splash erosion increased as the crops grew, and the ability of the four crops to inhibit splash erosion was in the order of winter wheat>corn>soybeans>millet. An increase in rainfall intensity could significantly enhance the occurrence of splash erosion, but the ability of crops to inhibit splash erosion was 13% greater in cases of higher rainfall intensity. The throughfall intensity under crop canopies was positively related to the splash detachment rate, and this relationship was more significant when the rainfall intensity was 40 mm/h. Splash erosion tended to occur intensively in the central row of croplands as the crop grew, and the non-uniformity of splash erosion was substantial, with splash erosion occurring mainly between the rows and in the region directly under the leaf margin. This study has provided a theoretical basis for describing the erosion mechanisms of cropland and for assisting soil erosion prediction as well as irrigation and fertilizer management in cultivated fields.

Validation of the EROSION-3D Model through Measured Bathymetric Sediments

“…There is a direct connection between the crop management system and soil losses; therefore, the crop management system is one of the main factors affecting soil erosion by water [40]. Appropriate land management can significantly help reduce erosion processes [41][42][43].…”

Splash erosion: A review with unanswered questions

“…But depending on the goal of the research, this disturbation of structure of soil may not be an inconvenient. In some cases, sieved soil material has been used in order to obtain comparable measurements (Ryżak et al, 2015;Ma et al, 2014;Fu et al, 2011).…”

“…The most common device is the splash cup system (Ma et al, 2014), based on the first Ellison's model (Ellison, 1947). Several researchers have used special splash cup devices with some modifications in the size or design (Erpul et al, 2005;Fernández-Raga et al, 2010;Geißler et al, 2012a, b;Poesen and Torri, 1988;Proffitt et al, 1989; or splash curtains (Mermut et al, 1997).…”

“…The review of the publications on splash erosion allow us to highlight the main findings and the current knowledge: i) the amount of detached particles increases with rainfall intensity (Ma et al, 2014;Mermut et al, 1997), but in any case, the most important parameter that affects the splash erosion is the kinetic energy of raindrops (Fernández-Raga, 2012; Fernández-Raga et al, 2010); ii) recurrent storms in a short time cause a progressive decrease of splash erosion. This effect is more pronounced at higher rainfall intensities.…”

“…Some strategies have been found useful to prevent splash erosion, such as vegetation cover or different mulch materials (straw, needles, leaves, litter, rock fragments or geotextiles) because those materials can absorb the impact of raindrops and protect the ground surface (Díaz-Raviña et al, 2012;Giménez-Morera et al, 2010a;Ma et al, 2014;Robichaud and MacDonald, 2009). If the soil particles are not detached, they will not be transported by the sheet flow, and, consequently, sheet flow will not have potential enough to dislodge more soil particles from the bare surface.…”