Impacts of vineyard area dynamics on soil erosion in a Mediterranean catchment (1950-2011)

Abstract

The Mediterranean basin has undergone widespread land cover change. Urbanization of coastal areas, land abandonment of steeper slopes, and agricultural intensification in alluvial plains are recurrent themes. The objective of this study was to examine how vineyard land cover changes have affected agricultural soil erosion in a 50 year period .The study area covers a 235 km 2 catchment located near the Gulf of St Tropez. Aerial photographs were used to map land cover in 1950, 1982, 2003 and 2011, and the RUSLE soil erosion model was run to estimate soil erosion.

Comparing Hydric Erosion Soil Loss Models in Rainy Mountainous and Dry Flat Regions in Portugal

“…The soil loss problem is concentrated in arable crop areas due to the adopted exploitation of agricultural management practices and intense farming that increases soil loss [6]. Several studies have been performed in the Mediterranean watersheds, since this region is particularly prone to erosion, due to the long dry periods, heavy erosive rainfall events, steep slopes, low organic matter, low nutrient contents, and rapid landuse changes [7][8][9]. For instance, Rellini et al [9] applied the RUSLE model in Portofino…”