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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Erosion and Sediment Transport".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (3 November 2020) | Viewed by 23268

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ramón Bienes

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Guest Editor

IMIDRA, Applied Research Department, Alcala de Henares, Spain
Interests: erosion; simulated rainfall; soil degradation; cover crops; soil management; land use; olive grove; vineyard

Dr. María José Marqués

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Guest Editor

Geology and Geochemistry Department. Autonomous University of Madrid. Spain
Interests: soil conservation; water erosion; desertification; sustainable land management; tillage; soil organic carbon

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A warming trend is expected over the next decades. The experience gained in sustainable dryland management can be used to improve adaption to new scenarios of drought and rainfall extreme events. Agricultural land is especially vulnerable to these changes. The way in which land management practices have increased soil organic matter, water retention, and soil biodiversity are considered valuable evidence to be used as tools to face future soil degradation.

This Special Issue is aimed at gathering practical experiences and traditional or new techniques in agricultural fields to control chemical, physical, and biological degradation, including erosion from plot to landscape scales. Studies on reduced tillage, cover crops, organic amendments, or strategies to improve soil biodiversity can contribute to updating the state-of-the-art of agricultural soil conservation. This Special Issue also has the opportunity to show added benefits of sustainable land management practices for mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration in soils and other sustainable development goals related to land and water conservation.

Dr. Ramón Bienes
Dr. María José Marqués
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Erosion
Runoff
Erosion control
Soil degradation
Soil conservation
Land use
Soil organic carbon
Carbon sequestration
Cover crops
Soil management
Agri-environmental systems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Linking Soil Water Changes to Soil Physical Quality in Sugarcane Expansion Areas in Brazil

by Felipe Bonini da Luz, Martha Lustosa Carvalho, Daniel Aquino de Borba, Bruna Emanuele Schiebelbein, Renato Paiva de Lima and Maurício Roberto Cherubin

Water 2020, 12(11), 3156; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113156 - 12 Nov 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3695

Abstract

Brazil is the world’s largest sugarcane producer with projections for expanding the current area by 30% in the coming years, mainly in areas previously occupied by pastures. We assess soil water changes induced by land-use change (LUC) for sugarcane expansion in the central-south region of Brazil. For that purpose, soil samples were collected in a typical LUC sequence (native vegetation–pasture–sugarcane) in two contrasting soil textures (i.e., sandy and clayey). Soil hydro-physical properties such as pores size distribution, bulk density, soil water content, water tension, and drainage time at field capacity, plant-available water, and S-index were analyzed. Our data showed that long-term LUC from native vegetation to extensive pasture induced severe degradation in soil physical quality and soil water dynamics. However, conventional tillage used during conversion from pasture to sugarcane did not cause additional degradation on soil structure and soil water dynamics. Over time, sugarcane cultivation slightly impaired soil water and physical conditions, but only in the 10–20 cm layer in both soils. Therefore, we highlight that sustainable management practices to enhance soil physical quality and water dynamics in sugarcane fields are needed to prevent limiting conditions to plant growth and contribute to delivering other ecosystem services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion, Soil Desertification and Soil Conservation in Agri-Environment Systems)

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19 pages, 3356 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Soil Management Effects on Soil Water Erosion and Runoff in Central Syria—A Comparative Evaluation of General Linear Model and Random Forest Regression

by Safwan Mohammed, Ali Al-Ebraheem, Imre J. Holb, Karam Alsafadi, Mohammad Dikkeh, Quoc Bao Pham, Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh and Szilard Szabo

Water 2020, 12(9), 2529; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092529 - 10 Sep 2020

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 6015

Abstract

The Mediterranean part of Syria is affected by soil water erosion due to poor land management. Within this context, the main aim of this research was to track soil erosion and runoff after each rainy storm between September 2013 and April 2014 (rainy season), on two slopes with different gradients (4.7%; 10.3%), under three soil cover types (SCTs): bare soil (BS), metal sieve cover (MC), and strip cropping (SC), in Central Syria. Two statistical multivariate models, the general linear model (GLM), and the random forest regression (RFR) were applied to reveal the importance of SCTs. Our results reveal that higher erosion rate, as well as runoff, were recorded in BS followed by MC, and SC. Accordingly, soil cover had a significant effect (p < 0.001) on soil erosion, and no significant difference was detected between MC and SC. Different combinations of slopes and soil cover had no effect on erosion, at least in this experiment. RFR performed better than GLM in predictions. GLM’s median of mean absolute error was 21% worse than RFR. Nonetheless, 25 repetitions of 2-fold cross-validation ensured the highest available prediction accuracy for RFR. In conclusion, we revealed that runoff, rain intensity and soil cover were the most important factors in erosion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion, Soil Desertification and Soil Conservation in Agri-Environment Systems)

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21 pages, 3769 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Groundcovers in Olive Groves in Semiarid Climates: Are They Always Beneficial?

by Blanca Sastre, Belén Álvarez, Omar Antón, Maria Ángeles Pérez, Maria Jose Marques, Ramón Bienes and Andrés García-Díaz

Water 2020, 12(8), 2230; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082230 - 7 Aug 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3164

Abstract

Olive groves on the Mediterranean Basin are usually managed by continuous tillage and low organic matter inputs, leading to several soil degradation processes. Groundcovers (GCs) have come out as an alternative soil management strategy to improve soil’s fertility, soil’s organic matter quantity, and the sustainability of agro-ecosystems. Nevertheless, farmers are still unwilling to implement GCs or reduce tilling frequency while there are still some uncertainties and lack of global analyses. The purpose of this study was to perform an assessment of the effects of using GC on the soil parameters microbiological biomass, crop yield, and olive oil quality. A field trial was performed on a gypsiferous soil in central Spain with three different GCs: permanent GC of Brachypodium distachyon (BRA); permanent GC of spontaneous vegetation (SVE), and annual GC of Vicia ervilia (BIT) to be compared with conventional tillage (TIL). After three years, numbers of nematodes, fungi, and bacteria were higher on plant roots regardless of GC composition. BRA was the treatment with the biggest impact on soil and yield parameters. BRA increased soil organic carbon 1.03 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ at 0–10 cm depth but reduced significantly olive yield because of nitrogen competition. The BIT treatment improved soil organic carbon stocks and soil structure, and did not reduce olive yield significantly regarding TIL. The BIT treatment was considered the best soil management strategy in semiarid conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion, Soil Desertification and Soil Conservation in Agri-Environment Systems)

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16 pages, 3705 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Tillage Versus No-Tillage. Soil Properties and Hydrology in an Organic Persimmon Farm in Eastern Iberian Peninsula

by Artemi Cerdà, Jesús Rodrigo-Comino, Tuğrul Yakupoğlu, Turgay Dindaroğlu, Enric Terol, Gaspar Mora-Navarro, Alireza Arabameri, Maja Radziemska, Agata Novara, Ataollah Kavian, Magdalena Daria Vaverková, Sameh Kotb Abd-Elmabod, Hafiz Mohkum Hammad and Ioannis N. Daliakopoulos

Water 2020, 12(6), 1539; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12061539 - 28 May 2020

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 5906

Abstract

There is an urgent need to implement environmentally friendly agriculture management practices to achieve the Sustainable Goals for Development (SDGs) of the United Nations by 2030. Mediterranean agriculture is characterized by intense and millennia-old tillage management and as a consequence degraded soil. No-Tillage has been widely examined as a solution for soil degradation but No-Tillage relies more on the application of herbicides that reduce plant cover, which in turn enhances soil erosion. However, No-Tillage with weed cover should be researched to promote organic farming and sustainable agriculture. Therefore, we compare Tillage against No-Tillage using weed cover as an alternative strategy to reduce soil losses in persimmon plantations, both of them under organic farming management. To achieve these goals, two plots were established at “La Canyadeta” experimental station on 25-years old Persimmon plantations, which are managed with Tillage and No-Tillage for 3 years. A survey of the soil cover, soil properties, runoff generation and initial soil losses using rainfall simulation experiments at 55 mm h⁻¹ in 0.25 m² plot was carried out. Soils under Tillage are bare (96.7%) in comparison to the No-Tillage (16.17% bare soil), with similar organic matter (1.71 vs. 1.88%) and with lower bulk densities (1.23 vs. 1.37 g cm³). Tillage induces faster ponding (60 vs. 92 s), runoff (90 vs. 320 s) and runoff outlet (200 vs. 70 s). The runoff discharge was 5.57 times higher in the Tillage plots, 8.64 for sediment concentration and 48.4 for soil losses. We conclude that No-tillage shifted the fate of the tilled field after 3 years with the use of weeds as a soil cover conservation strategy. This immediate effect of No-Tillage under organic farming conditions is very promising to achieve the SDGs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion, Soil Desertification and Soil Conservation in Agri-Environment Systems)

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17 pages, 16221 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Estimating Soil Organic Carbon in Agricultural Gypsiferous Soils by Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy

by Maria Jose Marques, Ana María Álvarez, Pilar Carral, Iris Esparza, Blanca Sastre and Ramón Bienes

Water 2020, 12(1), 261; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010261 - 16 Jan 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3570

Abstract

Contents of soil organic carbon (SOC), gypsum, CaCO₃, and quartz, among others, were analyzed and related to reflectance features in visible and near-infrared (VIS/NIR) range, using partial least square regression (PLSR) in ParLes software. Soil samples come from a sloping olive grove managed by frequent tillage in a gypsiferous area of Central Spain. Samples were collected in three different layers, at 0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm depth (IPCC guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme in 2006). Analyses were performed by C Loss-On-Ignition, X-ray diffraction and water content by the Richards plates method. Significant differences for SOC, gypsum, and CaCO₃ were found between layers; similarly, soil reflectance for 30 cm depth layers was higher. The resulting PLSR models (60 samples for calibration and 30 independent samples for validation) yielded good predictions for SOC (R² = 0.74), moderate prediction ability for gypsum and were not accurate for the rest of rest of soil components. Importantly, SOC content was related to water available capacity. Soils with high reflectance features held c.a. 40% less water than soils with less reflectance. Therefore, higher reflectance can be related to degradation in gypsiferous soil. The starting point of soil degradation and further evolution could be established and mapped through remote sensing techniques for policy decision making. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion, Soil Desertification and Soil Conservation in Agri-Environment Systems)

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