Assessing soil properties controlling interrill erosion: an empirical approach under Mediterranean conditions
2017
Ollobarren del Barrio, Paul | Giménez Díaz, Rafael | Campo-Bescós, Miguel | Landa Ingeniaritza eta Proiektuak | Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD | Proyectos e Ingeniería Rural | Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
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.
Show more [+] Less [-]This study was partly financed by the Spanish Government’s National Plan for Research, Development and Technological Innovation [projects CGL2011-24336 (MICIN/FEDER) and CGL2015-64284-C2-1-R (MINECO/FEDER)]. The authors thank the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) for funding this work with a grant awarded to the principal author.
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