Effect of land set up systems on soil losses

Published: 17 December 2020
Abstract Views: 679
PDF: 471
HTML: 12
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Agricultural land set up systems comprise those agronomic structures able to preserve the soil fertility from water erosion, such as: ditching, contouring, earth-riser and stonewall terracing, draining, and channelization, etc.. However, in the past 60 years, agricultural mechanization has led to an expansion of the field size and reduction in land set up system intensity to make machine operation more feasible and cheaper. As a consequence, these transformations have made sloping fields less resilient to the storms and accelerated the soil erosion processes. Based on an 8- year field study in ‘Chianti Classico’ area (Tuscany, Central Italy), this research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the land set up systems such as diversion ditch, earth-riser and stonewall terracing on reducing water erosion from field crops, olive orchards, and vineyards. The results showed that diversion ditches were effective on herbaceous crop fields with slope steepness lower than 9%. While, for higher slopes, diversion ditches were not sufficient to contain the soil loss within OECD 2008 tolerable limits in none of the considered land uses. On the opposite, in steep slopes, earth-riser terraces and stonewall terraces have shown their value as land set up system capable of reducing the erosive process. Their greatest drawback is the reduction of the cultivable surface deriving from the presence of the riser and the walls. However, their added value as a precious element characterizing the local landscape was of considerable importance for the local economy linked to tourism.

 

Highlights

- Diversion ditches reduce soil erosion on herbaceous crop fields with slope lower than 9%.
- Diversion ditches did not contain the soil loss within acceptable limits on steep slopes.
- Earth-riser terraces and stonewall terraces reduced soil losses within acceptable limits.
- Terraces reduced soil loss by 4.7-12.3 times with respect to diversion ditches.
- The analysis was performed on measured average annual soil loss data from 695 fields.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Agnoletti M, Conti L, Frezza L, Monti M, Santoro A, 2015a. Features Analysis of Dry Stone Walls of Tuscany (Italy). Sustainability 7:13887–903.
Agnoletti M, Conti L, Frezza L, Santoro A, 2015b. Territorial Analysis of the Agricultural Terraced Landscapes of Tuscany (Italy): Preliminary Results. Sustainability 7:4564–81.
Altobelli F, Monteleone A, Cimino O, Dalla Marta A, Orlandini S, Trestini S, Toulios L, Nejedlik P, Vucetic V, Cicia G, Panico T, Cavallo C, D’Urso G, Del Giudice T, Giampietri E, 2019. Farmers’ willingness to pay for an environmental certification scheme: Promising evidence for water saving. Outlook Agric. 48:136–42.
Arhonditsis G, Giourga C, Loumou A, 2000. Ecological Patterns and Comparative Nutrient Dynamics of Natural and Agricultural Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems. Environmental Management 26: 527–37.
Bazzoffi P, Ciancaglini A, Laruccia N, 2011. Effectiveness of the GAEC cross-compliance standard short-term measures for runoff water control on sloping land (temporary ditches and grass strips) in controlling soil erosion. Ital. J. Agron. 6:10–24.
Bazzoffi P, Francaviglia R, Neri U, Napoli R, Marchetti A, Falcucci M, Pennelli B, Simonetti G, Barchetti A, Migliore M, Fedrizzi M, Guerrieri M, Pagano M, Puri D, Sperandio G, Ventrella D, 2016. Environmental effectiveness of GAEC cross-compliance Standard 1.1a (temporary ditches) and 1.2g (permanent grass cover of set-aside) in reducing soil erosion and economic evaluation of the competitiveness gap for farmers. Ital. J. Agron. 10(s1).
Biddoccu M, Ferraris S, Opsi F, Cavallo E, 2016. Long-term monitoring of soil management effects on runoff and soil erosion in sloping vineyards in Alto Monferrato (North-West Italy). Soil Tillage Res. 155:176–89.
Borselli L, Torri D, Øygarden L, De Alba S, Martínez-Casasnovas J, Bazzoffi P, Jakab G, 2006. Land Levelling. In: Soil Erosion in Europe. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Hoboken, N.J., USA, pp 643–58.
Camera C, Djuma H, Bruggeman A, Zoumides C, Eliades M, Charalambous K, Abate D, Faka M, 2018. Quantifying the effectiveness of mountain terraces on soil erosion protection with sediment traps and dry-stone wall laser scans. Catena 171:251–64.
Cerdan O, Poesen J, Govers G, Saby N, Le Bissonnais Y, Gobin A, Vacca A, Quinton J, Auerswald K, Klik A, Kwaad FFPM, Roxo MJ, 2006. Sheet and Rill Erosion. In: Soil Erosion in Europe. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Hoboken, N.J., USA, pp 501–13.
Cots-Folch R, Martínez-Casasnovas JA, Ramos MC, 2006. Land terracing for new vineyard plantations in the north-eastern Spanish Mediterranean region: Landscape effects of the EU Council Regulation policy for vineyards’ restructuring. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 115:88–96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.11.030
Diodato N, Bellocchi G, 2010. MedREM, a rainfall erosivity model for the Mediterranean region. J. Hydrol. 387:119–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.04.003
Evans R, Boardman J, 1994. Assessment of Water Erosion in Farmers’ Fields in the UK. In: Rickson RJ (ed) Conserving Soil Resources: European Perspectives. CABI, Wallingford, UK, pp 13–24.
Francia Martínez JR, Durán Zuazo VH, Martínez Raya A, 2006. Environmental impact from mountainous olive orchards under different soil-management systems (SE Spain). Sci. Total Environ. 358:46–60.
Gardin L, Vinci A, 2016. Carta dei suoli della Regione Toscana in scala 1:250.000. Available from: http://159.213.57.101/pmapper/map.phtml
Gómez JA, Sobrinho TA, Giráldez J V., Fereres E, 2009. Soil management effects on runoff, erosion and soil properties in an olive grove of Southern Spain. Soil Tillage Res. 102:5–13.
Gunatilake HM, Vieth GR, 2000. Estimation of on-site cost of soil erosion: A comparison of replacement and productivity change methods. J. Soil Water Conserv. 55.
Kisić I, Basić F, Nestroy O, Mesić M, Butorać A, 2002. Soil erosion under different tillage methods in central Croatia. Die Bodenkultur 53:199–206.
Kosmas C, Danalatos N, Kosma D, Kosmopoulou P, 2006. Greece. In: Soil Erosion in Europe. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Hoboken, N.J., USA, pp 279–88.
Lal R, 1995. Erosion crop productivity relationships for soils of Africa. Soil Sci Soc Am J 59:661–7.
Landi R, 1989. Revision of land management systems in Italian hilly area. In: Schhwertmann U, Rickson RJ, Auwerswald K (eds) Soil Erosion Protection Measures in Europe. Soil technology series 1. Catena Werlag, Cremlingen, DE, pp 175–188.
MacDonald D, Crabtree JR, Wiesinger G, Dax T, Stamou N, Fleury P, Gutierrez Lazpita J, Gibon A, 2000. Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: Environmental consequences and policy response. J. Environ. Manage. 59:47–69.
Marques MJ, García-Muñoz S, Muñoz-Organero G, Bienes R, 2010. Soil conservation beneath grass cover in hillside vineyards under Mediterranean Climatic conditions (Madrid, Spain). L. Degrad. Dev. 21:122–31.
Massetti L, Grassi C, Orlandini S, Napoli M, 2020. Modelling hydrological processes in agricultural areas with complex topography. Agronomy 10:750.
Napoli M, Cecchi S, Orlandini S, Mugnai G, Zanchi CA, 2016. Simulation of field-measured soil loss in Mediterranean hilly areas (Chianti, Italy) with RUSLE. Catena 145:246–56.
Napoli M, Cecchi S, Orlandini S, Zanchi CA, 2014. Determining potential rainwater harvesting sites using a continuous runoff potential accounting procedure and GIS techniques in central Italy. Agric. Water Manag. 141:55-65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2014.04.012
Napoli M, Marta AD, Zanchi CA, Orlandini S, 2017. Assessment of soil and nutrient losses by runoff under different soil management practices in an Italian hilly vineyard. Soil Tillage Res. 168:71-80.
Napoli M, Orlandini S, 2015. Evaluating the Arc-SWAT2009 in predicting runoff, sediment, and nutrient yields from a vineyard and an olive orchard in Central Italy. Agric. Water Manag. 153:51-62.
Novara A., Gristina L, Saladino SS, Santoro A, Cerdà A, 2011. Soil erosion assessment on tillage and alternative soil managements in a Sicilian vineyard. Soil Tillage Res. 117:140–7.
OECD, 2008. Environmental performance of agriculture at a glance. Paris. Available from: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/28/40953155.pdf
Porqueddu C, Roggero PP, 1994. Effetto delle tecniche agronomiche di intensificazione foraggera sui fenomeni erosivi dei terreni in pendio in ambiente mediterraneo. Riv. Di Agron. 28:364–370.
Pulighe G, Bonati G, Colangeli M, Traverso L, Lupia F, Altobelli F, Dalla Marta A, Napoli M, 2020. Predicting streamflow and nutrient loadings in a semi-arid Mediterranean watershed with ephemeral streams using the SWAT model. Agronomy, 10:2.
Raglione M, Toscano P, Angelini R, Briccoli-Bati C, Spadoni M, De Simona C, Lorenzini P, 1999. Olive yield and soil loss in hilly environment of Calabria (Southern Italy). Influence of Permanent Cover Crop and Ploughing. pp 1038-40 in Proceedings of the International Meeting on Soils with Mediterranean Type of Climate, July 4th–9th, 1999, Barcelona, Spain
Ramos MC, Martínez-Casasnovas JA, 2006. Impact of land levelling on soil moisture and runoff variability in vineyards under different rainfall distributions in a Mediterranean climate and its influence on crop productivity. J. Hydrol. 321:131–46.
Romero-Díaz A, Cammeraat LH, Vacca A, Kosmas C, 1999. Soil erosion at three experimental sites in the mediterranean. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 24:1243–56.
Sheng TC, 1988. Demonstrating conservation practices on steep lands in Jamaica. In: Moldenhauer WC, Hudson NW (eds) Conservation Farming on Steep Lands. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa, USA, pp 207–214.
SIR, 2019. Available from: http://www.sir.toscana.it/ricerca-dati
Stonestrom DA, Scanlon BR, Zhang L, 2009. Introduction to special section on Impacts of Land Use Change on Water Resources. Water Resour. Res. 45:W00A00
Tarolli P, Preti F, Romano N, 2014. Terraced landscapes: From an old best practice to a potential hazard for soil degradation due to land abandonment. Anthropocene 6:10–25.
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD, 1978. Predicting rainfall erosion losses: A guide to conservation planning. The USDA Agricultural Handbook No. 537, Maryland, USA.

How to Cite

Napoli, M., Altobelli, F., & Orlandini, S. (2020). Effect of land set up systems on soil losses. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 15(4), 306–314. https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2020.1768