LONG TERM SEDIMENT YIELD AND MITIGATION IN A SMALL SOUTHERN PIEDMONT WATERSHED

lINTRoDUCTlONTheSouthernPiedmo12tph}siographicregioninthesoutheasternUnitedStatescoversaboutl6.5millionhae\tendingl2OOkmtYomsouthernVirginiatoeast-centralAlabamaandliesbetweentheAppalachianMountainsandthesouthernCoastalPlain(Carrekeretal.,l977).ThePiedmontslopessoutheast\\ardtbrapproximatel}25Oto3ookmtYom35omabovesealeveladjacenttothemountainsto]OOmabo\7esealevela1ongthesoLltheasternedge.Thislbothillsregionisdissectedbymanystreams.Thetopograph}isgentI}rolling,x`ithgentletomoderates…     

Model based analysis of lateral and vertical soil carbon fluxes induced by soil redistribution processes in a small agricultural catchment

Soil redistribution on arable land significantly affects lateral and vertical soil carbon (C) fluxes (caused by C formation and mineralization) and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Whether this serves as a (C) sink or source to the atmosphere is a controversial issue. In this study, the SPEROS‐C model was modified to analyse erosion induced lateral and vertical soil C fluxes and their effects upon SOC stocks in a small agricultural catchment (4·2 ha). The model was applied for the period between 1950 and 2007 covering 30 years of conventional tillage (1950–1979) followed by 28 years of conservation tillage (1980–2007). In general, modelled and measured SOC stocks are in good agreement for three observed soil layers. The overall balance (1950–2007) of erosion induced lateral and vertical C fluxes results in a C loss of ?4·4 g C m^–2 a^–1 at our test site. Land management has a significant impact on the erosion induced C fluxes, leading to a predominance of lateral C export under conventional and of vertical C exchange between soil and atmosphere under conservation agriculture. Overall, the application of the soil conservation practices, with enhanced C inputs by cover crops and decreased erosion, significantly reduced the modelled erosion induced C loss of the test site. Increasing C inputs alone, without a reduction of erosion rates, did not result in a reduction of erosion induced C losses. Moreover, our results show that the potential erosion induced C loss is very sensitive to the representation of erosion rates (long‐term steady state versus event driven). A first estimate suggests that C losses are very sensitive to magnitude and frequency of erosion events. If long‐term averages are dominated by large magnitude events modelled erosion induced C losses in the catchment were significantly reduced. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Runoff and sediment loss responses to rainfall and land use in two agricultural catchments on the Loess Plateau of China

Soil erosion is a severe problem hindering sustainable agriculture on the Loess Plateau of China. Plot experiments were conducted under the natural rainfall condition during 1995–1997 at Wangdongguo and Aobao catchments in this region to evaluate the effects of various land use, cropping systems, land slopes and rainfall on runoff and sediment losses, as well as the differences in catchment responses. The experiments included various surface conditions ranging from bare soil to vegetated surfaces (maize, wheat residue, Robinia pseudoacacia L., Amorpha fruticosa L., Stipa capillata L., buckwheat and Astragarus adsurgens L.). The measurements were carried out on hill slopes with different gradients (i.e. 0 ° to 36 °). These plots varied from 20 to 60 m in length. Results indicated that runoff and erosion in this region occurred mainly during summer storms. Summer runoff and sediment losses under cropping and other vegetation were significantly less than those from ploughed bare soil (i.e. without crop/plant or crop residue). There were fewer runoff and sediment losses with increasing canopy cover. Land slope had a major effect on runoff and sediment losses and this effect was markedly larger in the tillage plots than that in the natural grass and forest plots, although this effect was very small when the maximum rainfall intensity was larger than 58·8 mm/h or smaller than 2·4 mm/h. Sediment losses per unit area rose with increasing slope length for the same land slope and same land use. The effect of slope length on sediment losses was stronger on a bare soil plot than on a crop/plant plot. The runoff volume and sediment losses were both closely related to rainfall volume and maximum intensity, while runoff coefficient was mainly controlled by maximum rainfall intensity. Hortonian overland flow is the dominant runoff process in the region. The differences in runoff volume, runoff coefficient and sediment losses between the catchments are mainly controlled by the maximum rainfall intensity and infiltration characteristics. The Aobao catchment yielded much larger runoff volume, runoff coefficient and sediment than the Wangdongguo catchment. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Windblown dust influenced by conventional and undercutter tillage within the Columbia Plateau,USA

Exceedance of the US Environmental Protection Agency national ambient air quality standard for PM10 (particulate matter ≤10 µm in aerodynamic diameter) within the Columbia Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest US is largely caused by wind erosion of agricultural lands managed in a winter wheat–summer fallow rotation. Land management practices, therefore, are sought that will reduce erosion and PM10 emissions during the summer fallow phase of the rotation. Horizontal soil flux and PM10 concentrations above adjacent field plots (>2 ha), with plots subject to conventional or undercutter tillage during summer fallow, were measured using creep and saltation/suspension collectors and PM10 samplers installed at various heights above the soil surface. After wheat harvest in 2004 and 2005, the plots were either disked (conventional) or undercut with wide sweeps (undercutter) the following spring and then periodically rodweeded prior to sowing wheat in late summer. Soil erosion from the fallow plots was measured during six sampling periods over two years; erosion or PM10 loss was not observed during two periods due to the presence of a crust on the soil surface. For the remaining sampling periods, total surface soil loss from conventional and undercutter tillage ranged from 3 to 40 g m^–2 and 1 to 27 g m^–2 while PM10 loss from conventional and undercutter tillage ranged from 0·2 to 5·0 g m^–2 and 0·1 to 3·3 g m^–2, respectively. Undercutter tillage resulted in a 15% to 65% reduction in soil loss and 30% to 70% reduction in PM10 loss as compared with conventional tillage at our field sites. Therefore, based on our results at two sites over two years, undercutter tillage appears to be an effective management practice to reduce dust emissions from agricultural land subject to a winter wheat–summer fallow rotation within the Columbia Plateau. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of cultivation method on erosion in agricultural catchments: integrating AHP in GIS environments

The cultivation method used in agricultural catchments can have a great effect on erosion processes; as such, determining the effects on form and degree is crucial. One commonly held hypothesis is that a shift to minimum tillage methods should reduce the rate of erosion. Here, we examine the effect of cultivation methods and environmental conditions on soil erosion risks in field crops and orchards in an agricultural catchment in northern Israel. The examination was conducted using AHP (analytic hierarchy process) and GIS (geographic information system)‐based computer simulations. Field validation of the simulations was conducted during the 2009–2010 winter season. The spatially explicit data on cultivation method, combined with environmental and climatic data, yielded an explanation of most of the variation in erosion risks in the catchment (kappa =0·93). Of the 10 criteria examined, the cultivation method and slope were the two variables with the greatest effect on increased soil erosion. Furthermore, soil loss risks were reduced substantially as a result of substituting conventional tillage with reduced tillage; substituting reduced tillage with conservation tillage; and changing the tillage direction to perpendicular to the direction of the slope. These results are reasonable in light of the modifications that mechanical tools cause in the soil structure, as observed in the penetration depth and the aggregate stability measurements used in this study. Despite the difficulty in collecting spatially explicit data on cultivation methods, we believe that it is of utmost importance to use such data to study erosion risks in agricultural catchments. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The WELSONS experiment: overview and presentation of first results on the surface atmospheric boundary-layer in semiarid Spain

This study presents the preliminary results of the local energy budget and dynamic characteristics of the surface atmospheric boundary-layer (SBL) during the WELSONS (wind erosion and losses of soil nutrients in semiarid Spain) experiment. Some Mediterranean regions suffer land degradation by wind erosion as a consequence of their particular soil and climate conditions and inappropriate agricultural practice. In Spain, where land degradation by water erosion is well known, the lack of field studies to quantify soils losses by wind erosion resulted in the European Community organizing a scientific program for this specific issue. The European programme known as WELSONS was devoted to study the wind erosion process in central Aragon (NE Spain). This multidisciplinary experiment, which began in 1996 and finished in 1998, was carried out over an agricultural soil which was left fallow. Within the experimental field, two plots were delimited where two tillage treatments were applied, a mould-board ploughing (or conventional tillage denoted CT) and chisel ploughing (reduced tillage denoted RT). This was to study on bare soil the influence of tillage method on surface conditions, saltation flux, vertical dust flux, erosion rates, dynamics characteristics such as friction velocity, roughness length, etc., and energy budget. The partitioning of the available energy, resulting from the dynamics of the SBL, are quite different over the two plots because of their own peculiar soil and surface properties. The first results show that the RT treatment seems to provide a wind erosion protection. Because of the long data recording time and particular phenomena (formation of a crust at the soil surface, very dry conditions, high wind speed for instance), these microclimatological data acquired during the WELSONS programmes may be helpful to test atmospheric boundary-layer models coupled with soil models.     

Dynamics of soil erosion rates and controlling factors in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands – towards a sediment budget

This paper analyses the factors that control rates and extent of soil erosion processes in the 199 ha May Zegzeg catchment near Hagere Selam in the Tigray Highlands (Northern Ethiopia). This catchment, characterized by high elevations (2100–2650 m a.s.l.) and a subhorizontal structural relief, is typical for the Northern Ethiopian Highlands. Soil loss rates due to various erosion processes, as well as sediment yield rates and rates of sediment deposition within the catchment (essentially induced by recent soil conservation activities), were measured using a range of geomorphological methods. The area‐weighted average rate of soil erosion by water in the catchment, measured over four years (1998–2001), is 14·8 t ha^?1 y^?1, which accounts for 98% of the change in potential energy of the landscape. Considering these soil loss rates by water, 28% is due to gully erosion. Other geomorphic processes, such as tillage erosion and rock fragment displacement by gravity and livestock trampling, are also important, either within certain land units, or for their impact on agricultural productivity. Estimated mean sediment deposition rate within the catchment equals 9·2 t ha^?1 y^?1. Calculated sediment yield (5·6 t ha^?1 y^?1) is similar to sediment yield measured in nearby catchments. Seventy‐four percent of total soil loss by sheet and rill erosion is trapped in exclosures and behind stone bunds. The anthropogenic factor is dominant in controlling present‐day erosion processes in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands. Human activities have led to an overall increase in erosion process intensities, but, through targeted interventions, rural society is now well on the way to control and reverse the degradation processes, as can be demonstrated through the sediment budget. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EROSION RATES ON UPLAND AREAS IN THE MIDSOUTH USA

lINTR0DUCTIONSoilerosi0n0fslopingagriculturallandoccursduringandimmediatelyafterrainfalleventswherethesoilsurfaceisn0tadequatelyprotectedfromtheerosiveforces0frainfallandrunoffThebestaltemativefortheconservationplarinerist0minimizesoilerosionasmuchasp0ssible.Managementofsoilsurfaceconditionsinvolvesexperienceandjudgmeniinselectingmanagementpracticesthatutilizecr0presiduesandminimizedisturbancebytillage.Concentfatedrun0ffs0metimescausessevereerosi0n,particularlyonunprotectedsteepslopes.Ril…     

Runoff and water erosion modelling using WEPP on a Mediterranean cultivated catchment

Soil erosion due to water is a major environmental problem in many parts of the world. Most of Mediterranean countries are concerned because of their specific climate and soils sensitivity, but also because of the recent intensification of human activities and agricultural practices. Accurate estimation of soil water erosion for various land-use and climate scenarios is so an important key to define sustainable management policies. In the last decades, several studies have been carried out to build models suitable for quantifying soil erosion. Among these models, the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP, Flanagan, D.C., Nearing, M.A., 1995. USDA-Water Erosion Prediction Project: Hillslope profile and watershed model documentation. NSERL Report 10, USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, West Lafayette, IN, USA.) is a physically based, distributed-parameter model that has been developed and mainly validated in USA. Only few studies have investigated its applicability to environmental conditions that differs from those where the model was developed. The aim of this work is to test the efficiency of WEPP model to predict soil erosion at catchment scale in a Mediterranean semi-arid area. Continuous simulations have been conducted between 1995 and 2002 on an cultivated experimental catchment located upstream from a hill reservoir (Kamech catchment, 2.45 km², Cap Bon, Tunisia) where runoff and soil erosion measurements are available at the outlet. Comparison between predictions and measurements shows significant differences. Processes related to seasonal effects (as cracking soils) are pointed out as a weakness of WEPP model for Mediterranean conditions.     

The role of cryptogams in runoff and erosion control on bariland in the Nepal Middle Hills of the Southern Himalaya

Cryptogams are communities of non-vascular plants that live on the soil surface. Numerous functions have been attributed to these crusts, including changes in soil fertility and nutrient status, soil hydrology and soil erosion. Most significant for this paper is the reported benefit of cryptogams in reducing soil erosion by water in semi-arid areas. However, to date there have been few attempts to understand the soil conservation value of cryptogams in subsistence agricultural systems or in humid mountain environments. This paper investigates the potential of cryptogams in soil erosion by water on agricultural hillslope terraces (bariland) in the Nepal Middle Hills of the southern monsoonal Himalaya. The research is significant because the loss of fertile topsoil is considered by some to be the biggest threat to the livelihoods of subsistence farmers in the area in the medium and long term. The current study was conducted in the field between two of the weeding events that take place under maize cover, grown in the traditional manner. Three groundcover types which represented (i) maize only (types A), (ii) maize and weed cover (types B), and (iii) maize and cryptogam cover (types C) were monitored utilizing multiple microerosion plots. Measurements of runoff and soil loss data were collected sequentially on a storm-by-storm basis throughout the monitored period from 24 July 1997 to 29 August 1997. Measurements of infiltration rates were also taken on each of the groundcover types at selected times. Results collected from the erosion plots demonstrate that runoff and soil losses over distances of <2 m can be significantly reduced by up to 50 per cent with cryptogam cover, compared to maize-only canopies. Mean runoff for all storm events sampled from plot types A, B and C were 3·4 l m⁻², 1·6 l m⁻² and 1·5 l m⁻² respectively. For soil loss, the results were 21·7 g m⁻², 11·3 g m⁻² and 10·2 g m⁻² respectively. Therefore, cryptogams would appear to offer a similar degree of protection to the soil surface from runoff and raindrop erosion, to that afforded by weed cover. Weed and cryptogam covers protect the soil surface from rainfall kinetic energies and work to preserve surface microtopographies, depressional storage and surface water detention. Terminal infiltration rates taken at the end of the monitored period showed that well developed maize- and cryptogam-covered soil surfaces (types C) have a mean terminal infiltration rate of 35·0 mm h⁻¹ compared to 44·5 mm h⁻¹ for comparable maize- and weed-covered soil surfaces (types B), and 15·5 mm h⁻¹ for maize-only soil surfaces (types A). These results show that cryptogams and weeds also have relatively higher infiltration rates than comparable maize-only covered plots, devoid of groundcover. The findings in this study may have implications for traditional weed management practices used by local hill farmers, which often destroy cryptogam soil coatings two to three times during the maize growing period. However, further work needs to be done to ascertain farmers' understandings of cryptogams. It is hoped that conservationists will benefit from incorporating cryptogams into the design of future soil erosion studies relating to development programmes. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics and hotspots of soil erosion and management scenarios of the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Most of the lowland in the central rift valley of Ethiopia is arid or semiarid and in degradation,with frequent occurrence of droughts.Soil erosion by water during the rainy season is a serious problem...     

The effect of antecedent moisture conditions on sediment and phosphorus loss during overland flow: Mahantango Creek catchment,Pennsylvania, USA

The loss of P in overland flow from most cultivated soils is controlled by erosion, and in‐turn soil moisture. We evaluated the effect of soil moisture on erosion and P transport in overland flow by applying rainfall (7 cm h^?1) to packed soil boxes (1 m long and 0·15 m wide) and field plots (1 and 10 m long by 1 m wide) of silt loams in a central Pennsylvania (USA) catchment. Flow from packed soil boxes took longer to initiate as antecedent soil moisture decreased from field capacity (2 min) to air dried (8 to 9 min). Even in the more complex field plots (i.e. soil heterogeneity and topography), the wetter site (1 by 10 m plot; 70% field capacity) produced flow more quickly (3 min) and in greater volume (439 L) than the drier site (1 by 10 m plot; 40% field capacity, 15 min, and 214 L, respectively). However, less suspended sediment was transported from wetter soil boxes (1·6 to 2·5 g L^?1) and field plots (0·9 g L^?1) than drier boxes (2·9 to 4·2 g L^?1) and plots (1·2 g L^?1). Differences are attributed to their potential for soil aggregate breakdown, slaking and dispersion, which contribute to surface soil sealing and crusting, as dry soils are subject to rapid wetting (by rainfall). During flow, selective erosion and antecedent moisture conditions affected P transport. At field capacity, DRP and PP transport varied little during overland flow. Whereas P transport from previously dry soil decreased rapidly after the initiation of flow (6 to 1·5 mg TP L^?1), owing to the greater slaking and dispersion of P‐rich particles into flow at the beginning than end of the flow event. These results indicate that soil moisture fluctuations greatly effect erosion and P transport potential and that management to decrease the potential for loss should consider practices such as conservation tillage and cover crops, particularly on areas where high soil P and erosion coincide. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Land use change effects on runoff and erosion from plot to catchment scale on the basaltic plateau of Southern Brazil

In the region of the basaltic plateau in Southern Brazil, problems of runoff and erosion on the deep ferrallitic soils are becoming increasingly recognized. Land use change from conventional tillage using disk plough to no‐tillage on residues without terracing occurred at the beginning of the 1990s and it spread very quickly. Measurements of runoff and sediment concentrations on 1 m² plots receiving natural rainfall and simulated rainfall under different crops with different stages of growth and different tillage systems, field surveys and measurements of rills and gullies in nested experimental catchments indicate a relative decrease of runoff on slopes but an increase of subsurface flow, and a marked decrease of sheet and rill erosion and soil loss from plot to catchment scales. Nevertheless, the extension of parts of the gully system is still continuing, strongly influenced by extreme rainfall. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long‐term sediment yield from a small catchment in southern Brazil affected by land use and soil management changes

Sediments produced from eroding cultivated land can cause on‐site and off‐site effects that cause considerable economic and social impacts. Despite the importance of soil conservation practices (SCP) for the control of soil erosion and improvements in soil hydrological functions, limited information is available regarding the effects of SCP on sediment yield (SY) at the catchment scale. This study aimed to investigate the long‐term relationships between SY and land use, soil management, and rainfall in a small catchment. To determine the effects of anthropogenic and climatic factors on SY, rainfall, streamflow, and suspended sediment concentration were monitored at 10‐min intervals for 14 years (2002–2016), and the land use and soil management changes were surveyed annually. Using a statistical procedure to separate the SY effects of climate, land use, and soil management, we observed pronounced temporal effects of land use and soil management changes on SY. During the first 2 years (2002–2004), the land was predominantly cultivated with tobacco under a traditional tillage system (no cover crops and ploughed soil) using animal traction. In that period, the SY reached approximately 400 t·km^?2·year^?1. From 2005 to 2009, a soil conservation programme introduced conservation tillage and winter cover crops in the catchment area, which lowered the SY to 50 t·km^?2·year^?1. In the final period (2010–2016), the SCP were partially abandoned by farmers, and reforested areas increased, resulting in an SY of 150 t·km^?2·year^?1. This study also discusses the factors associated with the failure to continue using SCP, including structural support and farmer attitudes.     

Rainfall and land management effects on erosion and soil properties in traditional Brazilian tobacco plantations

No-tillage and inter-crops have been progressively introduced into traditional Brazilian tobacco plantations. However, there is a lack of information about their impact on soil erosion rates and soil properties. We studied 10 experimental plots in Paraná (Brazil) that rotated from no-tillage tobacco to two different inter-crop types (black beans and oats) and conventionally tilled tobacco to quantify erosion rates from September 2014 to February 2016. The results show that soil loss (18 Mg ha^?1) and runoff coefficient (8.3%) were higher under conventional tillage tobacco than under no-tillage tobacco (3.4 Mg ha^?1 and 0.6%). Bulk density was higher at the end of the cropping cycle than at the beginning. We concluded that conventional crops increased soil erosion, and the use of inter-crops and no-tillage is highly recommended for soil and water conservation. The findings should be valid for other regions that have similar cropping systems and environmental conditions.     

Catchment scale hydrology of an irrigated cropping system under soil conservation practices

Soil erosion by water is a pressing environmental problem caused and suffered by agriculture in Mediterranean environments. Soil conservation practices can contribute to alleviating this problem. The aim of this study is to gain more profound knowledge of the effects of conservation practices on soil losses by linking crop management and soil status to runoff and sediment losses measured at the outlet of a catchment during seven years. The catchment has 27.42 ha and is located in a commercial farm in southern Spain, where a package of soil conservation practices is an essential component of the farming system. The catchment is devoted to irrigated annual crops with maize–cotton–wheat as the primary rotation. Mean annual rainfall‐induced runoff coefficient was 0.14 and mean annual soil loss was 2.4 Mg ha^?1 y^?1. Irrigation contributed to 40% of the crop water supply, but the amount of runoff and sediment yield that it generated was negligible. A Principal Components Analysis showed that total soil loss is determined by the magnitude of the event (rainfall and runoff depths, duration) and by factors related to the aggressiveness of the events (rainfall intensity and preceding soil moisture). A third component showed the importance of crop coverage to reduce sediment losses. Cover crops grown during autumn and early winter and crop residues protecting the soil surface enhanced soil conservation notably. The role of irrigation to facilitate growing cover crops in Mediterranean environments is discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using a landform evolution model to study ephemeral gullying in agricultural fields: the effects of rainfall patterns on ephemeral gully dynamics

Water driven soil erosion is a major cause of land degradation worldwide. Ephemeral gullies (EGs) are considered key contributors to agricultural catchment soil loss. Despite their importance, the parameters and drivers controlling EG dynamics have not been adequately quantified. Here we investigate the effects of rainfall characteristics on EGs, using the physically based landform evolution model (LEM) CAESAR‐Lisflood. An initial goal of this study was to test the feasibility of using a LEM to estimate EG dynamics based on an easily obtainable and moderate spatial resolution (2 × 2 m) Digital Elevation Model (DEM). EG evolution was simulated for two rainfall seasons in a 0.37 km² agricultural plot situated in a semiarid catchment in central Israel. The 2014 rainfall season was used to calibrate the model and the 2015 season was used for validation. The model overall well predicted the EG network structure and average depth but tended to underestimate the EG length. The effects of rainfall characteristics on EG dynamics were investigated by comparing simulations employing seven rainfall scenarios. Four of these scenarios differ in their overall rainfall volume relative to observed precipitation (+20%, +10%, ?10%, ?20%). The remaining three scenarios vary in the temporal distribution of rainfall during each storm, allowing us to isolate the effect of rainfall intensity on EG evolution. The results show that: (1) EG dynamics strongly correlated with changes in rainfall volume; (2) small‐scale morphological behavior varies between rainfall scenarios, resulting in different meandering and connectivity variability; (3) EG evolution is divided into two main stages, an initial rapid development occurring after the first two weeks of the rainy season, followed by a stable development period; (4) a 12 mm h^?1 intensity threshold was observed to initiate and, later, modify EGs; and (5) inner storm rainfall variability can have a considerable effect on EG evolution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accelerated sediment fluxes by water and tillage erosion on European agricultural land

Soil loss on arable agricultural land is typically an order of magnitude higher than under undisturbed native vegetation. Although there have been several recent attempts to quantify these accelerated fluxes at the regional, continental and even global scale, all of these studies have focused on erosion by water and wind and no large scale assessment of the magnitude of tillage erosion has been made, despite growing recognition of its significance on agricultural land. Previous field scale simulations of tillage erosion severity have relied on use of high resolution topographic data to derive the measures of slope curvature needed to estimate tillage erosion rates. Here we present a method to derive the required measures of slope curvature from low resolution, but large scale, databases and use high resolution topographical datasets for several study areas in the UK to evaluate the reliability of the approach. On the basis of a tillage model and land‐use databases, we estimate the mean gross tillage erosion rates for the part of Europe covered by the CORINE database (6·5% of global cropland) and we obtained an average of 3·3 Mg ha^–1 y^–1, which corresponds to a sediment flux of 0·35 Pg y^–1. Water erosion rates derived for the same area are of a similar magnitude. This redistribution of soil within agricultural fields substantially accelerates soil profile truncation and sediment burial in specific landscape positions and has a strong impact on medium‐term soil profile evolution. It is, therefore, clear that tillage erosion must be accounted for in regional assessments of sediment fluxes and in analyses that employ these in the analysis of land management strategies and biogeochemical cycles. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SOIL ERODIBILITY PARAMETERS UNDER VARIOUS CROPPING SYSTEMS OF MAIZE

For four years, runoff and soil loss from seven cropping systems of fodder maize have been measured on experimental plots under natural and simulated rainfall. Besides runoff and soil loss, several variables have also been measured, including rainfall kinetic energy, degree of slaking, surface roughness, aggregate stability, soil moisture content, crop cover, shear strength and topsoil porosity. These variables explain a large part of the variance in measured runoff, soil loss and splash erosion under the various cropping systems. The following conclusions were drawn from the erosion measurements on the experimental plots (these conclusions apply to the spatial level at which the measurements were carried out). (1) Soil tillage after maize harvest strongly reduced surface runoff and soil loss during the winter; sowing of winter rye further reduced winter erosion, though the difference with a merely tilled soil is small. (2) During spring and the growing season, soil loss is reduced strongly if the soil surface is partly covered by plant residues; the presence of plant residue on the surface appeared to be essential in achieving erosion reduction in summer. (3) Soil loss reductions were much higher than runoff reductions; significant runoff reduction is only achieved by the ‘straw system’ having flat-lying, non-fixed plant residue on the soil surface; the other systems, though effective in reducing soil loss, were not effective in reducing runoff.