Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Rates and spatial variations of soil erosion in Europe
T2 - A study based on erosion plot data
AU - Cerdan, O.
AU - Govers, G.
AU - Le Bissonnais, Y.
AU - Van Oost, K.
AU - Poesen, J.
AU - Saby, N.
AU - Gobin, A.
AU - Vacca, A.
AU - Quinton, J.
AU - Auerswald, K.
AU - Klik, A.
AU - Kwaad, F. J. P. M.
AU - Raclot, D.
AU - Ionita, I.
AU - Rejman, J.
AU - Rousseva, S.
AU - Muxart, T.
AU - Roxo, M. J.
AU - Dostal, T.
PY - 2010/10/1
Y1 - 2010/10/1
N2 - An extensive database of short to medium-term erosion rates as measured on erosion plots in Europe under natural rainfall was compiled from the literature. Statistical analysis confirmed the dominant influence of land use and cover on soil erosion rates. Sheet and rill erosion rates are highest on bare soil; vineyards show the second highest soil losses, followed by other arable lands (spring crops, orchards and winter crops). A land with a permanent vegetation cover (shrubs, grassland and forest) is characterised by soil losses which are generally more than an order of magnitude lower than those on arable land. Disturbance of permanent vegetation by fire leads to momentarily higher erosion rates but rates are still lower than those measured on arable land. We also noticed important regional differences in erosion rates. Erosion rates are generally much lower in the Mediterranean as compared to other areas in Europe; this is mainly attributed to the high soil stoniness in the Mediterranean. Measured erosion rates on arable and bare land were related to topography (slope steepness and length) and soil texture, while this was not the case for plots with a permanent land cover. We attribute this to a fundamental difference in runoff generation and sediment transfer according to land cover types. On the basis of these results we calculated mean sheet and rill erosion rates for the European area covered by the CORINE database: estimated rill and interrill erosion rates are ca. 1.2 t ha(-1) year for the whole CORINE area and ca. 3.6 t ha(-1) year(-1) for arable land. These estimates are much lower than some earlier estimates which were based on the erroneous extrapolation of small datasets. High erosion rates occur in areas dominated by vineyards, the hilly loess areas in West and Central Europe and the agricultural areas located in the piedmont areas of the major European mountain ranges. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
AB - An extensive database of short to medium-term erosion rates as measured on erosion plots in Europe under natural rainfall was compiled from the literature. Statistical analysis confirmed the dominant influence of land use and cover on soil erosion rates. Sheet and rill erosion rates are highest on bare soil; vineyards show the second highest soil losses, followed by other arable lands (spring crops, orchards and winter crops). A land with a permanent vegetation cover (shrubs, grassland and forest) is characterised by soil losses which are generally more than an order of magnitude lower than those on arable land. Disturbance of permanent vegetation by fire leads to momentarily higher erosion rates but rates are still lower than those measured on arable land. We also noticed important regional differences in erosion rates. Erosion rates are generally much lower in the Mediterranean as compared to other areas in Europe; this is mainly attributed to the high soil stoniness in the Mediterranean. Measured erosion rates on arable and bare land were related to topography (slope steepness and length) and soil texture, while this was not the case for plots with a permanent land cover. We attribute this to a fundamental difference in runoff generation and sediment transfer according to land cover types. On the basis of these results we calculated mean sheet and rill erosion rates for the European area covered by the CORINE database: estimated rill and interrill erosion rates are ca. 1.2 t ha(-1) year for the whole CORINE area and ca. 3.6 t ha(-1) year(-1) for arable land. These estimates are much lower than some earlier estimates which were based on the erroneous extrapolation of small datasets. High erosion rates occur in areas dominated by vineyards, the hilly loess areas in West and Central Europe and the agricultural areas located in the piedmont areas of the major European mountain ranges. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KW - Erosion plots
KW - Europe
KW - Land use
KW - Slope gradient
KW - Soil texture
KW - Stoniness
KW - LOAMY SAND SOILS
KW - LAND-USE CHANGE
KW - LOESS SOILS
KW - EAST SHROPSHIRE
KW - ROCK FRAGMENTS
KW - WATER EROSION
KW - RILL EROSION
KW - RUNOFF
KW - MODEL
KW - SEDIMENT
U2 - 10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.06.011
DO - 10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.06.011
M3 - Journal article
VL - 122
SP - 167
EP - 177
JO - Geomorphology
JF - Geomorphology
SN - 1872-695X
IS - 1-2
ER -