Download Soil Erosion: Processes, Models, and Management Practices and more Summaries Environmental Science in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Draft notes – Key points • Soil erosion is a complex phenomenon. It includes a broad range of processes that, like sheet and interill erosion, can be modelled or inventoried at large scale, i.e.: o Wind erosion (done by JRC) o Gully erosion (A group can initiate this initiative; lead : Vanmaercke-Poesen) o Landslides (done by another working group and JRC) o Harvest erosion (SLCH crops) o Subsurface (pipe or tunnel erosion) o Tillage erosion (done in the past by Leuven-La Neuve) o Forest disturbance (done by JRC) o Snow induced erosion • Plots data proven to be a non-exhausting solution for validating small scale model applications, fail at large scale due to different time-scales, climatic conditions and many other factors which does not allow comparability • RUSLE: attention should be paid on how modelers apply the basic principles of the model (frequently paying little attention to well-known limitations and literature recommendations) • Runoff-based models were discussed as being more suitable to predict soil losses. However, Wischmeier and Smith did not propose any model to correlate runoff with soil loss (as the former was difficult to predict). Instead they propose the rainfall erosivity factor as part of the soil loss model. • The importance of extreme events and their better representation in modelling was discussed. Also in view of climate change. • Several approaches using fallout radionuclides were presented. Most of the presentations concluded that the use of radionuclides are promising techniques for comparing catchment- and regional-scale modelling with patterns of erosion and deposition. o Fallout radionuclides yield net soil redistribution rates of both erosion and deposition. Thus, the estimates are not directly comparable with the gross erosion rate of RUSLE. However, they are comparable to the output of the WATEM/SEDEM if soil loss by water is the predominant process. o Research on implementing fallout radionuclide information is currently ongoing at EU scale with a joint effort Unibas-JRC-Leuven La-Neuve-IPSL-IAEA. • Management practices. The application of reduced tillage, cover crops, plant residues, terraces, post-fire Soil Water Conservation, mulching and grass margins was discussed during a very interesting session (block C). o It is considered necessary to incorporate those conservation practices in the models o The application of those practices is both a cultural issue (discussion with stakeholders) and a policy one (a top-down approach with CAP can play an important role in reducing erosion by applying those soil conservation practices and better target the subsidies) o Land abandonment (and land use change in general – increase of forests and urban areas) is also an important driver in erosion • Remote sensing and recently available datasets (LIDAR, Copernicus, etc): o Their contribution will be important in modelling the crop phenology and the cover management.
