Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves
No-tillage and soil mulching with pruning residues, applied in olive groves of the semi-arid Mediterranean environment, as erosion control practices still practice not fully studied. This study has evaluated the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), surface runoff (SR) and soil erosion (SL) under...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2021-03-01
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| Series: | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633920300770 |
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| author | Giuseppe Bombino Pietro Denisi José Alfonso Gómez Demetrio Antonio Zema |
| author_facet | Giuseppe Bombino Pietro Denisi José Alfonso Gómez Demetrio Antonio Zema |
| author_sort | Giuseppe Bombino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | No-tillage and soil mulching with pruning residues, applied in olive groves of the semi-arid Mediterranean environment, as erosion control practices still practice not fully studied. This study has evaluated the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), surface runoff (SR) and soil erosion (SL) under rainfall at plot scale throughout two years in four different management practices, total soil cover with a net (SP), mechanical tillage (MT) and mulching by vegetal residues at 3,5·103 and 17,5·103 kg ha−1 of dry matter (NTR350 and NTR1750), in an olive grove of Southern Italy. Ksat varied between 1.6 (MT) and 25.1 (NTR1750) mm/h. A clear reduction in runoff and soil losses was detected for the mulch-based practices when compared to MT, from 20 to 32% in the runoff coefficient and 75–80% in SL, with higher reductions in the NTR1750. This reduction in SL can be mainly explained by the reduction in SR and rain-splash, interrill and rill erosion, due to protection by mulch residues, which increased the vegetal cover and organic matter content of mulched plots. The vegetal cover was on average higher in SP (33%), NTR1750 (25%) and NTR350 (22%), and lower in MT (12%). The mean organic matter content of soil was 2.01%, 1.69%,1.34% and 0.82% for NTR1750, NTR350, SP and MT respectively.Overall, the results quantify the impact of soil mulching with pruning residues at different doses, which will provide guidelines to control and mitigate the hydrological response of clayey and steep soils in Mediterranean olive groves, analysing the associated environmental and economic benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:30:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9ded2c5cf4fb4543b8212f96711fe2f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2095-6339 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:30:19Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-9ded2c5cf4fb4543b8212f96711fe2f42024-03-02T18:10:03ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Soil and Water Conservation Research2095-63392021-03-01912636Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive grovesGiuseppe Bombino0Pietro Denisi1José Alfonso Gómez2Demetrio Antonio Zema3Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Department “Agraria” Località Feo di Vito, I-89122, Reggio Calabria, ItalyMediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Department “Agraria” Località Feo di Vito, I-89122, Reggio Calabria, Italy; Corresponding author.Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC), Agronomy Department, Avenida Menéndez Pidal s/n, E-14004, Córdoba, SpainMediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Department “Agraria” Località Feo di Vito, I-89122, Reggio Calabria, ItalyNo-tillage and soil mulching with pruning residues, applied in olive groves of the semi-arid Mediterranean environment, as erosion control practices still practice not fully studied. This study has evaluated the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), surface runoff (SR) and soil erosion (SL) under rainfall at plot scale throughout two years in four different management practices, total soil cover with a net (SP), mechanical tillage (MT) and mulching by vegetal residues at 3,5·103 and 17,5·103 kg ha−1 of dry matter (NTR350 and NTR1750), in an olive grove of Southern Italy. Ksat varied between 1.6 (MT) and 25.1 (NTR1750) mm/h. A clear reduction in runoff and soil losses was detected for the mulch-based practices when compared to MT, from 20 to 32% in the runoff coefficient and 75–80% in SL, with higher reductions in the NTR1750. This reduction in SL can be mainly explained by the reduction in SR and rain-splash, interrill and rill erosion, due to protection by mulch residues, which increased the vegetal cover and organic matter content of mulched plots. The vegetal cover was on average higher in SP (33%), NTR1750 (25%) and NTR350 (22%), and lower in MT (12%). The mean organic matter content of soil was 2.01%, 1.69%,1.34% and 0.82% for NTR1750, NTR350, SP and MT respectively.Overall, the results quantify the impact of soil mulching with pruning residues at different doses, which will provide guidelines to control and mitigate the hydrological response of clayey and steep soils in Mediterranean olive groves, analysing the associated environmental and economic benefits.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633920300770Pruning residuesTillageSoil lossVegetal coverOrganic matterSoil hydraulic conductivity |
| spellingShingle | Giuseppe Bombino Pietro Denisi José Alfonso Gómez Demetrio Antonio Zema Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves International Soil and Water Conservation Research Pruning residues Tillage Soil loss Vegetal cover Organic matter Soil hydraulic conductivity |
| title | Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves |
| title_full | Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves |
| title_fullStr | Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves |
| title_short | Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves |
| title_sort | mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves |
| topic | Pruning residues Tillage Soil loss Vegetal cover Organic matter Soil hydraulic conductivity |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633920300770 |
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