(correspondence to Ivan Dugan: idugan@agr.hr)

Soil erosion in agricultural land is a global problem and recognized as one of the main drivers of sediment, nutrient losses and diffuse pollution. Vineyards intensively managed in Mediterranean karst environments with agrochemicals and tillage are an example.  The objective of this work is to study the impacts of the season (spring, summer) and different land management practices (tilled, herbicide, grass-covered) on soil properties, erosion and nutrient losses in a vineyard located in Vrgorac (Croatia). Ten soil sampling points and rainfall simulations were carried out in two seasons in 3 different treatments (10x2x3). Rainfall simulation experiments were carried out with a pressurized rainfall simulator, simulating a rainfall at an intensity of 58 mm h^-1, for 30 min, over 0.785 m² plots. Undisturbed soil samples (0-10 cm) were sampled before rainfall simulations. The results showed that mean weight diameter had significantly greater values on the grass-covered treatment in spring) and summer compared to the tilled and herbicide (2.56 mm, 3.03 mm) treatment, while the tilled and herbicide treatment had significantly lower values of water-stable aggregates in spring and summer compared to the grass-covered treatment. Sediment losses were significantly lower on the grass-covered treatment in spring, while those losses were significantly higher on the tilled and herbicide treatment in the summer period. Those values were significantly higher on the herbicide treatment compared to the tilled and grass-covered treatment. Element losses had significantly higher values on the tilled and herbicide treatment. For instance, K losses were significantly higher on the tilled and herbicide treatment in spring and summer, while those losses were significantly lower on the grass-covered treatment (1090.09 g ha^-1, 4829.41 g ha^-1). Also, Fe losses were significantly higher on the tilled and herbicide treatment in spring, while that value was significantly lower on the grass treatment. In the summer period, significantly lower values were recorded on the tilled and grass-covered treatment. Significantly lower Cu losses in the spring period were recorded on the grass-covered treatment than the tilled and herbicide, while in the summer period, those values were significantly higher on the herbicide and grass-covered treatment than the tilled treatment. This research indicates that it is necessary to test the seasonal soil conditions and different land management to obtain sustainable and less sustainable practices in a sensitive karstic environment.

Keywords: rainfall simulation experiments, geochemistry, soil loss, conventional agriculture, temporal changes

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Croatian Science Foundation through the project "Soil erosion and degradation in Croatia" (UIP-2017-05-7834) (SEDCRO)

How to cite: Dugan, I., Telak, L. J., Pereira, P., and Bogunovic, I.: Seasonal and land management impact on vineyard soil, runoff generation and associated pollutants in karstic environment (Mediterranean Croatia), EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-457, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-457, 2022.

The use of tree monoculture systems in Mediterranean areas can accentuate problems already existing in the area, resulting from lack of moisture, low levels of organic matter and high temperatures. In these crops, the soil in the alleys remains bare practically all year, so that in addition to the above limitations, there is an increase in erosion owing to direct exposure to meteorological agents. Owing to climate change, all these disadvantages may be aggravated over time. To improve soil conditions in orchard alleys, various techniques such as mulching, reduced tillage, cover crops or alley cropping can be used. These techniques aim to reduce erosion, improve soil structure and water conditions, and increase the amount of organic matter while slowing down soil mineralization. Alley cropping can also provide complementary commodities for farmers, with important economic benefits. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess if two different crop diversifications applied in mandarin alleys from the Mediterranean region can enhance soil fertility after three crop cycles. For this, three different treatments were applied: i) a mandarin monoculture with bare alley soil all year (MM); ii) a multiple cropping of vetch/barley and then fava bean (AC1) repeated every year in the alleys; and iii) a rotation of fava bean, purslane and cowpea (AC2). Three soil samplings were carried out in February 2019, 2020 and 2021 at 0-10 cm and 10-30 cm depth. Samples were characterized for properties related to fertility: total nitrogen, exchangeable NH₄⁺, NO₃^-, cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable Ca, Mg and K, soluble B, and available P, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn. Results showed that in AC1, a significant increase in CEC and exchangeable Ca was observed, while NO₃^- and B slightly decreased. In AC2, there was a decrease in NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- concentrations, with significant increases in B and P. In addition, in AC1 and AC2, there was an increase trend in total nitrogen. With regard to bioavailable metals, their behavior was similar in all treatments, with a general decrease along time; only the amount of bioavailable Zn increased. Regarding mandarin yield, there was a slight decrease with crop diversification. However, in 2021, a low mandarin yield was recorded in all treatments caused by Alternaria spp. In AC1, this decrease was partly compensated by the alley crops, corresponding to 26% of the overall land production. In AC2, cowpea production was lower < 2% of land production, so it did not compensate for the losses caused by Alternaria spp. It can be concluded that the AC1 diversification works better than AC2, as it helps to improve soil CEC and increases overall land production, reducing the dependence on a single crop in case of perturbations, such as pests/diseases.

Acknowledgements: This study has been funded by H2020 project Diverfarming (GA 728003).

How to cite: Soto Gómez, D., Sánchez Navarro, V., Martínez Martínez, S., Fernández, J. A., Acosta Avilés, J. A., and Zornoza, R.: Use of alley cropping in a Mediterranean mandarin orchard: an alternative to improve soil fertility, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4611, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4611, 2022.

Land-use changes are one of the most critical drivers of change. Territorial dynamics such as urbanization, agriculture intensification and land abandonment have important implications for ecosystems and the services supplied. This work aims to overview the impacts of land-use changes on ecosystem services supply (ES). Urbanization and agriculture intensification have detrimental impacts in all regulating ES (e.g., air quality, microclimate regulation, flood regulation, carbon storage). On the other hand, the afforestation process positively impacts all the ES abovementioned. Urbanization and land consumption reduce agriculture and natural areas, key for food supply. Therefore, provisioning ES (e.g., food, fodder, water, timber) are drastically affected. Agriculture intensification may short term positive impacts on food production. However, it occurs at the expense of high soil degradation, reducing the ecosystem capacity to supply wild food, water, fodder and medicinal plants. The land abandonment process implies a decrease in the cultivable area. Therefore, it reduces the capacity of food production. Also, water supply is reduced since the afforestation process increases water consumption and evapotranspiration. However, other benefits for provisioning ES occur from soil degradation, such as increasing wild food, medicinal plants, and timber. Finally, urbanization negatively impacts most cultural ES (e.g., natural heritage, cultural heritage, landscape aesthetics). Some benefits can be positive for recreation or knowledge systems. Except for knowledge systems, agriculture intensification negatively impacts all cultural ES (e.g., recreation, natural heritage, cultural heritage, landscape aesthetics). Land abandonment has detrimental impacts on cultural heritage (e.g., loss of traditional landscapes). However, it positively impacts all other cultural ES (e.g., recreation, landscape aesthetics, knowledge systems).

Keywords: Land use, ecosystem services, afforestation, soil degradation     

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the project A09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0104 Lithuanian National Ecosystem Services Assessment and Mapping (LINESAM) funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity “Improvement of researchers” qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects.

How to cite: Pereira, P., Inacio, M., Kalinauskas, M., Bogdzevič, K., Bogunovic, I., and Zhao, W.: Land-use change impacts on ecosystem services: an overview, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6301, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6301, 2022.

Collecting soil to form ridges with no-tillage (CSNT) is an important conservation tillage method in the purple soil region of China. Although the ecosystem services it can provide in agroecosystems have been proven. While there is no systematic quantitative research on the effect of CSNT on ecosystem services. We collected 611 data entries from previous publications to quantitatively evaluate the effect of CSNT on runoff and sediment loss, soil nutrients concentration, soil bulk density, soil moisture content, aboveground biomass and belowground biomass. Compared to conventional tillage, CSNT reduced runoff and sediment loss by 49% and 73%, respectively. This is mainly due to the blocking effect of the ridge-and-furrow structure. As for soil nutrients concentration, the concentrations of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium increased by 15%, 14%, 30%, 58% and 17%, respectively under CSNT compared to conventional tillage. While no significant differences were found for total phosphorus and total potassium between CSNT and conventional tillage. Soil bulk density decreased by 11% on the ridges under CSNT compared to conventional tillage, while no significant different was found in the furrows. On the ridges, CSNT did not have a significant effect on soil moisture content, while it led to an increase of 27.6% in soil moisture content in the furrows. CSNT would also increase aboveground and belowground biomass by 23% and 63%, respectively. In general, the implementation of CSNT in purple soil region of China could significantly enhance the ecosystem services in agroecosystems.

How to cite: Jia, L.: Quantification of the ecosystem services of collecting soil to form ridges with no-tillage in the purple soil region of China: A meta-analysis, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6730, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6730, 2022.

In  karst areas, underground riverine sediment has been widely used to reflect the subterranean stream basin erosion, which influenced by both of precipitation and anthropogenic factors. In this study, 15-years of the sediment yield across Nandong underground river system of China were monitored, Mann-Kendal mutation test and simple proxy indicators were used for detecting the influences of human activities and precititation on sediment yield. The results showed that: 1) both of the anthropologic factor and rainfall impacted sediment yield, although the influence of anthropologic factor on sediment yield was greater (76.38%), and 2) rainfall showed a hysteresis effect on soil and water loss. There were three distinct stages based on the mutation points and variation characteristics of sediment yield from 1998 to 2014, resulting from different driving forces. Before 2004, the decease of sediment yield was caused by natural forest protection project in the whole basin. During 2004 to 2008, because of drought, flood disaster and cultivation on steeper slope, sediment yield of the basin increased. After 2009, sediment yield decreases due to the construction of soil conservation projects and mushrooming reservoirs. As human population is expected to increase, these findings are expected to provide insights for watershed management and ecological restoration in the fragile karst ecosystem.

How to cite: Li, Y., Yue, X., Liu, P., Lan, F., and Yu, Y.: Anthropogenic and precipitation factors affecting karst soil erosion in the Nandong Underground River System in Yunnan, Southwest China, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6765, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6765, 2022.

Soil conservation service (SCS), one of the vital ecosystem services, represents the ecosystem’s capacity to conserve soil and control erosion. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires multidisciplinary efforts in which SCS plays a key role. However, the coupling analysis of SCS and the SDGs is lacking. We analysed SCS’s contribution to the SDGs by a case study in China and a global expert questionnaire and explored systematic strategies to improve SCS implementation. The results showed that i) SCS ensures the SDG achievement by mitigating soil erosion; ii) SCS showed a significant and positive relationship (coef. = 0.41, p < 0.01) with SDG 15 (Life on land) in China. Moreover, SCS supports multiple SDGs by regulating ecological processes, producing food and products, and providing social and cultural values. More than 50% of respondents recognised that SCS benefits SDG 15, SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation). Finally, to be goal-oriented, we presented an SDG-holistic guiding framework to promote SCS for the SDG achievement, thus harnessing the SCS’s roles in social, economic, and eco-environmental sustainability. Altogether, our work highlights the associations between the SDGs and SCS, which is key to recognising the contribution of soils and ESs to sustainable development.

How to cite: Yin, C., Zhao, W., and Pereira, P.: Soil Conservation Service Underpins Sustainable Development Goals, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6830, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6830, 2022.

Current urban development guidelines favour renewal and densification of cities, emphasizing the necessity to redevelop urban wastelands. However, many such sites are polluted with heavy metals and metalloids (TE), radionuclides, hydrocarbons. As a result, wasteland reconversion implies initial soil decontamination. The cost of servicing, depolluting and decontaminating these wastelands, using conventional soil depollution techniques is exorbitant. Thus, phytotechnology techniques offer an alternative that is more in line with sustainable development issues (Bert et al. 2012). Although the latter have been extensively studied for more than 30 years, they are still emerging on the market for the treatment of polluted sites. In addition, they raise many unanswered questions on the mobility, bioavailability and transfer of pollutants between the different compartments (soil/water/plants/microflora/fauna) over a relatively long periods of time (more than 10 years). Also,   maintenance and management practices on site during the process of depollution still are problematic, particularly the downstream usage of contaminated plant biomass.

Through the OBSOLU project (Urban Observatory for the Study of Anthropogenic Soils), the Val-de-Marne Departmental Council (CD94) wishes to evaluate new experimental approaches for the rehabilitation of an urban wasteland affected by multi-metallic pollution (La Pierre-Fitte site, Villeneuve-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne, France). The  evaluation of the dynamics of metallic trace elements (TE) in the soil-water-plant-fauna continuum is carried out on four vegetated plots (planted either with native or introduced phytostabilizing plant species (Agrostis capillaris, Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne)) managed according to two different methods (harvested plant biomass either left in place  or exported for composting).  The objective is to assess over several years, the mobility of TE in the soil and their infiltration to the water table, in relation with 1) the presence of native or phytostabilizing plants, mycorrhizal or not, 2) of the type of management of the harvested plant biomass and 3) the biodiversity indices at the experimental sites. Initial TE analyses revealed the presence of lead, zinc, copper and nickel in high concentrations, distributed heterogeneously over the entire experimental site. Interestingly, one year into the experiment, this high level of pollution with TE does not seem to affect the plant and arthropod populations that show good biodiversity indices, compared to other polluted sites in Ile-de-France. All introduced phytostabilizing plant species surveyed were found to be mycorrhizal and phytostabilizing for lead, nickel and to a lesser extent copper. So did certain native species, such as Solidago canadensis. Only zinc, an acknowledged mobile element, does not seem to be stabilized in the rhizosphere of the plants, either native or introduced. At this point in this five-year long experiment, a detailed analysis of the initial characteristics of the site has been established. The preliminary results indicate that phytostabilization could be limit TE dispersal in the environment, a conclusion that will be reassessed over the years.

Key word : metallic trace elements - phytostabilisation - urban wasteland - rehabilitation

How to cite: Balland-Bolou-Bi, C., Caron, L., Repellin, A., Leitao, L., Livet, A., Abbad-Andaloussi, S., and Leymarie, J.: Short-term assessment of the effect of phytostabilizing plants and management methods on the biodiversity and the mobility of trace elements in an urban wasteland in the Région Ile-de-France, France, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7876, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7876, 2022.

Grasslands cover a large portion of the terrestrial ecosystems, and are vital for biodiversity conservation, environmental protection and livestock husbandry. However, climate change scenarios (e.g., drought) could pose grasslands under threat seriously affecting their ecosystem services role. Ponds, an indispensable part of water storage on the grassland, could exert a key role in water supply during extreme water scarcity scenarios, controlling the cycle of water, nutrients, and sediments, supporting livestock and agricultural land production and maintaining the ecologic functions of pastures. Ponds could indeed be seen as a sustainable solution for more resilient grassland landscapes. The climate change forcing will have an impact on grassland extension and spatial distribution of ponds. On the other hand, in literature small ponds have not been satisfactorily investigated in the study of ecosystem service due to the inconformity of geographic location.

In this context, we considered the pastures located in Lessinia Regional Park (Veneto, Italy) with elevation ranging from 800 up to 1600 m asl. The climate is classified as cold with no dry season and warm summer with annual rainfall greater than 1500 mm. The area was recently listed (September 2020) in the Italian national register of historic rural landscapes by Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. The area is characterized by a dense distribution of ponds, supporting livestock activities. We investigated the ecosystem service role of these ponds, and their spatial patterns and fragmentation (also considering remote sensing, e.g., Sentinel-2) under different weather condition: wet and drought in Lessinia Regional Park. Our work is significant for estimating the ecosystem service value by the integration ponds benefit (e.g., visual ponds and walking ponds) with cultural service. This study will provide scientific basis for rational allocation of environmental resources, formulation of regional protection and management planning, and promotion of sustainable development of man-land relationship.

How to cite: Chen, L., Qiu, J., and Tarolli, P.: Water resources management of grasslands under climate change in the historic rural landscape of Lessinia Regional Park (Veneto, Italy), EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7963, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7963, 2022.

Permanent grassland (PG) covers about 30% of the cultivated area of Europe, and 5 x 10⁸ ha of them are in the Mediterranean zones. Climate change and prolonged drought seasons can expose PG’s soils to bare conditions for a long time, raising the land degradation risk, and diminishing food delivery to cattle. The objective of this study is to measure the response of soil moisture to a reduction in rainfall in different grass species. A rainfall exclusion experiment was set up to intercept 30% of the natural rainfall in Cordoba, Spain. Soil moisture was measured in 18 plots of 2 m², of which 9 were under exclusion and 9 under natural rainfall. We used a Drill and Drop Sentek soil moisture probe, measuring between 0 – 30 cm depth, from 1/11/21 until 27/01/22. We also measured phenological plant response.  Average soil moisture was clearly lower in the reduced rainfall plots. These results will contribute to understand the effect of future climate on soil moisture, grass response and agricultural food security in the region. In particular, it will help farmers to select the species that best resist drought conditions.

How to cite: Milazzo, F., Colesanti, M., Leal Murillo, R., Fernández Habas, J., Fernández Rebollo, P., and Vanwalleghem, T.: Response of soil moisture to rainfall reduction under different grassland species: preliminary results of a rainfall exclusion experiment under a Mediterranean climate, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9187, 2022.

The ecosystem service (ES) framework can be a useful tool to support sustainable land management and policy-making through mapping and assessment tasks. Quantifying the effect of the spatial precision of input data mobilised for ES assessment and mapping is a relatively new but fundamental issue, particularly with soil data that are often unavailable or available only at very coarse resolutions. However, no studies deal with the impact of the precision of input soil data on soil related-ES assessment and mapping

This study focus on a French territory of 100 km² and it examines the effect of increasing the spatial precision of soil data – at the 1:1,000,000, 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scales – on the levels and the spatial patterns of four soil-related ES: the provision of biomass, the provision of water, the regulation of global climate and the regulation of water quality. The delivery of these services is finally analyzed according to multiple operational spatial units of aggregation such as municipal administrative boundaries, landforms and finally land-use and cover.

The precision of input soil data has limited impact on ES levels averaged over the whole 100 km² territory. More precisely, the soil maps at 1: 1,000,000 and 1:250,000 scales provide accurate ES levels for areas larger than 100 and 10 km². However, soil-supported ES are not equally sensitive to scale effects. Increasing the precision of soil data has indeed almost no impact on the water provisioning, slight impacts (around 10 %) on the regulation of water quality but impacts around 20% on the provision of biomass and the regulation of climate.

The three maps have contrastingly a strong impact on the location of the considered services with scaling effects locally reaching or even exceeding 100%. Switching spatial scales has almost no impacts on ES levels in cultivated lands localized on flat plateau positions. On the contrary, they reach around 50, 70 and 80% for the regulation of water quality, the production of biomass and the regulation of climate respectively in forested and natural lands localized on plateau edges, sloping lands and valley bottom that appear more particularly sensitive to switching scales. Forested and sloping lands indeed concentrate marginal soils showing very specific ES signatures.

Identifying the optimal representation of soil diversity to obtain a reliable representation of ES spatial distribution is not straightforward. The ES sensitivity to scale effect is indeed highly variable among individual ES, landforms, or land-uses and not directly linked with the soil diversity represented in soil maps.

How to cite: Scammacca, O., Choquet, P., Gabrielle, B., Sauzet, O., Michelin, J., Garnier, P., Baveye, P., and Montagne, D.: The effects of switching spatial scales on soil-based ecosystem services levels and patterns: a case study at the patch scale, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11834, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11834, 2022.