Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Protective role of grassland against soil water erosion caused by extreme rainfall events as compared to black fallow 

Author(s):

Rafał Wawer, Eugeniusz Nowocień, Bogusław Podolski, Jerzy Kozyra, Rafal Pudełko

Recieved Date: 2012-09-16, Accepted Date: 2013-01-22

Abstract:

The goal of the research, presented in this article, was to recognize the quantitative difference of soil response to an extreme rainfall events at a micro- plot scale under two land surface conditions: permanent black fallow and permanent grassland. The research was performed in controlled conditions of soil humidity and rainfall for a set of ten soil kinds, representative for the geographical area of Poland. The results show dramatic drop of both: outflow coefficient and sediment uptake comparing micro-plots under black fallow with those covered by grassland. Extreme rainfall occurring in periods when the soil surface remains uncovered by crops causes an extreme erosion soil losses. An average precipitation of 41.11 mm, characterized by an average intensity of 1.68 mm/min and time of 40 min, induced on an uncovered soil an average soil loos of 140 g m^-2, which equals to 1400 kg of topsoil per hectare. The same average precipitation  generated on a soil covered with well-developed  grass resulted in an average soil loss of only 0.41 g m^-2 (41kg of topsoil per hectare). 

Keywords:

Water erosion, grassland, extreme rainfall, sprinkler

---

Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Category: Environment
Pages: 1069-1071

---

Full text for Subscribers

---

Information:

Note to users

The requested document is freely available only to subscribers/registered users with an online subscription to the Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. If you have set up a personal subscription to this title please enter your user name and password. All abstracts are available for free.

Article purchasing

If you like to purchase this specific document such as article, review or this journal issue, contact us. Specify the title of the article or review, issue, number, volume and date of the publication. Software and compilation, Science & Technology, all rights reserved. Your use of this website details or service is governed by terms of use. Authors are invited to check from time to time news or information.

---

Purchase this Article:   20 Purchase PDF Order Reprints for 15

---

Share this article :