Regional assessment of gully systems in a hilly olive-orchard dominated landscape
Fecha
2007Versión
Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia
Tipo
Contribución a congreso / Biltzarrerako ekarpena
Versión
Versión publicada / Argitaratu den bertsioa
Impacto
|
nodoi-noplumx
|
Resumen
Olive orchards dominate the land use at the hills of Afrin
area, and olive oil represents the most important cash
income source for rural communities in this area. However,
olive yields in many orchards have been decreasing steadily
over the last 20 years (Hoorelbeke, 2006).
The major reason for the yield decline is the severe land
degradation taking place in this region. Deforestation,
expansion ...
[++]
Olive orchards dominate the land use at the hills of Afrin
area, and olive oil represents the most important cash
income source for rural communities in this area. However,
olive yields in many orchards have been decreasing steadily
over the last 20 years (Hoorelbeke, 2006).
The major reason for the yield decline is the severe land
degradation taking place in this region. Deforestation,
expansion of olive production into steeper areas, and
inappropriate land management practices, accelerated the
rate of soil erosion. Especially the replacement of mule
contour tillage by the cheaper up-and-down tractor tillage
during the 1970’s was very detrimental. Tractor tillage not
only moves down sizable amounts of soil during every
tillage run, but also the consequent (mostly) vertical
furrows stimulate water-induced soil erosion.
The widespread presence of rills and gullies during the
rainy season is a clear indicator of the severity of this
problem. It is not exceptional to see that the parent material
is surfacing, which indicates that a complete loss of the
surface soil layer. However, gully systems are mere
symptoms of ongoing degradation rather than the cause of
degradation itself (Stocking et al., 2001). In order to
facilitate the development of an effective soil conservation
strategy for olive-dominated hill landscapes, the main focus
of this study was to assess the severity of gully systems and
to increase the understanding of the causes of gully system
development. [--]
Materias
Gully systems
Editor
Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Publicado en
Javier Casalí, Rafael Giménez (eds.): Progress in Gully Erosion Research. IV International Symposium on Gully Erosion. September 17-19, 2007. Pamplona, Spain. Pamplona: Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, 2007
Notas
Resumen del trabajo presentado al IV International Symposium on Gully Erosion, celebrado en la Universidad Pública de Navarra del 17 al 19 de septiembre de 2007.