Establishing the Concept of Tolerable Soil Loss in the Context of Episodic Events

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68407700%3A21110%2F24%3A00382515" target="_blank" >RIV/68407700:21110/24:00382515 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://riscbal.uib.eu/static/media/documents/ERB2024/book_of_abstracts/book_of_abstracts_erb24_mallorca.pdf" target="_blank" >https://riscbal.uib.eu/static/media/documents/ERB2024/book_of_abstracts/book_of_abstracts_erb24_mallorca.pdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Establishing the Concept of Tolerable Soil Loss in the Context of Episodic Events

Original language description

Soil erosion protection measures in the Czech Republic and most other EU countries currently rely on long-term average soil loss values to maintain agricultural productivity. However, significant episodic events frequently surpass these averages, causing substantial on-site and off-site damage that necessitates costly remediation efforts. These episodic events often coincide with extreme weather patterns, which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. This disparity raises critical questions about the adequacy of the existing definitions of tolerable soil loss and the effectiveness of the associated limits. Our study addresses these concerns by comparing the measured soil loss data from different episodes with the prevailing tolerance thresholds in the region of entire Czech Republic. All together more than 600 field rainfall experiments (sheet flow erosion) and UAV detection campaigns of rills and gullies (higher forms of erosion) were used as a database for consideration of thresholds. Episodic rainfall characteristics (seasonality, probability and frequency of occurrence of events) were used together with the main crop rotation systems. The urgency of updating these thresholds is amplified by the increased frequency of extreme climatic events affecting small catchments, particularly those modified by human activities. A detailed analysis of these measurements highlights that the actual soil loss during high-magnitude erosive events often significantly exceeds the established tolerable limits. The variability in soil loss was particularly evident across different erosion types, suggesting a need to revise the current thresholds to better accommodate the diverse nature of erosive processes. It is obvious that the current limit value for tolerable soil loss from agricultural land (9t/ha/year) in the Czech Republic takes into account sheet erosion (~4t/ha/single event) but neglects higher forms of erosion (~10-60 t/ha/single event).

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

20701 - Environmental and geological engineering, geotechnics

Project

<a href="/en/project/SS05010180" target="_blank" >SS05010180: Updating concept of the tolerable soil loss from arable land</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů