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Monitoring of water erosion on arable farms in England and Wales. 1990–94
Author(s) -
Chambers B.J.,
Garwood T.W.D.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2000.tb00181.x
Subject(s) - arable land , erosion , surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , agronomy , zoology , geography , geology , agriculture , biology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , archaeology
Abstract. The incidence of soil water erosion was monitored in 12 erosion‐susceptible arable catchments ( c . 80 fields) in England and Wales between 1990 and 1994. Factors associated with the initiation of erosion were recorded, and the extent of rills and gullies measured. Approximately 80% of the erosion events were on land cropped to winter cereals. In 30% of cases, the initiation of erosion was linked to valley floor features, which concentrated runoff. Poor crop cover, wheelings and tramlines were also assessed as contributory factors in 22%, 19% and 14% of cases, respectively. In c . 95% of cases rainfall events causing erosion were ≥10 mm day −1 and c . 80% were >15 mm day −1 . Erosion was also associated with maximum rainfall intensities of >4 mm h −1 for c . 90% of cases and >10 mm h −1 for c . 20%. Mean net soil erosion rates were approximately 4 t ha −1 per annum (median value 0.41 t ha −1 per annum) and associated mean P losses 3.4 kg ha −1 .