Preface

Soil management techniques are sustainable only if they are compatible with the expectations of the farmers and if their influence on the environment is such that they can be practiced indefinitely without undesirable consequences. Soil degrada­tion is a major environmental problem throughout the world and there is strong evidence that soil degradation presents an immediate threat to both biomass and economic production, as well as a long-term threat to future crop yields.

The aim of the conference was to present information and to make proposals useful to policymakers in the development of future strategies for a sustainable agriculture able to prevent soil physical degradation. Such strategies must take into account interactions between the many forms of soil degradation that up to now have not been adequately considered. Many of the environmental disasters that frequent not only the Mediterranean but also other parts of the world, are the direct consequence of inappropriate land use and management. (from Preface)

About the book

In July 2001, the International Union of Soil Science, in collaboration with the Italian Soil Science Society, the European Society of Agricultural Engineers and the International Commission of Agricultural Engineering, organised a conference on “Sustainable Soil Management for Environmental Protection – Soil Physical Aspects” in Firenze (Italy). An important theme at the conference was that soil management techniques are sustainable only if degradation to the soil is minimised. In addition, however, the expectations of farmers and other users of the land must be respected. The influence on the environment must be such that the soil can managed indefinitely using techniques that do not cause permanent damage. Real protection of the environment can be promoted only through the correct use and protection of soil resources.

Many aspects of environmental degradation can be ascribed to soil physical processes. These include: erosion, compaction, crusting, deterioration of struc­ture, flooding, loss of organic matter, salinization, etc.). Up to now, these physi­cal factors have not been adequately taken into consideration. Conventional sys­tems of agricultural production have in many cases resulted in excessive erosion and other forms of soil degradation there is an urgent need for crop production to be brought into harmony with soil conservation and environmental protection.

This monograph contains a selection of papers from the Conference that relate directly to soil conservation and protection. The book is organised into chapters covering: Introductory papers; Soil Structure; Soil Hydrology; Soil Compaction; Soil Erosion; Models, Databases and Maps. The book indicates that there is clearly a need to change soil management to alleviate problems of degradation and it is also emphasized that success will depend on adopting an interdisciplinary approach. The importance now being attached to the subject of soil degradation has been recognised by Catena Verlag in publishing the book in the series Advances in GeoEcology.

Contents

Sustainable Land Management - Environmental Protection
A Soil Physical Approach 

Chapter I  Introductory papers

Daniel Tessier
Progress and perspectives in soil physics

Robert J.A. Jones
Assessing the vulnerability of soils to degradation

Freddy O.F. Nachtergaele, Godert W.J. van Linden and Niels H. Batjes
Soil and terrain database and their applications with special reference to Physical soil degradation and soil vulnerability to pollution in central and eastern Europe

Anthony R. Dexter
Soil structure: the key to soil function

A. Artigao, J.F. Ortega, J.M. Tarjuelo and J.A. de Juan
The impact of irrigation application upon soil physical degradation in Castilla-La Mancha ( Spain )

Edoardo A.C. Costantini, Sergio Pellegrini, Nadia Vignozzi, Rossano Ciampalini, Simona Magini and Roberto Barbetti
Using different methods for calibrating field characterisation of soil hydrological qualities for vine and olive tree zoning

M. Freppaz, S. Lunardi, E. Bonifacio, R. Scalenghe and E. Zanini
Ski slopes and stability of soil aggregates

O.C. Martins, N.L. Castanheira, C.C. Figueiredo and F.L. Santos
Improving Mediterranean soils physical properties by using anionic Polyacrylamide in the irrigation water

N.J. Southorn
The soil structure component of soil quality under alternate grazing management strategies

Marnik Vanclooster, M. Javaux, F. Hupet, S. Lambot, A. Rochdi, J.D. Piñeros-Garcet and C. Bielders
Effective approaches for modelling chemical transport in soils supporting soil management at the
large scale

Luciano Gomes Castro, Paulo Leonel Libardi and Quirin de Jong van Lier
Soil water dynamics in a Brazilian infiltration terrace under different management practices

Antonio Coppola and Mario Palladino
Transport properties in soils related to local-scale heterogeneities: theoretical considerations and applications

C. Coutadeur, Y. Coquet and J. Roger-Estrade
A compartmental approach for assessing the spatial variability of the hydraulic conductivity within ploughed soils

Jailani Husain, Horst H. Gerke and Reinhard F. Huttl
Infiltration measurements for determining effects of land use change on soil hydraulic properties
in Indonesia

A.C.R. de Lima, E.A. Pauletto, P.L. Libardi, A.S. Gomes and L.F.S. Pinto
Hydraulic characterization of a lowland soil under long-term management systems

Paolo Spugnoli, Edoardo Soverini and Telmo C. Palancar
Effects of irrigation with brackish water on soil trafficability and workability

Chapter IV   Soil Compaction

Rainer Horn
Soil mechanical properties and processes in structured unsaturated soils under various landuse and management systems

Ristolainen
caused by tracked tractors

P. Febo and D. Pessina
The ground pressure exerted by agricultural machines

H. Fleige, Rainer Horn and F. Stange
Soil mechanical parameters derived from the CA-database ‘subsoil compaction’

Beata Houšková
Assessment of the state of soil compaction in Slovakia

A.P. Pires da Silva, S. Imhoff and M. Corsi
Soil compaction versus cow-stocking rates on an irrigated grazing system

Joerg Vossbrink, Rainer Horn, Stefan Becker and Petra Koester
Influence of different harvesting methods in the Black Forest on the habitat ecology from a soil physical point of view

Chapter V   Soil Erosion

R. Marchetti
Surface and subsurface runoff from a silty-clay soil of the lower Po Valley

Rossella Papini, Paolo Bazzoffi and Sergio Pellegrini
Effect of land use systems on erosion and nutrient loss in the Mediterranean

Tommaso Simonato,  Gian Battista Bischetti  and Giovanni B. Crosta
Evaluating soil erosion with RUSLE and WEPP in an alpine environment
(Val Dorena – Central Alps, Italy)

Andrei Canarache and C. Simota
Databases and simulating modelling in compaction and erosion studies

Bekele Debele and William L. Magette
Modelling rainfall erosivity: the case for Ethiopia

E. Diaz-Pereira, N. Prange, M. Fernandez, D. de la Rosa and F. Moreno
Predicting soil water erosion using the ImpelERO model and a mapped reference area in the Sevilla province ( Spain )

S. Moretti and R. Spicchi
Evaluation of land use and sustainability in a Mediterranean area using a hydrological erosive model: an example from central Italy

S.S. Rousseva
A model approach for estimating the influence of compacted subsurface layer on soil erosion

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