Proyectos vigentes

Soil loss assessment in the face of changes in agricultural management and climate: Making a difference with nuclear and isotopic techniques.

Equipo

Erosion, and Soil and Water Evaluation

Acrónimo

ISONU SMC | Soil Management Climate

IP

Leticia Gaspar (EEAD-CSIC)

Resumen

In a world of climate and land-use changes, fertile soils are one of the most essential resources to sustain humankind and to ensure food security. Land degradation and soil erosion by water are associated with the irreversible loss of fertile soil, representing a major threat to water and nutrient retention, reducing agricultural productivity and increasing siltation and pollution of water bodies. Limited information exists about possible impacts of climate change on soil loss and water hold capacity under different land uses and agriculture practices. This project proposes to use nuclear and isotope techniques to evaluate soil loss under changes in agricultural practices and climate variability in a typical rainfed Mediterranean agrosystem. In addition, we will test the capabilities of using the Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) for the understanding of the temporal dynamics and spatial variability of soil moisture with a mobile backpack for the first time in Spain.

This JIN project aims to:
- WP1) assess the changes in soil erosion obtaining soil redistribution rates for different temporal periods by using fallout radionuclides (FRNs: 137Cs, 210Pbex) and applying a re-sampling strategy

- WP2) discriminate and distinguish the impacts of climate variability and agricultural management on soil loss by using stable isotopes techniques (δ13C, δ15N, C:N ratio), identifying soil provenance by using fingerprinting techniques, and evaluate different soil degradation status in eroded or deposition areas

- WP3) estimate field scale soil moisture data with CRNS to better understand how the water content affects the process of soil degradation and soil loss due to water erosion, as well as to validate the soil moisture data obtained from different remote sensing products.

Sustaining agricultural productivity and adapting to climate change requires efficient management of agricultural soil and water. To this purpose scientific criteria that can be derived from this project including appropriate land management practices aimed to make agricultural production systems resilient to drought, floods and land degradation are urgently required to face climate change threats that can be further amplified by agricultural practices.

Actividades del proyecto

WP1: Assess the changes in soil loss in a representative agroforestry system using fallout radionuclides (137Cs, 210Pbex) using an innovative resampling method for obtaining soil redistribution rates for different temporal periods
- Establish re-sampling strategy along a representative toposequence, first time Spain
- Compare soil erosion rates for this time window between 2003 and 2020
- Evaluate the potential changes in agricultural management and analyse climate

WP 2: Discriminate impact of agricultural management and climate variability on soil loss
- Prove the effectiveness of using the C/N ratio and δ13C, δ15N signatures to determine the stability of soil organic carbon
- Testing the use of stable isotopes to identify hot spots of land degradation by using FingerPro

WP 3: Estimate spatial and temporal soil moisture
- Establish methodology for the use of CRNS backpack in Mediterranean agrosystem
- Compare soil moisture data from CRNS with remote sensing products (Sentinel-2)
- Use CRNP for Soil Moisture as proxy to evaluate potential erosion risks
- Evaluate CRNP data in relation with hydrological processes (runoff, infiltration)

Fecha inicio

01/11/2020

Fecha finalización

31/10/2023

Organismo financiador

Plan Nacional - PID2019-103946RJ-I00

Cuantía