Vineyards soils are especially threatened by the risk of soil compaction and soil erosion, with negative consequences for wine production and provisioning of ecosystem services. Indeed, adopting proper soil management in vineyards is crucial to avoid water losses and erosion by runoff, thus improving water infiltration. The use of cover crops in vineyards is widely considered as an effective agricultural conservation measure, providing reduction of runoff and erosion processes and several other ecosystem services. Within the IN-GEST SOIL project, a preliminary study was conducted in a sloping vineyard located in Piedmont, NW Italy, in order to assess the role of permanent grass cover in protecting the vineyard's soil from degradation, especially in relation to soil compaction due to machinery traffic and soil erosion. Rainfall characteristics, runoff and its turbidity, soil erosion, and soil water content were hourly measured during extreme events occurred in the last two years (2020 and 2021), in two different inter-row soil managements: 26 runoff events were recorded, 5 of which due to extreme rainfall with more than 100 mm in the autumn/winter period. Results show how the soil management adopted in a trafficked vineyard strongly influences the infiltration and water retention capacity of the soil and the risk of erosion. Indeed, the grass cover halves the runoff by more than 5 times and reduces the soil erosion by more than 25 times, compared to conventional tillage. Extreme rainfall events were responsible for more than ¾ of the runoff and 95% of the soil eroded in the period (> 5 t/ha), highlighting the need to improve the environmental sustainability of these agricultural systems, considering the challenge of climate change, with forecasts indicating increasing temperatures and decreasing rainfall in the Mediterranean region associated with extreme events such as drought and intense rainfall.
Effects of some extreme rainfall events on Hydrological and Soil Erosion Processes in Tilled and Grassed Vineyards
Capello G;Biddoccu M;Cavallo;
2022
Abstract
Vineyards soils are especially threatened by the risk of soil compaction and soil erosion, with negative consequences for wine production and provisioning of ecosystem services. Indeed, adopting proper soil management in vineyards is crucial to avoid water losses and erosion by runoff, thus improving water infiltration. The use of cover crops in vineyards is widely considered as an effective agricultural conservation measure, providing reduction of runoff and erosion processes and several other ecosystem services. Within the IN-GEST SOIL project, a preliminary study was conducted in a sloping vineyard located in Piedmont, NW Italy, in order to assess the role of permanent grass cover in protecting the vineyard's soil from degradation, especially in relation to soil compaction due to machinery traffic and soil erosion. Rainfall characteristics, runoff and its turbidity, soil erosion, and soil water content were hourly measured during extreme events occurred in the last two years (2020 and 2021), in two different inter-row soil managements: 26 runoff events were recorded, 5 of which due to extreme rainfall with more than 100 mm in the autumn/winter period. Results show how the soil management adopted in a trafficked vineyard strongly influences the infiltration and water retention capacity of the soil and the risk of erosion. Indeed, the grass cover halves the runoff by more than 5 times and reduces the soil erosion by more than 25 times, compared to conventional tillage. Extreme rainfall events were responsible for more than ¾ of the runoff and 95% of the soil eroded in the period (> 5 t/ha), highlighting the need to improve the environmental sustainability of these agricultural systems, considering the challenge of climate change, with forecasts indicating increasing temperatures and decreasing rainfall in the Mediterranean region associated with extreme events such as drought and intense rainfall.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
