Splash Erosion on Terraces, Does It Make a Difference If the Terracing Is Done before or after a Fire?

Terraces are a common Mediterranean feature influencing soils, slopes and subsurface hydrology; however, little is known about their impact on erosion processes, especially in humid regions. The purpose of this study was to assess how terracing after a fire affected erosion processes such as splash...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHydrology Vol. 8; no. 4; p. 180
Main Authors Fernández-Raga, María, Martins, Martinho A. S., Marcos Porras, Elena, Fraile, Roberto, Keizer, Jan Jacob
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2021
Subjects
cups
Erosion rates
Fires
Forest & brush fires
Funnels
Hydrology
Meteorological data
Meteorological parameters
Rain
Rainfall
Runoff
Sampling
Soil
Soil aggregates
Soil erosion
Soil stability
Soil surfaces
splash erosion
Surface stability
Terraces
Terracing
Vegetation
Iberian Peninsula
Portugal
Spain
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Summary:Terraces are a common Mediterranean feature influencing soils, slopes and subsurface hydrology; however, little is known about their impact on erosion processes, especially in humid regions. The purpose of this study was to assess how terracing after a fire affected erosion processes such as splash erosion. For 8 months, the study monitored splash erosion in three terraced plots, one plot under pre-fire conditions and the other two under post-fire conditions. Assessment of the impact of the terracing treatment in such plots was carried out by the installation of two different splash erosion quantitative systems: cups and funnels. An analysis of the splash data obtained in 17 rainfall events and meteorological data collected during each one of those periods was then performed. A significant positive correlation between the amount of rainfall and the splash erosion was observed. The two splash sampling systems show a high degree of concordance; however, the funnel-type model seems to be the most appropriate when it comes to preventing loss of splashed soil samples. The post-fire treatment with terracing leads to a smaller stability of surface soil aggregates, causing higher splash erosion rates. Sampling using the funnel system collects three times the amount of splashed soil than that collected by the cup system, although both systems correlate appropriately with the meteorological parameters.
ISSN:2306-5338
2306-5338
DOI:10.3390/hydrology8040180