Vegetated ridge and sandbag may not reduce soil erosion and loss of carbon and nutrients from upland fields |
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| Authors: | Se-In Park Hye In Yang Hyun-Jin Park Bo-Seong Seo Dong-Hwan Lee Young-Jae Jeong |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Rural &2. Bio-systems Engineering, Chonnam National University , Gwangju, Republic of Korea |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Though construction of vegetated ridge (VR) and placement of sandbag (SB) across the slope of upland fields are believed to be effective in reducing soil erosion and nutrient loss, relevant data are lacking to confirm such expectations. In this study, the effects of VR and SB on loss of soils, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) (CNP) were investigated through both artificial (in dry season) and natural (in rainy season) runoff experiments on upland fields cultivated with maize (Zea mays L. var. ceratina). Contrary to expectations, both VR and SB were not effective in reducing the loss of soils and CNP. For VR, accelerated convergent flow caused by ridge failure, which occurred when part of the ridges collapsed because the amount of water collected in the furrows exceeded the water storage capacity of the ridges, led to excessive loss of soils and CNP. For SB, the loss of soils and CNP could be ascribed to the malfunction of SB; i.e., soil and CNP were lost by seepage through the gaps between SBs and between SB and soil surface. Maize growth and yield were not affected by VR and SB, coinciding with the lack of beneficial effects of VR and SB on soil and nutrient loss. As VR and SB are easy to be implemented and cost-effective, however, further study is necessary to correct the flaws of VR and SB found in this study. |
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| Keywords: | Land management non-point source pollution nutrient loss rainfall soil loss |
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