soil erosion in europe · the book consists of two parts: (1) an overview of soil erosion processes...

Soil Erosion in Europe

Editors

John BoardmanEnvironmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK

Jean PoesenPhysical and Regional Geography Research Group, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

GEO-Institute, Belgium


Editors

John BoardmanEnvironmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK

Jean PoesenPhysical and Regional Geography Research Group, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

GEO-Institute, Belgium

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Soil erosion in Europe / editors, John Boardman, Jean Poesen.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-470-85910-0 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-470-85910-5 (cloth)

1. Soil erosion–Europe. I. Boardman, John, 1942- II. Poesen, Jean.

S625.E87S65 2006

631.405094–dc22 2006000930

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN-13 978 0-470-85910-0

ISBN-10 0-470-85910-5

Typeset in 10/12 pt Times by Thomson Digital, Noida, India

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire

This book is printed on acid-free paper responsibly manufactured from sustainable forestry in which at least two trees are

planted for each one used for paper production.

www.wiley.com

To Brenda and Cati for their constant support and to the late Jan de Ploey for hisfundamental influence on soil erosion studies in Europe

Contents

Preface xiii

Contributors xv

Section 1 1

1.1 Norway 3

Lillian Øygarden, Helge Lundekvam, Arnold H Arnoldussen

and Trond Børresen

1.2 Sweden 17

Barbro Ulen

1.3 Finland 27

Sirkka Tattari and Seppo Rekolainen

1.4 Denmark 33

Anita Veihe and Bent Hasholt

1.5 Iceland 43

Olafur Arnalds

1.6 Lithuania 57

Benediktas Jankauskas and Michael A. Fullen

1.7 Estonia 67

Rein Kask, Illar Lemetti and Kalev Sepp

1.8 European Russia and Byelorus 73

Aleksey Sidorchuk, Leonid Litvin, Valentin Golosov and Andrey Chernysh

1.9 Poland 95

Jerzy Rejman and Jan Rodzik

1.10 Czech Republic 107

Tomas Dostal, Miloslav Janecek, Zdenet Kliment, Josef Krasa, Jakub Langhammer,

Jiri Vaska and Karel Vrana

1.11 Slovakia 117

Milos Stankoviansky, Emil Fulajtar and Pavel Jambor

1.12 Hungary 139

Adam Kertesz and Csaba Centeri

1.13 Romania 155

Ion Ionita, Maria Radoane and Sevastel Mircea

1.14 Bulgaria 167

Svetla Rousseva, Assen Lazarov, Elka Tsvetkova, Ilia Marinov, Ivan Malinov,

Viktor Kroumov and Vihra Stefanova

1.15 Moldavia 183

Miroslav D Voloschuk and Ion Ionita

1.16 Ukraine 199

Sergey Bulygin

1.17 Austria 205

Peter Strauss and Eduard Klaghofer

1.18 Germany 213

Karl Auerswald

1.19 Switzerland 231

Rainer Weisshaidinger and Hartmut Leser

1.20 Italy 245

Dino Torri, Lorenzo Borselli, Fausto Guzzetti, M. Costanza Calzolari, Paolo Bazzoffi,

Fabrizio Ungaro, Devis Bartolini and M. Pilar Salvador Sanchis

1.21 Albania 263

Spiro Grazhdani

1.22 Serbia and Montenegro 271

Stanimir Kostadinov, Miodrag Zlatic, Nada Dragovic and Zoran Gavrilovic

1.23 Greece 279

Constantinos Kosmas, Nicholas Danalatos, Dimitra Kosma and Panagiota Kosmopoulou

1.24 Macedonia 289

Ivan Blinkov and Alexandar Trendafilov

1.25 Slovenia 297

Mauro Hrvatin, Blaz Komac, Drago Perko and Matija Zorn

1.26 Spain 311

Albert Sole Benet

viii Contents

1.27 Spain: Canary Islands 347

A Rodrıguez Rodrıguez, Carmen D. Arbelo and J Sanchez

1.28 Portugal 359

Celeste O.A. Coelho

1.29 France 369

Anne-Veronique Auzet, Yves Le Bissonnais and Veronique Souchere

1.30 Belgium 385

Gert Verstraeten, Jean Poesen, Dirk Goossens, Katleen Gillijns, Charles Bielders,

Donald Gabriels, Greet Ruysschaert, Miet Van Den Eeckhaut, Tom Vanwalleghem

and Gerard Govers

1.31 The Netherlands 413

Frans J.P.M. Kwaad, Ad P.J. de Roo and Victor G. Jetten

1.32 Luxembourg 427

Erik L.H. Cammeraat

1.33 Britain 439

John Boardman and Bob Evans

1.34 Ireland 455

David Favis-Mortlock

Section 2 463

Introduction

2.1 Past Soil Erosion in Europe 465

Andreas Lang and Hans Rudolf Bork

Soil Erosion Processes

2.2 Soil Erosion in Europe: Major Processes, Causes and Consequences 479

John Boardman and Jean Poesen

2.3 Soil Surface Crusting and Structure Slumping in Europe 489

Louis-Marie Bresson, Yves Le Bissonnais and Patrick Andrieux

2.4 Sheet and Rill Erosion 501

Olivier Cerdan, Jean Poesen, Gerard Govers, Nicolas Saby, Yves Le Bissonnais,

Anne Gobin, Andrea Vacca, John Quinton, Karl Auerswald, Andreas Klik,

Franz F.P.M. Kwaad and M.J. Roxo

Contents ix

2.5 Gully Erosion in Europe 515

Jean Poesen, Tom Vanwalleghem, Joris de Vente, Anke Knapen,

Gert Verstraeten and Jose A. Martınez-Casasnovas

2.6 Piping Hazard on Collapsible and Dispersive Soils in Europe 537

Hazel Faulkner

2.7 Wind Erosion 563

Roger Funk and Hannes Isaak Reuter

2.8 Shallow Landsliding 583

Olivier Maquaire and Jean-Philippe Malet

2.9 Tillage Erosion 599

Kristof Van Oost and Gerard Govers

2.10 Soil Losses due to Crop Harvesting in Europe 609

Greet Ruysschaert, Jean Poesen, Gert Verstraeten and Gerard Govers

2.11 Erosion of Uncultivated Land 623

Bob Evans

2.12 Land Levelling 643

Lorenzo Borselli, Dino Torri, Lillian Øygarden, Saturnio De Alba,

Jose A. Martınez-Casasnovas, Paolo Bazzoffi and Gergely Jakab

Risk Assessment and Prediction

2.13 Pan-European Soil Erosion Assessment and Maps 661

Anne Gobin, Gerard Govers and Mike Kirkby

2.14 Assessing the Modified Fournier Index and the Precipitation

Concentration Index for Some European Countries 675

Donald Gabriels

2.15 Pan-European Soil Erodibility Assessment 685

Yves Le Bissonnais, Olivier Cerdan, Joel Leonard and Joel Daroussin

2.16 Modelling Soil Erosion in Europe 695

Victor Jetten and David Favis-Mortlock

2.17 Existing Soil Erosion Data Sets 717

Jussi Baade and Seppo Rekolainen

2.18 Impacts of Environmental Changes on Soil Erosion Across Europe 729

Mike Kirkby

x Contents

2.19 Muddy Floods 743

John Boardman, Gert Verstraeten and Charles Bielders

Off-site Impacts and Responses

2.20 Reservoir and Pond Sedimentation in Europe 759

Gert Verstraeten, Paolo Bazzoffi, Adam Lajczak, Maria Radoane,

Freddy Rey, Jean Poesen and Joris de Vente

2.21 Off-site Impacts of Erosion: Eutrophication as an Example 775

Seppo Rekolainen, Petri Ekholm, Louise Heathwaite, Jouni Lehtoranta and Risto Uusitalo

2.22 Economic Frame for Soil Conservation Policies 791

Johannes Schuler, Harald Kachele, Klaus Muller, Katharina Helming and Peter Zander

2.23 Government and Agency Response to Soil Erosion Risk in Europe 805

Michael A Fullen, Andres Arnalds, Paolo Bazzoffi, Colin A Booth,

Victor Castillo, Adam Kertesz, Philippe Martin, Coen Ritsema, Albert Sole Benet,

Veronique Souchere, Liesbeth Vandekerckhove and Gert Verstraeten

2.24 Agri-environment Measures and Soil Erosion in Europe 829

Paolo Bazzoffi and Anne Gobin

Index 841

Contents xi

Preface

This book has grown directly from a network of European researchers set up under the aegis of COST (Co-

operation in Science and Technology), largely funded by the European Union, and running from 1998 to 2003.

Funding for the COST Action allowed researchers from 20 countries to meet three to four times a year in

workshops, conferences and small groups to discuss issues of soil erosion around the broad theme of Soil

Erosion and Global Change (COST 623). Many of the 114 contributors to this book were partners in the COST

Action.

The book also grew from reflections and comments made by several experts [Jan de Ploey, R.P.C. Morgan,

Mr Denis Peter (EU DG XII)] about the need for an overview of the extent, seriousness and impact of erosion

in Europe. It comes at a time when Europe is, for the first time, developing a coherent soil protection policy.

Another important political development, not unrelated to erosion, is the reform of EU agricultural policy

driven by overproduction, excessive expense and concerns about environmental degradation and contamina-

tion. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the new Agri-Environment measures has put the

emphasis on the control of soil erosion and sediment pollution and the management of European landscapes in

a more sustainable manner.

No comprehensive assessment of processes, rates, spatial distribution and significance of soil erosion exists

for Europe. The literature is scattered and sometimes superficial. This book is unique in that it presents soil

erosion assessments largely based on field observations and measurements throughout Europe, rather than on

estimates using erosion models. The review considers on-site and off-site effects and erosional hotspots. The

book aims to be of value to researchers, high-school teachers, students, policy-makers and all those involved in

environmental protection.

The book consists of two parts: (1) an overview of soil erosion processes and problems in each country and

(2) cross-cutting themes. The major erosion processes affecting arable land and noncultivated land are

covered: water erosion, wind erosion, shallow landsliding, tillage erosion, soil losses due to root and tuber

harvesting, land levelling, piping and physical degradation (surface sealing, crusting and soil compaction),

major erosion factors, impacts, erosion models and government and agency response.

There are two important qualifications or explanations. First, in some countries the amount of data is

minimal either because the subject of soil erosion has not been investigated or because erosion is deemed to be

of minor significance. There are therefore many gaps in our knowledge which are revealed by this survey; it

will be instructive to repeat the review perhaps in 10 or 15 years time.

Second, discussion of soil protection measures is limited for several reasons. It was felt that (a) a survey of

erosional processes and their areal extent was already important in itself and therefore sufficient for one

volume and (b) that soil conservation was much less investigated, and that this would be a more appropriate

subject for review by members of COST 634 (On and Off-site Environmental Impacts of Runoff and Erosion:

2004–08).

JOHN BOARDMAN and JEAN POESEN

Contributors

Patrick Andrieux

UMR INRA/ENSAM Laboratoire d’Etude des

Interactions Sol–Agrosystemes–

Hydrosystemes

France

Carmen D. Arbelo-Rodriguez

Soil Science and Geology Department

University of La Laguna

Canary Islands

Spain

Andres Arnals

Soil Conservation Service

Iceland

Olafur Arnalds

Agricultural Research Institute

Reykjavik

Iceland

Arnold H Arnoldussen

Norwegian Institute of Land Inventory

Norway

Karl Auerswald

Lehrstuhl fur Grunlandlehre

Technische Universitat Munchen

Germany

Anne-Veronique Auzet

Institut de Mecanique des Fluides

et des Solides (IMFS)

France

Jussi Baade

Department of Geography

Friedrich-Schiller Universitat Jena

Germany

Devis Bartolini

Dipartimento di Scienza del Suolo e Nutrizione

della Pianta

Italy

Paolo Bazzoffi

Istituto Sperimentale per lo Studio e la Difesa del Suolo

Italy

Charles Bielders

Department of Environmental Sciences and Land

Use Planning

Universite Catholique de Louvain

Belgium

Yves Le Bissonais

LISAH

France

Ivan Blinkov

Department of Erosion and Surveying

University ‘St Cyril and Methodius’

Skopje

Macedonia

John Boardman

Environmental Change Institute

University of Oxford

UK

Colin A Booth

School of Applied Science

University of Wolverhampton

UK

Hans Rudolf Bork

Okologie-Zentrum

Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel

Germany

Trond Børresen

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Norway

Lorenzo Borselli

IRPI CNR

Italy

Louis-Marie Bresson

UMR INRA/INAPG Environnement

et Grandes Cultures

France

Sergey Bulygin

National Scientific Center

Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry

Ukraine

M Costanza Calzolari

IRPI CNR

Italy

Erik LH Cammeraat

IBED–Physical Geography

University of Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Victor Castillo

Centro de Edafologıa y Biologıa

Campus Universitario de Espinardo

Spain

Csaba Centeri

Institute of Environmental Management

Szent Istvan University

Hungary

Olivier Cerdan

Physical and Regional Geography Research Group

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Belgium

Andrey Chernysh

Geographical Faculty Byelorussian

State University

Republic of Byelorus

Celeste OA Coelho

Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies

(CESAM)

University of Aveiro

Portugal

Nicholas Danalatos

Agricultural University of Athens

Greece

Joel Daroussin

INRA

Science du Sol

France

Saturnio de Alba

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Spain

APJ de Roo

Institute for Environment and Sustainability

Ispra

Italy

Joris de Vente

Physical and Regional Geography

Research Group


Belgium

Tomas Dostal

Department of Irrigation, Drainage

and Landscape Engineering

Czech Technical University

Czech Republic

Nada Dragovic

Department for Erosion and Torrent Control

University of Belgrade

Serbia and Montenegro

Petri Ekholm

Finnish Environment

Institute

Helsinki

Finland

xvi Contributors

Bob Evans


Anglia Ruskin University

UK

Hazel Faulkner

Flood Hazard Research Centre

University of Middlesex

UK

David Favis-Mortlock

Queen’s University Belfast

UK

Emil Fulajtar

Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute

Slovakia

Michael A Fullen

School of Applied Sciences

University of Wolverhampton

UK

Roger Funk

Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research

Institute of Soil Landscape Research

Muncheberg

Germany

Donald Gabriels

Department of Soil Management and Soil Care

Ghent University

Belgium

Zoran Gavrilovic

Institute for Water Management ‘Jaroslav Cerni’

Belgrade


Katleen Gillijns



Belgium

Anne Gobin



Belgium

Valentin Golosov

Geographical Faculty

Moscow State University

Russian Federation

Dirk Goossens


Research Group

Katholieke Universiteit

Leuven Belgium

Gerard Govers


Research Group


Belgium

Spiro Grazhdani

Interfaculty Department

Agricultural University of Tirana

Albania

Fausto Guzzetti

IRPI CNR, Perugia

Italy

Bent Hasholt

Institute of Geography

University of Copenhagen

Denmark

Louise Heathwaite

Centre for Sustainable

Water Management

Lancaster University

UK

Katharina Helming

Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural

Landscape Research

Muncheberg

Germany

Mauro Hrvatin

Geografski Institut Antona Melika

Slovenia

Contributors xvii

Ion Ionita


University of Iasi

Romania

Gergely Jakab

Department of Physical Geography

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Hungary

Pavel Jambor

Soil Science and Conservation

Research Institute

Slovakia

Miloslav Janecek

Research Institute of Ameliorations

and Soil Conservation

Czech Republic

Benediktas Jankauskas

Kaltinenai Research Station

Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture

Lithuania

Victor Jetten


Utrecht University

The Netherlands

Harald Kachele

Centre for Agricultural Landscape

and Land Use Research (ZALF)

Muncheberg

Germany

Rein Kask

Estonian Control Centre of Plant Production

Estonia

Adam Kertesz

Geographical Research Institute

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Hungary

Mike Kirkby

School of Geography

University of Leeds

UK

Eduard Klaghofer

Institute for Land and Water Management Research

Petzenkirchen

Austria

Andreas Klik

University of Natural Resources

and Applied Life Sciences

Vienna

Austria

Zdenek Kliment

Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology

Charles University

Czech Republic

Anke Knapen



Belgium

D Kosma


Greece

Blaz Komac


Slovenia

Constantinos Kosmas


Greece

P Kosmopoulou


Greece

Stanimir Kostadinov




Josef Krasa




Czech Republic

xviii Contributors

V Krumov

N Poushkarov Institute of Soil Science

Bulgaria

Franz JPM Kwaad

University of Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Adam Lajczak

University of Silesia

Poland

Andreas Lang


University of Liverpool

UK

Jakub Langhammer


and Geoecology

Charles University

Czech Republic

A Lazrov

N Poushkarov Institute

of Soil Science

Bulgaria

Yves Le Bissonnais

Unite INRA de Science du Sol

France

Jouni Lehtoranta

Finnish Environment Institute

Helsinki

Finland

Illar Lemetti

Institute of Agricultural

and Environmental Sciences

Estonian Agricultural University

Estonia

Joel Leonard

INRA, Unite d’ Agronomie Laon-Reims-Mons

France

Hartmut Leser

Soil Erosion Research Group Basel

Institute of Geography

University of Basel

Switzerland

Leonid Litvin



Russian Federation

Helge Lundekvam

Department of Plant

and Environmental Sciences

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Norway

Jean-Philippe Malet

UCEL

University of Utrecht

The Netherlands

I Malinov


Bulgaria

Olivier Maquaire

Universite de Caen Basse-Normandie

France

I Marinov

Forest Research Institute

Sofia

Bulgaria

Philippe Martin

UMR SAD APT INRA INAPG

France

Jose A Martınez-Casasnovas

Universidad de Lleida

Spain

Sevastel Mircea

Department of Agricultural Engineering

University of Bucharest

Romania

Contributors xix

Klaus Muller



Muncheberg

Germany

Lillian Øygarden

Bioforsk

Norwegian Institute for Agricultural

and Environmental Research

Norway

Drago Perko


Slovenia

Jean Poesen



Belgium

John Quinton

Department of Environmental Science

University of Lancaster

UK

Maria Radoane


University Stefan cel Mare

Romania

Jerzy Rejman

Institute of Agrophysics

Polish Academy of Sciences

Poland

Seppo Rekolainen


Helsinki

Finland

Hannes Isaak Reuter

Joint Research Centre

Institute for Environment and Sustainability

Ispra

Italy

Freddy Rey

Cemagref Grenoble

France

Coen Ritsema

ALTERRA

Wageningen

The Netherlands

Jon Rodzik

Institute of Earth Sciences

Maria Curie-Sklodowska University

Poland

Antonio Rodrıguez Rodrıguez

Soil Science and Geology Department

Universidad de la Laguna

Canary Islands

Spain

Svetla Rousseva


Bulgaria

MJ Roxo

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Portugal

Greet Ruysschaert



Belgium

Nicolas Saby

INRA, Orleans

France

M Pilar

Salvador Sanchis

IRPI CNR

Italy

J Sanchez

Land Planning Department

Desertification Research Centre

Valencia

Spain

xx Contributors

Kalev Sepp

Institute of Agricultural and Environmental

Sciences

Estonian Agricultural University

Estonia

Johannes Shuler

Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use

Research (ZALF)

Muncheberg

Germany

Aleksey Sidorchuk



Russian Federation

Albert Sole Benet

Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas (CSIC)

Spain

Veronique Souchere

UMR SAD APT INRA INAPG

France

Milos Stankoviansky

Faculty of Natural Sciences

Comenius University in Bratislava

Slovakia

V Stefanova

Executive Agency of Soil Resources

Bulgaria

Peter Strauss

Institute of Land and Water Management Research

Petzenkirchen

Austria

Sirkka Tattari


Helsinki

Finland

Dino Torri

IRPI CNR

Italy

Alexandar Trendafilov

Department of Erosion and Surveying

University ‘St Cyril and Methodius’

Skopje

Macedonia

E Tsvetkova

N Poushkarov Institute

of Soil Science

Bulgaria

Barbro Ulen

Division of Water Management

Swedish University of Agricultural

Sciences

Sweden

Fabrizio Ungaro

IRPI CNR

Firenze

Italy

Risto Uusitalo

Agrifood Research

Finland

Liesbeth Vandekerckhove

Ministry of Flanders (Land Division)

Belgium

Miet van den Eeckhaut


Research Group


Belgium

Andrea Vacca

University of Cagliari

Italy

Kristof van Oost


Research Group


Belgium

Contributors xxi

Tom Vanwalleghem



Belgium

Jiri J Vaska




Czech Republic

Anita Veihe

Institute of Geography and International

Development Studies

Roskilde University, Denmark

Gert Verstraeten


Research Group


Belgium

Miroslav D Voloschuk

Agrochemistry and Soil Studies

Prikarpatsky University

Ukraine

Kavel Vrana




Czech Republic

Rainer Weisshaidinger

Soil Erosion Research Group Basel

Institute of Geography University of Basal

Switzerland

Peter Zander



Muncheberg

Germany

Miodrag Zlatic



Yugoslavia

Matija Zorn


Slovenia

xxii Contributors

Section 1

1.1

Norway

Lillian Øygarden,1 Helge Lundekvam,2 Arnold H Arnoldussen3 and Trond Børresen2

1Bioforsk, Soil and Environmental Division, Norwegian Institute for Agricultural andEnvironmental Research, Frederik A. Dahlsvei 20, 1432 Aas, Norway

2Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences,PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway

3Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, Raveien 9, PO Box 115, 1430 Aas, Norway

1.1.1 INTRODUCTION

Norway is situated between 58 and 71 � N and between 5 and 31 � E. A north–south mountain range, with

an elevation up to 2469 m, divides the country into a steep western side and a more gentle eastern side.

The Gulf Stream has a meliorating impact on the climate. Yearly precipitation ranges from 278 to

3575 mm and average temperature ranges from +7.7 �C (south-west) to –3.1 �C (Finnmarksvidda in the

north).

During several glacial periods Norway was covered with glaciers. After the ice disappeared, the south

eastern part of the country was covered by sea. The most important deposits in Norway are bare rock, marine

sediments, till, fluvial and glacial river deposits. The marine deposits are dominated by clay and silt and these

are also the areas with highest erosion risk. The dominating soil types reflect the acid origin of the soil. Apart

from Leptosols, the dominant soil types are Podzols.

Mountains and lakes cover 75% of the country, productive forests 22% and farmland 3%, whereas built-up

areas cover less than 1%. The most important agricultural crops are grass, cereals, oil seed and potatoes.

Fruit, berries and vegetables are produced locally if climate and soil conditions allow. Cereals and oil seed

constitute 38% of total cultivated land, cultivated grassland 56%, potatoes 1.7% and root crops and green

fodder 2.2%.

Soil Erosion in Europe Edited by J. Boardman and J. Poesen# 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

1.1.1.1 Soil Mapping in Norway

In 1988–89 an algae disaster caused the death of many sea animals in the North Sea and Skagerak.

The pollution of water by nitrogen and phosphorus was indicated as the cause of the explosion of

poisonous algae. The European countries bordering the seas agreed upon a 50% reduction of this pollution

(North Sea Declaration) from 1985 to 1995. In Norway a reduction of erosion (P source) was politically

prioritized and a soil-mapping programme was initiated for the watersheds feeding into North Sea and

Skagerak.

The USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) model was adapted to Norwegian conditions. Erosion risk maps

are produced based on soil and slope characteristics (from the soil mapping programme) and the USLE

equation (Hole, 1988; Lundekvam, 1990; Arnoldussen, 1999). Figure 1.1.1 shows an erosion risk map from

Valer, county Vestfold.

Four erosion risk classes are distinguished on the erosion risk maps. Of the soil mapped, 22% falls in the low

erosion risk class (<0.5t ha�1), 54% in the medium-risk class (0.5–2 t ha�1), 18% in the high-risk class

(2–8 t ha�1) and 6% in the very high erosion risk class (>8 t ha�1). Today farmers receive subsidies when they,

e.g, reduce tillage. The level of subsidy is related to the erosion risk class of the land. The soil erosion risk

maps are used directly by farmers, advisory services and authorities for planning of soil erosion measures and

giving subsidies.

The soil mapping activity has been concentrated in the grain production areas in the southern and south-

eastern parts of the country and in the Trondheimsfjord area in mid-Norway. These areas with cereal

production and marine sediments are most prone to erosion. Today, an approximately 4700 km2 agricultural

area has been mapped, which is about 50% of the total agricultural area in Norway. However, most of the area

which drains to the North Sea is mapped.

Figure 1.1.1 Map of potential erosion risk with autumn ploughing; example from Valer, Vestfold county. Low risk

(<0.5 t ha�1), medium risk (0.5–2 t ha�1), high risk (2–8 t ha�1), very high risk (>8 t ha�1)

4 Soil Erosion in Europe

1.1.2 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF EROSION

Historically, the marine areas had a higher level of erosion and some lakes were filled with sediment. A good

example is the delta of Lake Øyeren, near Oslo, which was formed over many centuries. It is the result of

natural erosion processes starting after the Ice Age for areas below the marine limit. However, human-induced

erosion has increased considerably in modern times and both on- and off-farm consequences became clear.

Sediment cores taken from Lake Øyeren document increased erosion in this area due to land use changes in

agriculture. Production systems have changed from grassland and husbandry to cereal production and soil

tillage in autumn. The change in production systems, which was a result of political decisions and promoted by

subsidies, also resulted in intensive land levelling and caused higher erosion rates.

1.1.3 CURRENT EROSION PROCESSES

Soil erosion in Norway mainly occurs in autumn and spring. In autumn, heavy rainfall on a nearly saturated

soil can cause soil loss through surface runoff. In spring, erosion is caused by heavy snowmelt, sometimes in

combination with a frozen (sub) soil (Njøs and Hove, 1986; Lundekvam and Skøien, 1998; Øygarden, 2000;

Lundekvam, 2002).

Both water and wind erosion occur in Norway, but it is generally believed that water erosion is the most

important. Water erosion is also a problem related to the pollution and eutrofication of rivers and lakes. Wind

erosion may occur owing to strong wind on dry, uncovered, sandy soils. As an example, this often happens at

Jæren (south-west Norway) along the coastline where sand dunes are formed. Only water erosion has been

measured in Norway and will be dealt with in the following.

Soil erosion by water in agricultural areas in Norway can be divided into the following:

A. sheet and rill erosion occurring over most of the agricultural area;

B. deeper rilling due to concentrated flow by surface runoff, which, in severe cases turns into

C. gully erosion;

D. erosion in connection with tile drains, main outlet pipes and inlet tanks to such pipes if errors have been

made regarding dimensions or construction of the systems, or the systems have been damaged later.

In addition we also find the following erosion types:

E. Erosion in streams and rivers, occuring due to scouring of the bottom and banks, earth slides into rivers

and soil creep narrowing watercourses;

F. erosion in glaciated areas (constituting about 1% of Norway).

Farming practices directly influence the occurrence of erosion types A–D. Erosion type E may also be affected

by farmers’ choices due to actions that may stabilize or destabilize river channels.

The importance of all these types of erosion differs according to natural factors such as climate, topography,

soil type and vegetation, and also various human actions including agricultural activities. Sheet and rill erosion

have been measured in plot experiments (Table 1.1.1) over many years (Njøs and Hove, 1986; Lundekvam and

Skøien, 1998) and in small agricultural catchments (Lundekvam, 1997; Øygarden, 2000) on different soil

types and under different cultivation systems. This research (locations are given in Figure 1.1.2), show that

surface runoff and erosion risk on agricultural areas in south-east Norway generally were highest during late

autumn, winter and spring owing to surface runoff because of frost in the soil and/or saturated soil. This

seasonal distribution of soil erosion risk over the year, which affects all types of erosion, implies that no-till

Norway 5

will decrease soil losses compared with tillage in autumn. Actions against this type of erosion are thus based

on solid scientific evidence. This was also the basis for governmental support for no autumn tillage.

There are no measurements of soil erosion covering all of Norway and it is not possible to quantify all the

different erosion processes. However, there is no doubt that in agricultural areas processes A–D above will all

be important, and these processes have been greatly increased by land levelling.

Field-scale (0.35–3.2 ha) measurements of erosion during a 6-year period in the Akershus county

(Table 1.1.2) showed great variations in soil losses. For the smallest fields erosion was only measured in

winters with frozen soils. The highest losses occurred after a combination of rainfall and snowmelt on partly

frozen soil.

In the National Agricultural Environmental Monitoring Programme (JOVA), soil erosion and losses of

nutrients and pesticides are monitored in agricultural catchments. Soil losses have been measured at the outlet

of agricultural catchment areas of some square kilometres in the JOVA Programme and reported annually

(e.g. Bechmann et al., 1999, 2001; Vandsemb et al., 2002). These measurements include all erosion processes

(Table 1.1.3). The catchments Grimestad and Hotran have considerable erosion in stream channels. The

catchments Skuterud, Mørdre, Kolstad, Grimestad and Volbu are all situated in the eastern part of southern

Norway, Vasshaglona at the southern coast, Hotran in mid-Norway and Naurstad in northern Norway.

These catchments include different management systems, crops and tillage and should be representative of

production systems in different regions. The catchments Skuterud and Mørdre represent areas with marine

sediments and cereal production, assumed to be high-risk erosion areas.

By use of the ERONOR model (Lundekvam, 2002), the climatic erosion risk for sheet and rill erosion has

been estimated in four regions in Norway where relative values compared with Aas (south-east Norway) were

Aas 1, Mjøsa region 0.25, Jæren (south-west Norway) 1.9 and mid-Norway 0.77. However, owing to

differences in soil types and agricultural practices, the resulting erosion rates in these areas including erosion

TABLE 1.1.1 Sheet and rill erosion measured on plots at five sites in south-east Norway, 1992–2000 (Lundekvam,

2002). Precipitation was 7% higher and temperature 0.9 �C higher than the 1961–90 average. Soil types: I, levelled silty

clay loam with low content of organic matter (OM); II, clay soil with higher OM; III, loam with high OM and high

aggregate stability. Land use: Pl, ploughing; Ha, harrowing, Pl-spring, no till autumn; Di, direct drilling; Wi-wh, winter

wheat after ploughing and harrowing autumn

Precipitation (mm), Length (m), Surface Soil

Site location Temperature(�C) slope (%) Soil type Land use runoff (mm) loss (t ha�1)

Askim 858, 5.5 25, 13 I Pl–autumn 263 4.36

Askim 858, 5.5 25, 13 I Ha–spring 231 0.49

As 842, 6.2 21, 13 I Pl–autumn 302 6.36

As 842, 6.2 21, 13 I Wi–wheat 317 7.63

As 842, 6.2 21, 13 I Ha–autumn 267 3.00

As 842, 6.2 21, 13 I Pl–spring 231 0.71

Skedsmo 848, 5.8 30, 13 I Pl–autumn 172 2.71

Skedsmo 848, 5.8 30, 13 I Ha–spring 170 0.38

Skedsmo 848, 5.8 30, 13 I Meadow 170 0.13

Sarpsborg 867, 7.2 22, 12 II Pl–autumn 123 1.04

Sarpsborg 867, 7.2 22, 12 II Wi–wheat 123 0.80

Sarpsborg 867, 7.2 22, 12 II Ha–autumn 123 0.62

Sarpsborg 867, 7.2 22, 12 II Di–spring 134 0.18

As 842, 6.2 28, 13 III Pl–autumn 83 0.60

As 842, 6.2 28, 13 III Pl–spring 153 0.11

6 Soil Erosion in Europe

soil erosion in europe · the book consists of two parts: (1) an overview of soil erosion processes...

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