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Hydrology
Special Issues
Grazing Effects on Hydrological Processes and Soil Erosion
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Grazing Effects on Hydrological Processes and Soil Erosion

A special issue of Hydrology (ISSN 2306-5338). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 10637

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gabriel Minea

E-Mail Website
Chief Guest Editor
1. Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, University of Bucharest, 90 Panduri Street, Sector 5, 050663 Bucharest, Romania
2. National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management, 97 E Bucureşti - Ploieşti Road, Sector 1, 013686 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: catchment hydrology; experimental hydrology; runoff; water balance; flow pathway
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Manuel Pulido Fernádez

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
GeoEnvironmental Research Group, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: sustainable grazing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, worldwide, human impact is negatively affecting the environment in a wide range of several ways (e.g., land use/cover changes, agriculture, urbanization, etc.). One of the most relevant impacts is related to grazing intensification, which modified the grasslands inducing some structural changes with negative environmental consequences. Scholars over the world revealed that non-planned pasture practices have complex effects such as soil compaction, loss of biodiversity, or nutrient decreases. According to this fact, grass conservation strategies are widely recognized as one of the most important hydrological control measures (for water conservation and soil erosion control). Grazing hydrological effects should be further investigated especially in the upland areas during specific seasons depending on the soil moisture conditions. Why? Because of the reduced infiltration rates of the underlying soils and increased runoff coefficients and subsequently, higher soil erosion rates. Moreover, non-sustainable grazing practices (e.g., overgrazing) could affect catchment hydrology by modifying vegetation cover and soil properties and amplify soil loss and flood peak downstream. Therefore, the unique way to achieve land degradation neutrality, sustainable and efficient grass management is key to develop and run non-structural  measures (e.g., natural buffer) for runoff regulation and to decrease soil erosion rates. Therefore, the main goal of this special issue is to join novel papers aim to investigate:

  • Hydrologic effects of non-sustainable grazing grassland areas on overland flow and sheet erosion.
  • Possible impacts of runoff parameters and soil moisture status (e.g., runoff initiation time, runoff amount, runoff coefficients, soil loss) on soil quality or productivity;
  • interrelated hydrological models at the different scales;
  • how to transfer the outcomes to key stakeholders, policymakers, or national agencies linked to environmental protection and agriculture, and livestock farmers, etc.

Dr. Gabriel Minea
Dr. Manuel Pulido Fernádez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Hydrology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • grazing
  • sustainable grasslands
  • hydrological processes
  • soils
  • land management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 1065 KiB  
Article
Impact of Overgrazing on Diffuse and Concentrated Erosion: Case Study in the Sloping Lands of South Africa
by Vincent Chaplot and Macdex Mutema
Hydrology 2022, 9(7), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9070121 - 2 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2650
Abstract
Soil erosion is one of the most critical threats to cultivated land. Yet little information is available in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially on the relative contributions of various forms of erosion. Therefore, this study’s objective was to quantify soil loss by sheet and linear [...] Read more.
Soil erosion is one of the most critical threats to cultivated land. Yet little information is available in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially on the relative contributions of various forms of erosion. Therefore, this study’s objective was to quantify soil loss by sheet and linear erosion. The study was carried out on the sloping land rangeland of the Potshini catchment of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with an annual average rainfall of 766 mm. The average sheet erosion computed using a network of 1 m2 microplots was 7.7 ton ha−1 y−1 with standard error of 1.97 ton ha−1 y−1 (which corresponded to an ablation rate of between 0.35 to 1.32 mm y−1) while linear erosion, mainly the retreat of gully banks, removed 4.8 ton ha−1 y−1, i.e., 38.4% of total soil losses. Despite removing a lower amount of soil, sheet erosion by depleting fertile, carbon- and nutrient-enriched soil horizons has a great impact on most ecological functions associated with soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grazing Effects on Hydrological Processes and Soil Erosion)
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Review

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13 pages, 282 KiB  
Review
Effects of Grazing on Water Erosion, Compaction and Infiltration on Grasslands
by Csaba Centeri
Hydrology 2022, 9(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9020034 - 16 Feb 2022
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6902
Abstract
Seventy-seven percent of all agricultural land is related to livestock, meat and dairy, including grazing land and arable fields used for animal feed production. The effect of livestock on the natural environment is well documented. Many types of research describe these effects on [...] Read more.
Seventy-seven percent of all agricultural land is related to livestock, meat and dairy, including grazing land and arable fields used for animal feed production. The effect of livestock on the natural environment is well documented. Many types of research describe these effects on biodiversity. The surface runoff and soil erosion on grasslands and pastures are investigated with smaller intensity since grasslands are one of the two major land uses that are considered as natural or at least semi-natural lands. Still, mainly due to overuse, grazing on sloping pasture lands can cause severe soil damage, the trampling can cause compaction, compaction decrease infiltration and thus increase runoff and, consequently, soil loss. There are several consequences of the grazing pressure that cause water erosion and surface runoff above the acceptable limit, such as a dramatic decrease in grass densities and/or above-ground bio-mass, compaction, animal tracks, etc. Related research started as early as 1911 and continues until today. There are several methods to analyse the consequences of grazing pressure, e.g., in situ rainfall simulations, infiltration and soil resilience measurements, modelling of runoff, soil loss and infiltration, calculation of ecological costs, etc. Furthermore, most importantly, scientists are investigating the possibilities for improvement of the achieved unstable grazing system due to bad management. Numerous publications have been publishing results on positive changes with the removal of grazing livestock from the grasslands. However, since the socio-economic situation is changing on Earth, more people requiring the products of the pastures, an optimal grazing solution is greatly needed. One of the solutions can be the planning of the optimal animal unit per area, based on the expected grass yields. However, due to the big differences in yields, caused by the greatly unreliable weather, the solution for the future must be a multifunctional agriculture and a flexible land use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grazing Effects on Hydrological Processes and Soil Erosion)
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