Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review

Healthy soils provide a wide range of ecosystem services. But soil erosion (one component of land degradation) jeopardizes the sustainable delivery of these services worldwide, and particularly in the humid tropics where erosion potential is high due to heavy rainfall. The Millennium Ecosystem Asses...

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Main Authors: Labrière, N., Locatelli, Bruno, Laumonier, Y., Freycon, V., Bernoux, M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/94106
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author Labrière, N.
Locatelli, Bruno
Laumonier, Y.
Freycon, V.
Bernoux, M.
author_browse Bernoux, M.
Freycon, V.
Labrière, N.
Laumonier, Y.
Locatelli, Bruno
author_facet Labrière, N.
Locatelli, Bruno
Laumonier, Y.
Freycon, V.
Bernoux, M.
author_sort Labrière, N.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Healthy soils provide a wide range of ecosystem services. But soil erosion (one component of land degradation) jeopardizes the sustainable delivery of these services worldwide, and particularly in the humid tropics where erosion potential is high due to heavy rainfall. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment pointed out the role of poor land-use and management choices in increasing land degradation. We hypothesized that land use has a limited influence on soil erosion provided vegetation cover is developed enough or good management practices are implemented. We systematically reviewed the literature to study how soil and vegetation management influence soil erosion control in the humid tropics. More than 3600 measurements of soil loss from 55 references covering 21 countries were compiled. Quantitative analysis of the collected data revealed that soil erosion in the humid tropics is dramatically concentrated in space (over landscape elements of bare soil) and time (e.g. during crop rotation). No land use is erosion-prone per se, but creation of bare soil elements in the landscape through particular land uses and other human activities (e.g. skid trails and logging roads) should be avoided as much as possible. Implementation of sound practices of soil and vegetation management (e.g. contour planting, no-till farming and use of vegetative buffer strips) can reduce erosion by up to 99%. With limited financial and technical means, natural resource managers and policy makers can therefore help decrease soil loss at a large scale by promoting wise management of highly erosion-prone landscape elements and enhancing the use of low-erosion-inducing practices.
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spelling CGSpace941062025-09-25T13:01:37Z Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review Labrière, N. Locatelli, Bruno Laumonier, Y. Freycon, V. Bernoux, M. ecosystem services systematic review quantitative analysis landscape land use land use planning management Healthy soils provide a wide range of ecosystem services. But soil erosion (one component of land degradation) jeopardizes the sustainable delivery of these services worldwide, and particularly in the humid tropics where erosion potential is high due to heavy rainfall. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment pointed out the role of poor land-use and management choices in increasing land degradation. We hypothesized that land use has a limited influence on soil erosion provided vegetation cover is developed enough or good management practices are implemented. We systematically reviewed the literature to study how soil and vegetation management influence soil erosion control in the humid tropics. More than 3600 measurements of soil loss from 55 references covering 21 countries were compiled. Quantitative analysis of the collected data revealed that soil erosion in the humid tropics is dramatically concentrated in space (over landscape elements of bare soil) and time (e.g. during crop rotation). No land use is erosion-prone per se, but creation of bare soil elements in the landscape through particular land uses and other human activities (e.g. skid trails and logging roads) should be avoided as much as possible. Implementation of sound practices of soil and vegetation management (e.g. contour planting, no-till farming and use of vegetative buffer strips) can reduce erosion by up to 99%. With limited financial and technical means, natural resource managers and policy makers can therefore help decrease soil loss at a large scale by promoting wise management of highly erosion-prone landscape elements and enhancing the use of low-erosion-inducing practices. 2015-05 2018-07-03T10:56:57Z 2018-07-03T10:56:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/94106 en Open Access Elsevier Labrière, N., Locatelli, B., Laumonier, Y., Freycon, V., Bernoux, M.. 2015. Soil erosion in the humid tropics : A systematic quantitative review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 203 : 127-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.01.027
spellingShingle ecosystem services
systematic review
quantitative analysis
landscape
land use
land use planning
management
Labrière, N.
Locatelli, Bruno
Laumonier, Y.
Freycon, V.
Bernoux, M.
Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review
title Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review
title_full Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review
title_fullStr Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review
title_full_unstemmed Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review
title_short Soil erosion in the humid tropics: A systematic quantitative review
title_sort soil erosion in the humid tropics a systematic quantitative review
topic ecosystem services
systematic review
quantitative analysis
landscape
land use
land use planning
management
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/94106
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