ORCID Profile
0000-0003-3709-4103
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 23-11-2020
DOI: 10.3390/W12113295
Abstract: Tillage is well known to have impacts on soil properties and hydrological responses. This work aims to study the short-term impacts of tillage (0–3 months) on soil and hydrological responses in fig orchards located in Croatia. Understanding the soil hydrological response in the study area is crucial for soil management due to frequent autumn floods. The hydrological response was investigated using rainfall simulation experiments (58 mm h−1, for 30 min, over 0.785 m2 plots). The results show that the bulk density was significantly higher 3 months after tillage than at 0 and 1 months. The water holding capacity and amount of soil organic matter decreased with time. The water runoff and phosphorous loss (P loss) increased over time. The sediment concentration (SC) was significantly higher 3 months after tillage than in the previous monitoring periods, while sediment loss (SL) and carbon loss (C loss) were significantly lower 0 months after tillage than 3 months after tillage. Overall, there was an increase in soil erodibility with time (high SC, SL, C loss, and P loss), attributed to the precipitation patterns that increase the soil water content and therefore the hydrological response. Therefore, sustainable agricultural practices are needed to avoid sediment translocation and to mitigate floods and land degradation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-06-2020
Abstract: Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-01-2023
DOI: 10.1002/PPP3.10354
Abstract: Despite comprising a small proportion of global agricultural land use, irrigated agriculture is enormously important to the global agricultural economy. Burgeoning food demand driven by population growth—together with reduced food supply caused by the climate crisis—is polarising the existing tension between water used for agricultural production versus that required for environmental conservation. We show that sustainable intensification via more erse crop rotations, more efficient water application infrastructure and greater farm area under irrigation is conducive to greater farm business profitability under future climates. Research aimed at improving crop productivity often does not account for the complexity of real farms underpinned by land‐use changes in space and time. Here, we demonstrate how a new framework— WaterCan Profit —can be used to elicit such complexity using an irrigated case study farm with four whole‐farm adaptation scenarios ( Baseline , Diversified , Intensified and Simplified ) with four types of irrigated infrastructure ( Gravity , Pipe & Riser , Pivot and Drip ). Without adaptation, the climate crisis detrimentally impacted on farm profitability due to the combination of increased evaporative demand and increased drought frequency. Whole‐farm intensification—via greater irrigated land use, incorporation of rice, cotton and maize and increased nitrogen fertiliser application—was the only adaptation capable of raising farm productivity under future climates. Diversification through incorporation of grain legumes into crop rotations significantly improved profitability under historical climates however, profitability of this adaptation declined under future climates. Simplified systems reduced economic risk but also had lower long‐term economic returns. We conclude with four key insights: (1) When assessing whole‐farm profit, metrics matter: Diversified systems generally had higher profitability than Intensified systems per unit water, but not per unit land area (2) gravity‐based irrigation infrastructure required the most water, followed by sprinkler systems, whereas Drip irrigation used the least water (3) whole‐farm agronomic adaptation through management and crop genotype had greater impact on productivity compared with changes in irrigation infrastructure and (4) only whole‐farm intensification was able to raise profitability under future climates.
No related grants have been discovered for Carla Ferreira.