Effectiveness of Cover Crops to Reduce Loss of Soil Organic Matter in a Rainfed Vineyard

Manuel López-Vicente, Elena Calvo-Seas, Sara Álvarez and Artemi Cerdà
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Manuel López-Vicente: Team Soil, Water and Land Use, Wageningen Environmental Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708RC Wageningen, The Netherlands
Elena Calvo-Seas: Geographer, Independent Scholar, Casa Calvo, 22144 Bierge (Huesca), Spain
Sara Álvarez: Unit of Woody and Horticultural Crops, Technological Agriculture Institute of Castilla y León, ITACyL, 47071 Valladolid, Spain
Artemi Cerdà: Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, Valencia University, Blasco Ibàñez 28, 46010 Valencia, Spain

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Cover crops (CCs) minimize the loss of soil in permanent cropping systems where the soil is usually bare due to intense tillage or overuse of herbicides. The topsoil, the richer layer in soil organic carbon and organic matter (OM), is affected by water erosion. Nature-based solutions appear as a suitable option for sustainable farming. In this study, the effectiveness of two years of CC management to reduce the OM loss is evaluated in a rainfed vineyard in a rolling landscape (Huesca, NE Spain). Two sediment traps collected runoff over 15 months. Topsoil OM contents (1.64% and 1.60%) and sediment/soil OM enrichment ratio (2.61 and 3.07) were similar. However, the average annual rate of OM loss was 3.6 times higher in the plot with lower vegetation cover than in the plot with CCs (1.29 vs. 0.35 kg OM ha −1 yr −1 ). The concentration of OM Sed showed a negative relationship with the net soil loss; and significant differences appeared between the OM Sed in the months with low and moderate-to-high ground cover. CCs are an excellent nature-based solution to control the unsustainable soil and OM losses measured in vineyards, which will contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Keywords: cover crop; vineyard; soil erosion; soil organic matter; enrichment ratio; sediment trap; Mediterranean climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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