Conservation of Ecosystem Services in Argiudolls of Argentina

Marcelo Germán Wilson, Alejandro Esteban Maggi, Mario Guillermo Castiglioni, Emmanuel Adrián Gabioud and María Carolina Sasal
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Marcelo Germán Wilson: Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Gestión Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Oro Verde 3100, Argentina
Alejandro Esteban Maggi: Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires 1417, Argentina
Mario Guillermo Castiglioni: Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires 1417, Argentina
Emmanuel Adrián Gabioud: Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Gestión Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Oro Verde 3100, Argentina
María Carolina Sasal: Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Gestión Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Oro Verde 3100, Argentina

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: Mollisols are a fundamental component of global agricultural production. In the Argentine Pampas region, 65% of the Mollisols belong to Argiudoll great group. These soils have an agricultural aptitude, with limitations given mainly by varying thickness of the top horizon A as a result of the severity of water erosion depending on its site in the landscape layered on an argillic B horizon. Over the last three decades, Pampean agriculture has been widespread because of a modern technological matrix characterized by transgenic crops, and increasing use of fertilizers and pesticides. Large changes have taken place in crop sequence composition, toward the disappearance of pastures and the rapid expansion of soybean monoculture due to the upward trend of the international price of this commodity. This review contributes to an alertness regarding the significance of the soil degradation problem, in terms of decline in soil fertility and structural condition, decrease in size of soil aggregates, surface and subsurface compaction, decrease in organic carbon content, soil and water contamination, reduction of infiltration rate and structure stability, causing an increase in water losses through surface runoff and water erosion and lost ecosystem services. Additionally, a set of sustainable land management practices and legal aspects is shown.

Keywords: argiudolls; land degradation; soil conservation; management practices; ecosystem services; legal aspects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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