Assessing the Long-Term Impact of Traditional Agriculture and the Mid-Term Impact of Intensification in Face of Local Climatic Changes

José Telo da Gama, Luis Loures, António Lopez-Piñeiro, Derick Quintino, Paulo Ferreira and José Rato Nunes
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José Telo da Gama: VALORIZA-Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, 7300-110 Portalegre, Portugal
Luis Loures: VALORIZA-Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, 7300-110 Portalegre, Portugal
António Lopez-Piñeiro: Área de Edafología y Química Agrícola, Facultad de Ciencias—IACYS, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda de Elvas s/n, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
José Rato Nunes: VALORIZA-Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization, 7300-110 Portalegre, Portugal

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: In the Mediterranean basin, edaphic salinization, sodification and alkalinization related to anthropic pressures and climatic changes may hinder the ecosystem sustainability. It is pertinent to study the mid and long-term variability of these soil characteristics in face off the macro agricultural system in use (i.e., irrigation or rain-fed). Four irrigated soils from the Caia Irrigation Perimeter (Portugal), Fluvisols, Luvisols, Calcisols and Cambisols were analysed in the mid-term, from 2002 to 2012, for its available Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + and Na + content. Overall, Ca 2+ , K + and Na + significantly increased during the period of this study by 25%, 8% and 7%, respectively. Soil organic matter (SOM) and pH for the irrigated soils in the area were already assessed in previous studies with the overall SOM remaining constant ( p ≥ 0.05) and pH increasing ( p < 0.01) by 5%. We provide the predictive maps for Na + and the CROSS predictive & HotSpot evolution map from 2002 to 2012. Rain-fed soils were analysed in the long-term, from 1965 to 2012, for their SOM, pH and non-acid cations (Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + and Na + ) content. While SOM, pH and the exchangeable Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and K + significantly increased ( p < 0.01) by 23%, 8%, 60%, 21% and 193%, respectively, exchangeable Na + significantly decreased ( p < 0.01) by 50%. These results may be related to the local climate changes as, according to the Thornthwaite classification, it went from sub-humid with great water excess (C1B2s2b4) in the climate normal 1951/1980 to sub-humid with moderate water excess (C1B2sb4) in 1981/2010 to semi-arid with little to none water excess (DB2db4) in 1991/2020. The irrigated areas in this Mediterranean region are slowly departing from sustainable goals of soil conservation and better edaphic management and conservation practices, that address the registered climatic changes in the area, could be adopted.

Keywords: soil degradation; anthropic pressure; mediterranean basin; semi-arid; desertification (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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