Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of arid environments |
| Volume | 130 |
| Early online date | 9 Mar 2016 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2016 |
Abstract
Surface run-off and erosion are the major contributors to soil degradation worldwide. These processes are especially severe in regions with sparse vegetation cover. A 2-year experiment was set up along an aridity gradient in Al-Khalil, Palestine, to quantify soil loss and water loss from arable fields and to test for the mitigating effect of native perennial filter strips in arable fields. Three useful native plant species were chosen as intercrops: Majorana syriaca, Salvia fruticosa and Salvia hierosolymitana. The water and soil losses were experimentally measured in all the treatments. The results showed that considerable amounts of water (223-288 m3) and soil (3.2-5.6 ton ha-1) are lost from the fields. However, both total run-off and erosion were strongly reduced when the annual crop was intercropped with strips of native perennial plants (NPPs). The filter strips reduced the run-off by 34-89% and soil loss by 45-94%. This effect was more pronounced at the drier part of the studied sites and during the drier season. Our study implies that using filter strips of NPPs is a beneficial strategy for reducing run-off and soil erosion in the semi-arid regions of east Mediterranean.
Keywords
- Filter strips, Intercropping, Native plants, Run-off, Soil erosion
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Earth-Surface Processes
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Journal of arid environments, Vol. 130, 07.2016, p. 1-13.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Intercropping with native perennial plants protects soil of arable fields in semi-arid lands
AU - Salah, Ayman M.A.
AU - Prasse, Rüdiger
AU - Marschner, Bernd
N1 - Funding Information: This study was part of the GLOWA Jordan River project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research -BMBF (Reference No. GLOWA Jordan River II/2003/Salah). Thanks also to GLOWA Jordan River project team, especially Katja Tielboerger (Tuebingen University) and Jaber Masalha, representative of Al-Quds University in the GLOWA Jordan River project.
PY - 2016/7
Y1 - 2016/7
N2 - Surface run-off and erosion are the major contributors to soil degradation worldwide. These processes are especially severe in regions with sparse vegetation cover. A 2-year experiment was set up along an aridity gradient in Al-Khalil, Palestine, to quantify soil loss and water loss from arable fields and to test for the mitigating effect of native perennial filter strips in arable fields. Three useful native plant species were chosen as intercrops: Majorana syriaca, Salvia fruticosa and Salvia hierosolymitana. The water and soil losses were experimentally measured in all the treatments. The results showed that considerable amounts of water (223-288 m3) and soil (3.2-5.6 ton ha-1) are lost from the fields. However, both total run-off and erosion were strongly reduced when the annual crop was intercropped with strips of native perennial plants (NPPs). The filter strips reduced the run-off by 34-89% and soil loss by 45-94%. This effect was more pronounced at the drier part of the studied sites and during the drier season. Our study implies that using filter strips of NPPs is a beneficial strategy for reducing run-off and soil erosion in the semi-arid regions of east Mediterranean.
AB - Surface run-off and erosion are the major contributors to soil degradation worldwide. These processes are especially severe in regions with sparse vegetation cover. A 2-year experiment was set up along an aridity gradient in Al-Khalil, Palestine, to quantify soil loss and water loss from arable fields and to test for the mitigating effect of native perennial filter strips in arable fields. Three useful native plant species were chosen as intercrops: Majorana syriaca, Salvia fruticosa and Salvia hierosolymitana. The water and soil losses were experimentally measured in all the treatments. The results showed that considerable amounts of water (223-288 m3) and soil (3.2-5.6 ton ha-1) are lost from the fields. However, both total run-off and erosion were strongly reduced when the annual crop was intercropped with strips of native perennial plants (NPPs). The filter strips reduced the run-off by 34-89% and soil loss by 45-94%. This effect was more pronounced at the drier part of the studied sites and during the drier season. Our study implies that using filter strips of NPPs is a beneficial strategy for reducing run-off and soil erosion in the semi-arid regions of east Mediterranean.
KW - Filter strips
KW - Intercropping
KW - Native plants
KW - Run-off
KW - Soil erosion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84960109400&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.02.015
DO - 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.02.015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960109400
VL - 130
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - Journal of arid environments
JF - Journal of arid environments
SN - 0140-1963
ER -