Economic evaluation of conservation grassland as a measure to control soil erosion in the Czech Republic

Cost-effectiveness evaluation of model design variants of broad-base terrace in soil erosion control

<p>In last decades several trends have been visible in agricultural land use in the Czech Republic. Among all oil rape production was raised (mainly in last 10 years) and maize production was enlarged in some regions where bio-fuel stations have been newly built. As a row crop, maize without proper management control leads to accelerated water erosion and sediment transport. Oil rape is generally considered as a relatively soil preserving crop, supporting also infiltration by a root system. But seeding period of oil rape in the Czech Republic starts in August still in the peak period of erosive rainstorms. Recent risks associated with both crops will be presented by data from field rainfall-runoff simulations, targeted on developing actual crop protection factor (C-factor) of USLE for Czech conditions. The second source of the data for presenting risk trends is Czech soil erosion monitoring database of State Land Office (https://me.vumop.cz/), where many occurrences of erosion damages were identified on both crops. Finally, study focused on bare soil remote sensing via Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 in recent years showed link between erosion risks and the two above mentioned crops.</p><p>National implementation of European cross compliance policy in the Czech Republic targeted the protection also to fight these risky trends, but the power of the agricultural policy, as will be presented, is limited in this scope. We see similar threats in other European countries and we were able to visit North East China regions with intensive corn production where soil erosion by water is causing serious soil and water degradation. Therefore, shared knowledge on strategies how to prevent risky soil managements could lead to benefits in both European and Chinese conditions.</p><p>The contribution was prepared in the frame of projects No. QK1920224 (Possibilities of anti-erosion protection on farms to avoid the use of glyphosate), and H2020 SHUi (Soil Hydrology research platform underpinning innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems).</p>

Modelling the impact of land cover changes in the Czech Republic on sediment delivery

In the High Middle Ages, a wave of landscape transformation which originated in western Europe swept across the east-central part of the subcontinent. In the Czech Republic, this happened during the 13th century and it had the same environmental attributes as in the rest of Europe—a considerable increase in population, vast deforestation resulting in a rapid increase in soil erosion, irreversible changes in forest species composition and overall formation of a cultural landscape. In the Czech Republic, the dynamics of such a radical change are poorly understood because it would require detailed archaeological, historical and palaeoecological insight into developments during the Early Middle Ages—a demand that is mostly not met. The aim of this paper is to fill in this gap. Archaeological and historical data from three early medieval strongholds located in central Bohemia, at Libice nad Cidlinou, Stara Boleslav and Hradisťko, are summarized and evaluated. The first two sites represent well-known political and religious centres of the early Czech state in the 10 to 11th centuries, while the last was of secondary importance. These archaeological sites have radiocarbon dated pollen and plant macrofossil evidence from oxbow sedimentary sequences which are situated in the immediate vicinity of the strongholds. The issue of fluvial transport of pollen and macrofossils is also discussed. Both pollen and macrofossil data from Hradisťko show surprisingly small impact of the stronghold on the forested alluvial environment. The vicinity of Stara Boleslav was intensively affected by human activity only during the later 11th century. It has not been possible to trace any impact of the foundation of the stronghold at Libice nad Cidlinou on the landscape. Medieval landscape change began before the 13th century in some places, as shown by the data from Stara Boleslav.

ABSTRACTWater erosion is identified as the most severe type of soil degradation in the Czech Republic. Systematic protection preventing water erosion is not carried out in large areas of agricultural land. The map of the maximum tolerable CP factor value (the cover-management and the support-practice factors) – CPmax was compiled in order to assess erosion hazard on agricultural land. It estimates the requirements of the conservation practices which would not cause soil erosion above the tolerable limit of annual soil loss. The map is based on calculations using an adjusted Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and is easy to apply. It has already been applied in the Czech Republic when creating the map of erosion vulnerability for the purposes of delimitation of Standards of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), within Cross Compliance. The map covers the whole territory of the Czech Republic (scale 1:1,000,000).

Great attention has been focused on soil quality assessment from the viewpoint of sustainable development of agriculture and its environment. The term soil quality is used in soil survey interpretations for a certain functional set of soil properties and characteristics like soil erodibility, soil pollution etc. or in general for satisfying the demand of multifunctionality on some kind of soil. Sustainable development in agriculture in the Czech Republic (CR) emphasizes especially the following aspects: development of agriculture without soil degradation and pollution and without contributing to pollution of waters and biological resources introduction of agricultural systems making possible the production of healthy and reasonably priced products by making use of input regulations, but at the same time maintaining economic effectiveness adaptation of agricultural production to adverse natural and anthropogenic factors along with limitation of the latter where necessary landscape conservation both in regions of intensive use and restricted agricultural production.

In the European Union, soil erosion is identified as one of the main environmental threats, addressed with a variety of rules and regulations for soil and water conservation. The by far most often officially used tool to determine soil erosion is the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its regional adaptions. The aim of this study is to use three different regional USLE-based approaches in three different test catchments in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria to determine differences in model results and compare these with the revised USLE-base European soil erosion map. The different regional model adaptations and implementation techniques result in substantial differences in test catchment specific mean erosion (up to 75% difference). Much more pronounced differences were modelled for individual fields. The comparison of the region-specific USLE approaches with the revised USLE-base European erosion map underlines the problems and limitations of harmonization procedures. The EU map limits the range of modelled erosion and overall shows a substantially lower mean erosion compared to all region-specific approaches. In general, the results indicate that even if many EU countries use USLE technology as basis for soil conservation planning, a truly consistent method does not exist, and more efforts are needed to homogenize the different methods without losing the USLE-specific knowledge developed in the different regions over the last decades.

The Czech Republic has experienced collectivization, transforming individual land ownership into state ownership through agricultural land consolidation after World War II. Land consolidation has led to the expansion of agricultural soil blocks as well as the disappearance of vital landscape features such as shrubs, hedges, lone trees, and wetlands, all of which serve a variety of ecological functions. The disappearance of the landscape elements causes some important problems, such as soil degradation and erosion. The Czech Ministry of Agriculture has enforced a regulation that was developed by the European Union to improve agriculture by enforcing cross-compliance requirements, which encompass the observance of Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) standards. The regulation disincentivizes single-crop cultivation on areas larger than 30 hectares since 2020 to reduce the negative effects of land consolidations on agriculture and soil quality. In this context, the study examines the relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and moisture of agricultural plants and soil blocks in the South Bohemia, Czech Republic, using Landsat-8 remote sensing data from 2018 to 2021. The mono-window algorithm (MWA) was used to obtain LST, and the precision of Landsat LST data was evaluated using MODIS daily LST data. The NRMSE ≤ 0.15 and RMSE ≤ 3.5 C were found with a strong positive relationship r ≥ 0.65 between datasets. Additionally, the density of vegetation and the moisture index of soil and plants were calculated using spectral remote sensing indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference moisture index (NDMI), and soil moisture index (SMI). The statistical relationships among those spectral indices with LST were examined. The analyzes showed that the implementation of GAEC 7d improved the relationship between NDVI and NDMI, with the correlation increasing from r = 0.80 in 2019 to 0.92 in 2021. Meanwhile, the inverse relationship between NDMI and LST changed from − 0.71 to -0.67. These changes in correlation suggest that plant water retention in the region increased following the regulation, and the soil structure may have also improved.

Soil erosion, especially water erosion, is one of the most widespread types of soil degradation, not only worldwide, but also within the Czech Republic, where it endangers more than a half of the agricultural land. In addition to farming, the landscape structure has a significant impact on soil erosion in the conditions under study, where, especially in the post-war period, the collectivisation of large-scale arable land was accompanied by the abolition of the associated landscape elements. The agricultural production area of South Moravia is one of the most endangered areas in the Czech Republic, therefore, it was selected for our research, whose main objective was to verify the sensitivity of the selected physical, chemical and biochemical characteristics to identify the changes in the soil properties in the erosion processes at the identified erosion areas. The testing was carried out within a period of 5 years in 60 locations with Chernozems with cultivated corn. To assess the quality of the soil properties, indicators of soil quality from the physical, chemical and biological – biochemical groups were selected. The results of the analyses and the subsequent statistical evaluation showed that the chemical characteristics, especially those related to the quantity and quality of the organic matter, were the most sensitive to the changes in the soil properties. From the biochemical indicators, some enzymes, particularly dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase, reacted sensitively. The physical characteristics were not significantly affected by the erosion processes.

The influence of shelterbelts on the erodibility of soil by wind was studied at three chosen shelterbelts of Southern Moravia, Czech Republic – near the shelterbelts in the cadastral areas of Dolní Dunajovice, Micmanice and Suchá Loz. Ambulatory measurements of wind velocity as so as soil sampling for soil humidity analyses, non-erodible and clay particles analyses were done during the year of 2006. Subsequently, real erodibility of soil by wind was determined at these three areas. Results of the measurements and calculations verify positive effect of shelterbelts consisted in wind velocity decreasing (at about 78% in average), soil humidity increasing (at about 102% in average) and soil resistance increasing (at about 70% in average) at the leeward side of the shelterbelts.

Fragments of woodland represent important natural and semi-natural elements that contribute to ecological stability and biodiversity in a landscape. In the Czech Republic, they are part of the Territorial System of Ecological Stability (TSES), which consists of bio-centers, bio-corridors, and interaction elements. The presence of fragments of woodland is of growing importance in the agricultural landscape, where they provide effective protection against soil erosion and serve as a refuge for many animals, whose presence is crucial in maintaining essential ecosystem functions. A functioning ecosystem is especially important in intensively farmed landscapes, which are exposed to frequent and heavy disturbance. Our aim was to evaluate the influence of certain habitat characteristics of fragments of woodland on the activity-density and species richness of selected groups of soil invertebrates (ground beetles, spiders, harvestmen, centipedes, millipedes, and isopods). The research was conducted in the agricultural landscape of South Moravia (Czech Republic) in the summers of 2016–2017, for which we used pitfall traps to collect soil invertebrates on preselected fragments of woodland. The results highlight a wide range of habitat preferences of individual groups of invertebrates, wherein it is not possible to clearly determine the most favorable environmental conditions for all organisms. Consequently, the priority should be to maintain the highest possible degree of heterogeneity among natural and semi-natural features, including with respect to their surrounding landscape. In addition, we found that due to their small size and width, fragments of woodland that are not included in the concept of bio-centers and bio-corridors can similarly support the activity-density and diversity of soil fauna.

The assessment of the soil redistribution and real long-term soil degradation due to erosion on agriculture land is still insufficient in spite of being essential for soil conservation policy. Imaging spectroscopy has been recognized as a suitable tool for soil erosion assessment in recent years. In our study, we bring an approach for assessment of soil degradation by erosion by means of determining soil erosion classes representing soils differently influenced by erosion impact. The adopted methods include extensive field sampling, laboratory analysis, predictive modelling of selected soil surface properties using aerial hyperspectral data and the digital elevation model and fuzzy classification. Different multivariate regression techniques (Partial Least Square, Support Vector Machine, Random forest and Artificial neural network) were applied in the predictive modelling of soil properties. The properties with satisfying performance (R2 > 0.5) were used as input data in erosion classes determination by fuzzy C-means classification method. The study was performed at four study sites about 1 km2 large representing the most extensive soil units of the agricultural land in the Czech Republic (Chernozems and Luvisols on loess and Cambisols and Stagnosols on crystalline rocks). The influence of site-specific conditions on prediction of soil properties and classification of erosion classes was assessed. The prediction accuracy (R2) of the best performing models predicting the soil properties varies in range 0.8–0.91 for soil organic carbon content, 0.21–0.67 for sand content, 0.4–0.92 for silt content, 0.38–0.89 for clay content, 0.73–089 for Feox, 0.59–0.78 for Fed and 0.82 for CaCO3. The performance and suitability of different properties for erosion classes’ classification are highly variable at the study sites. Soil organic carbon was the most frequently used as the erosion classes’ predictor, while the textural classes showed lower applicability. The presented approach was successfully applied in Chernozem and Luvisol loess regions where the erosion classes were assessed with a good overall accuracy (82% and 67%, respectively). The model performance in two Cambisol/Stagnosol regions was rather poor (51%–52%). The results showed that the presented method can be directly and with a good performance applied in pedologically and geologically homogeneous areas. The sites with heterogeneous structure of the soil cover and parent material will require more precise local-fitted models and use of further auxiliary information such as terrain or geological data. The future application of presented approach at a regional scale promises to produce valuable data on actual soil degradation by erosion usable for soil conservation policy purposes.

Operational USLE-Based Modelling of Soil Erosion in Czech Republic, Austria, and Bavaria—Differences in Model Adaptation, Parametrization, and Data Availability

Socio-economic context of soil erosion: A comparative local stakeholders’ case study from traditional agricultural region in the Czech Republic

<p>A better understanding of hydrological processes in agricultural catchments is not only crucial to hydrologists but also helpful for local farmers. Therefore, we have built the freely-available web-based WALNUD dataset (Water in Agricultural Landscape – NUčice Database) for our experimental catchment Nučice (0.53 km<sup>2</sup>), the Czech Republic. We have included observed precipitation, air temperature, stream discharge, and soil moisture in the dataset. Furthermore, we have applied numerical modelling techniques to investigate the hydrological processes (e.g. soil moisture variability, water balance) at the experimental catchment using the dataset.</p><p>The Nučice catchment, established in 2011, serves for the observation of rainfall-runoff processes, soil erosion and water balance of the cultivated landscape. The average altitude is 401 m a.s.l., the mean land slope is 3.9 %, and the climate is humid continental (mean annual temperature 7.9 °C, average annual precipitation 630 mm). The catchment consists of three fields covering over 95 % of the area. There is a narrow stream which begins as a subsurface drainage pipe in the uppermost field draining the water at catchment. The typical crops are winter wheat, rapeseed, mustard and alfalfa. The installed equipment includes a standard meteorological station, several rain gauges distributed in the area of the basin, and an H flume to monitor the stream discharge, water turbidity and basic water quality indicators. The soil water content (at point scale) and groundwater level are also recorded. Recently, we have installed two cosmic-ray soil moisture sensors (StyX Neutronica) to estimate large-scale topsoil water content at the catchment.</p><p>Even though the soil management and soil properties in the fields of Nučice seem to be nearly homogeneous, we have observed variability in the topsoil moisture pattern. The method for the explanation of the soil water regime was the combination of the connectivity indices and numerical modelling. The soil moisture profiles from the point-scale sensors were processed in a 1-D physically-based soil water model (HYDRUS-1D) to optimize the soil hydraulic parameters. Further, the soil hydraulic parameters were used as input into a 3D spatially-distributed model, MIKE-SHE. The MIKE-SHE simulation has been mainly calibrated with rainfall-runoff observations. Meanwhile, the spatial patterns of the soil moisture were assessed from the simulation for both dry and wet catchment conditions. From the MIKE-SHE simulation, the optimized soil hydraulic parameters have improved the estimation of soil moisture dynamics and runoff generation. Also, the correlation between the observed and simulated soil moisture spatial patterns showed different behaviors during the dry and wet catchment conditions.</p><p>This study has been supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Technical University in Prague, grant No. SGS20/156/OHK1/3T/11 and the Project SHui which is co-funded by the European Union Project: 773903 and the Chinese MOST.</p>