Impacts of rainstorms on soil erosion and organic matter for different cover crop systems in the western coast agricultural region of Syria

Abstract

AbstractMore and more cultivated coastal territories of Syria are being affected by increasing land degradation processes, specifically, by soil erosion due to non‐sustainable soil management. The use of cover crops can be considered an ideal solution to reduce the negative impacts of extreme rainfall events on soil erosion. However, there is no enough information about the main cultivated areas of Syria due to the current conflicts and the very few types of research conducted there. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to assess soil erosion (soil loss and sediment concentration) and hydrological response (run‐off and infiltration) considering the impact of different types of cropping systems on soil organic matter. To achieve this goal, using erosion plots, five grouped natural rainfall events and soil samples were collected, and infiltration measurements were performed between November 2012 and April 2013 (rainy season) on three different cropping systems (wheat, vetch, bean and control) with different sloping gradients (8% and 20%) in Tartous governorate (W Syria). Our results showed a cumulative rainfall amount from 68.8 to 201 mm during the study period. The highest sediment yield was generated in the control and wheat plots, registering 0.468 and 0.368 kg m−2, respectively, with an inclination of 8%. For an inclination of 20%, the control and wheat plots registered 1.145 and 0.967 kg m−2, respectively. In comparison with the control plots, there was a decrease in the total eroded organic matter, which ranged from 0.0579 (control) to 0.0289 (bean) kg m−2 year−1 in the plots with 20% inclination, and from 0.0233 (control) to 0.0069 (bean) kg m−2 year−1 with 8% inclination. To sum up, bean and vetch play an effective role to mitigate soil erosion, delay run‐off and reduce sediment yield. The output of this research provides first insights into the impact of different land uses on soil loss. Also, it could help rural inhabitants and farmers to correctly manage their soils against soil erosion processes.