Abstract
From the viewpoint of sustainability, annual soil erosion should be controlled below an erosion level. Palau is an island in the Micronesia region of the western Pacific Ocean. The island receives heavy rainfall and has steep slopes, so 80% of the land is categorized within the most fragile rank (T factor = 1) in soil erosion. We tested several methods of preventing soil erosion on the land, with a slope of 15.4° (13.4°–17.3°), cultivated the land, planted sweet potatoes, and compared the amount of soil erosion. Surprisingly, there was no erosion at all in all plots (including control plots), although 24 rainfall events occurred and the USLE equation predicted 32 tons per ha of soil erosion in the cropping period. For the parameters of the USLE equation used in this study, only the K factor was not measured (cited from a USDA report). Namely, the K factor estimated by soil texture was larger than the actual value. Measuring the K factor in the fields can expand Palau's sustainable agricultural land.
Highlights
Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article Introduction From the viewpoint of sustainability, annual soil erosion should be controlled below an erosion level of the T factor (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Erosive rainfall events occurred on day 7 after planting (May 2)
The second weeding was conducted after seven days of intensive rainfall, with a further erosive rainfall event of 7 mm per 10 min that occurred after weeding took place
Summary
From the viewpoint of sustainability, annual soil erosion should be controlled below an erosion level. There was no erosion at all in all plots (including control plots), 24 rainfall events occurred and the USLE equation predicted 32 tons per ha of soil erosion in the cropping period. Measuring the K factor in the fields can expand Palau's sustainable agricultural land. Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article Introduction From the viewpoint of sustainability, annual soil erosion should be controlled below an erosion level of the T factor (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). We tried clarifying the risk of erosion and the effect of root mass for preventing soil erosion in a field with an incline typical for Palau in an area categorized as highly erodible. We failed to evaluate the effects of the treatments, this information is important for Palau’s agricultural development
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