Quantification of wind erosion from some arid soils in Jordan under two different management practices

Abstract

Jordan’s national food security is challenged by many threats such as soil erosion and desertification. Unfortunately, Jordan lacks field data that can strengthen efforts in reducing erosion and therefore combating desertification necessary to enable sustainable decision making. This study aimed to investigate the effect of passing sheep on soil wind erosion and to quantify windblown soil mass in arid soils. The field was divided into two sites; the first site was subject to disturbance through passage of about 40 sheep biweekly, while the other site was kept undisturbed. Two Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE) sediment catcher traps were installed on each site. Two mass flux models were tested for calculating mass transport rates. The total horizontal flux is obtained by integrating the airborne particles collected by the BSNE sampler. Soil analyses showed no significant differences in all measured properties, ensuring that soil inherent erodibility is similar. Both models were significantly effective (P < 0.001) in predicting airborne sediment loads as indicated by their high associated R2 and low root-mean-square error (RMSE). The results also showed that trapped airborne dust decreases with height, where maximum fluxes were generally at lowest height, indicating that saltation is the dominant transport mode. Average erosion from the disturbed site is almost double the undisturbed site, (6.6 and 3.9 t/ha, respectively). The suggested management plan is to set the area aside as a land reserve or at least performing better grazing management, which will insure lower disturbance of surface soil, result in better plant recover rate leading to stronger soil cover, and allow soil aggregates to develop and be more stable.