Abstract
The process of field abandonment in marginal areas by the entry of agricultural activity, and of the “agricultural natural economy” crisis, has been a real change of land use on a large scale. The effects of the abandonment of the field about the quality of the land vary widely, depending on weather conditions and the state of soils, highly variable from the spatio-temporal standpoint. Thus, soils under favourable climatic conditions, with vegetation cover, can regenerate over time by the accumulation of organic material and increase their biological activity and fauna, improving its structure, increasing infiltration of water and, therefore, decreasing the potential water erosion. The purpose of this work was to characterize the vegetation pattern of several abandoned fields for more than 50 years, located in the internal Bethics mountain ranges on lithology of metamorphic reliefs, as well as the hydrological response from their soils by tracking spatio-temporal of the soil moisture and the application of simulated rain, with special emphasis on the effect caused by their surface conditions. The results have shown as surface conditions from their soils are indicating different stages in the evolution of these after the abandonment of agricultural activity: the fields with more abundant rains have struck a balance between their conditions climatic, topographical and erosive, while those who are in most semi-arid conditions still are at an earlier stage where water erosion can present a high activity during rare rain events.
Highlights
The purpose of this work was to characterize the vegetation pattern of several abandoned fields for more than 50 years, located in the internal Bethics mountain ranges on lithology of metamorphic reliefs, as well as the hydrological response from their soils by tracking spatio-temporal of the soil moisture and the application of simulated rain, with special emphasis on the effect caused by their surface conditions
The results have shown as surface conditions from their soils are indicating different stages in the evolution of these after the abandonment of agricultural activity: the fields with more abundant rains have struck a balance between their conditions climatic, topographical and erosive, while those who are in most semi-arid conditions still are at an earlier stage where water erosion can present a high activity during rare rain events
4) Por tanto, a pesar de que el patrón y cubierta de vegetación de los campos abandonados son similares aún difiriendo en las condiciones climáticas, las condiciones superficiales de sus suelos están indicando estadios diferentes en la evolución de éstos después del abandono de la actividad agrícola: los campos con más abundantes lluvias (CO y AL) han alcanzado un equilibrio entre sus condiciones climáticas, topográficas y erosivas, mientras que los que están en condiciones más semiáridas aún se encuentran en una fase anterior donde la erosión hídrica puede presentar una elevada actividad durante los escasos eventos lluviosos, como indica la presencia de pedregosidad superficial embebida en superficie, formando una costra continua
Summary
La región mediterránea es una de aquellas del planeta en las que los cambios climáticos y geomorfológicos, así como el impacto de la actividad humana han ocasionado una progresiva degradación medioambiental, finalizando en procesos de desertificación los cuales son especialmente graves en áreas de elevado estrés (regiones áridas y semiáridas) debido a su elevada vulnerabilidad (López Bermúdez, 1993). Tras el uso humano del suelo, el sistema natural puede recuperar las condiciones previas a la actividad, iniciándose procesos de recuperación de la cubierta vegetal como acabamos de apuntar; esta capacidad de recuperación ha sido denominada como resilencia. Esta respuesta hidrológica descrita se encuentra controlada por una serie de factores, descritos ampliamente en la literatura científica: contenido de gravas, textura y estabilidad de agregados de los suelos (Boix Fayos, 1999; van Wesemael et al, 1996 ̧ Boix et al, 1998), cambios espaciales y temporales de la cubierta vegetal (Cerdà, 1998; Lavee et al, 1998; Calvo et al, 2003; Ruiz Sinoga et al, 2010), uso previo y manejo del suelo (Ruiz Flaño, 1993; Lasanta et al, 2000), humedad del suelo previa a la lluvia (Castillo et al, 2003). Es clave el tamaño y la disposición de los fragmentos rocosos respecto a la superficie del suelo (sobre la superficie o embebidos en ella formando una costra continua) lo cual puede controlar su respuesta hidrológica (Lavee y Poesen, 1991; Poesen y Ingelmo-Sánchez, 1992)
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