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Abstract
Terraced farming play several roles, from improving ecosystem services to enhancing associated population livelihoods. In this study, we were interested in evaluating the roles of mountain terraces in controlling floods and erosion risks, in particular in the Ourika watershed, located in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. Rainfall simulation tests were conducted to measure infiltration, runoff and initial abstraction, while the Cesium-137 isotope technique was used to quantify soil loss. The results highlighted high infiltration for dense forests (78.00 ± 2.65 mm/h) and low for rangelands (27.12 ± 2.82 mm/h). For terraces, infiltration was found to be about 70.36 ± 0.56 mm/h, confirming the role of terraces in promoting infiltration. The runoff coefficient obtained was lowest for dense forests, followed by cultivated terraces, and highest for rangelands (62.71 ± 3.51). Thus, outside dense forests, infiltration and runoff were significantly very high and low, respectively, for agricultural terraces compared to other land use. The assessment of soil erosion rates showed a significant soil loss for rangelands compared to the agricultural terraces, further underlining the role of terraces in soil conservation. Terraces in the Ourika watershed, by increasing water infiltration, reduce the rate of surface runoff, and consequently, flood risks and soil degradation.
Highlights
Terraced agriculture is a phenomenon that has existed for a long time throughout the world
The descriptive statistics illustrating the effects of land use types on initial abstraction, final infiltration, runoff coefficient and erosion rate are presented in Tables 3–6 and on Figures A1–A3
We looked to evaluate the role of terraces in controlling processes such as erosion, runoff and infiltration and floods risks in the Ourika watershed in the High Atlas region of Morocco
Summary
Terraced agriculture is a phenomenon that has existed for a long time throughout the world. Terraces are a common component of the landscape in regions with the most rugged and steep topography [4,5] They provide numerous ecosystem services including food production, water and soil retention, biodiversity conservation, and microclimate regulation [6,7,8,9]. This is translated by their role in mitigating the detrimental impacts of soil erosion by limiting the rate of surface runoff and facilitating the infiltration of water into the soil [5,10]. Terraced landscapes represent one of the oldest and most effective forms of human adaptation to cultivate in harsh environments [11,12], while representing one of the best ways to prevent land degradation in hilly and mountainous landscapes
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