Abstract
Core Ideas Eliminating fallow tillage increased the natural plant cover at the soil surface. Increased natural plant cover did not significantly decrease the aeolian soil losses. Event‐based vertical distribution of soil losses were related to the upwind plant characteristics. Accounting for plant configuration improved the prediction of vertical soil flux distribution. In semiarid Central Anatolia Turkey, winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) planted under a conservation tillage system undergoes a no‐till fallow phase to reduce aeolian soil losses by maintaining the natural plant cover. This research was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of natural vegetation cover in relation to tillage‐induced soil surface properties in reducing the wind erosion during the fallow periods. Climatic parameters at experimental plots subjected to no fallow tillage (NFT) and conventional fallow tillage (CFT) (disk) managements were measured and friction velocity (u*) and aerodynamic roughness (z0) over four high wind events (wind velocities >5.7 ms−1 at 2 m high) were determined. Sediment fluxes at each management were measured using 20 sampling posts each holding five vertically placed sediment traps. Spatial dynamics of soil fluxes were related to the soil surface properties and the vegetation characteristics (coverage and configuration). Spatial variations in upwind vegetation characteristics were significantly (p < 0.05) related to the mass fluxes up to 40 cm above the soil surface. However, greater vegetation cover in NFT did not result in significant reductions in mass transport rate compared with CFT. This can be explained by substantially greater (>360%) loose material in NFT due to the dissipation of wheat residue during the early fallow period (23% in late March) and longer transport distance due to a lower surface roughness. These results corroborate that the elimination of fallow tillage alone may not generate sufficient natural vegetation cover to effectively reduce aeolian soil losses in fallow periods of winter wheat cropping systems.
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