Soil erosion by land levelling
(Monitoring frequency: once a year)
Land levelling is one of most important factor of degradation and sometime one of the most important driver of changes in the land surface inside the catchment (see a Europe summary in Borselli et al. 2006). Associated to direct (on-site) soil erosion/deposition due to the redistribution of the soil and the mixing of the first soil horizons, there is a general soil property degradation, increased erodibility (and salinity) of the newly created arable surface, and a large set of documented off- site effects including strong changes of connectivity and runoff potential.
The planned frequency will allow the survey completion in two years. During the survey will be identified the most affected areas. The extension of levelled areas are shown by the remnant accumulation of stones at the field borders (or in the middle of fields) and some scarred areas that are found under lower canopy cover during the beginning of growing season. In this phase will be not monitored the change of soil properties but the evidence and extension of the processes that is strictly linked to the seasonal shallow landslides and the major changes in land use (e.g. establishment of new vineyard). The measurement of amount of soil removed or accumulated downslope will give ideas of mayor change in topography and volumes. As well the survey of connectivity will allow indication of the influence of new volume redistributions on hydrological properties of slopes.
