Assessing Soil Erosion and Associated Nutrient Losses in Agrosystems

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 631

Special Issue Editor

Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China
Interests: soil erosion and carbon dynamics; soil nutrient losses induced by soil erosion; identification of soil erosion hotspots; nuclear technology assessment; soil erosion and environmental effect
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agricultural systems (agrosystems) play a crucial role in global food security and economic development. However, soil erosion and associated nutrient losses represent challenges in this context, with far-reaching consequences for soil quality, agricultural productivity, and the environment. Therefore, it is of great significance to conduct precise assessments of soil erosion and nutrient loss in agricultural systems. These help us understand the status of soil degradation and ensure the long-term productivity of the soil, thereby enabling adjustments to fertilization strategies, reducing costs and environmental pollution. Such assessments are also conducive to the formulation of land use policies to promote the green development of agriculture.

This Special Issue is dedicated to compiling research on the assessment of soil erosion and nutrient losses in different typical agrosystems. This topic is within the scope of Agriculture, a suitable journal within which to publish cross-disciplinary international academic papers on soil erosion and agroecology.

For this Special Issue, we welcome both original research and review articles that address soil erosion process and nutrient migration mechanisms, the environmental, agronomic management and climate impacts associated with agricultural systems, and the monitoring technologies including but not limited to in situ monitoring, nuclide tracing technique, erosion models, unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing technology, and laser scanning.

Dr. Hanqing Yu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • soil erosion assessment
  • water erosion
  • wind erosion
  • soil nutrient losses
  • agrosystems

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 6690 KB  
Article
Comparative Assessment of Fractional and Erosion Plot Methods for Quantifying Soil Erosion and Nutrient Loss Under Vetiver Grass Technology on Two Contrasting Slopes in Rainforest Agroecology
by Suarau O. Oshunsanya, Hanqing Yu, Ayodeji M. Odebode, Ini D. Edem, Tunde S. Oluwatuyi, Esther E. Imasuen and Dorcas E. Odeyinka
Agriculture 2025, 15(16), 1762; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15161762 - 16 Aug 2025
Viewed by 389
Abstract
The erosion plot method (EPM) is the most accurate method for measuring total runoff and soil loss in the field, but it is expensive, time-consuming, and tedious to use, thereby limiting the scope of soil erosion research. Alternatively, the fractional method (FM) involves [...] Read more.
The erosion plot method (EPM) is the most accurate method for measuring total runoff and soil loss in the field, but it is expensive, time-consuming, and tedious to use, thereby limiting the scope of soil erosion research. Alternatively, the fractional method (FM) involves measuring a portion of total runoff and soil loss to estimate the total erosion. Although the FM may be easier to use in rainforest agroecology, it has not been evaluated under vetiver grass technology (VGT). Thus, a 2-year field study was conducted to verify the efficacy of the FM under VGT by comparing soil nutrient erosion between the FM and the EPM on two slopes (5% and 10%). Three piped drums (left, central, and right) were used to collect total runoff under the EPM, while only a central piped drum was used under the FM (usual practice). The FM’s runoff and soil loss values were similar to those under the EPM (R2 = 0.98–0.99; p < 0.001). Runoff nutrients (R2 = 0.90; p < 0.001) and eroded nutrients (R2 = 0.97; p < 0.001) from the FM were highly similar to those of the EPM on the 5% slope. Similarly, runoff nutrients (R2 = 0.86; p < 0.001) and eroded nutrients (R2 = 0.95; p < 0.001) from the FM were strongly similar to those of the EPM on a 10% slope. The FM accounted for 92% of the total nutrient erosion measured by the EPM under VGT management. Thus, the FM will make research more efficient, cost-effective, and attractive, particularly in large-scale water erosion studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessing Soil Erosion and Associated Nutrient Losses in Agrosystems)
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