Grazing Effects on Hydrological Processes and Soil Erosion

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, worldwide, human impact is negatively affecting the environment in a wide range of several ways (e.g., land use/cover changes, agriculture, urbanization, etc.). One of the most relevant impacts is related to grazing intensification, which modified the grasslands inducing some structural changes with negative environmental consequences. Scholars over the world revealed that non-planned pasture practices have complex effects such as soil compaction, loss of biodiversity, or nutrient decreases. According to this fact, grass conservation strategies are widely recognized as one of the most important hydrological control measures (for water conservation and soil erosion control). Grazing hydrological effects should be further investigated especially in the upland areas during specific seasons depending on the soil moisture conditions. Why? Because of the reduced infiltration rates of the underlying soils and increased runoff coefficients and subsequently, higher soil erosion rates. Moreover, non-sustainable grazing practices (e.g., overgrazing) could affect catchment hydrology by modifying vegetation cover and soil properties and amplify soil loss and flood peak downstream. Therefore, the unique way to achieve land degradation neutrality, sustainable and efficient grass management is key to develop and run non-structural  measures (e.g., natural buffer) for runoff regulation and to decrease soil erosion rates. Therefore, the main goal of this special issue is to join novel papers aim to investigate:

• Hydrologic effects of non-sustainable grazing grassland areas on overland flow and sheet erosion.
• Possible impacts of runoff parameters and soil moisture status (e.g., runoff initiation time, runoff amount, runoff coefficients, soil loss) on soil quality or productivity;
• interrelated hydrological models at the different scales;

• how to transfer the outcomes to key stakeholders, policymakers, or national agencies linked to environmental protection and agriculture, and livestock farmers, etc.

Dr. Gabriel Minea
Dr. Manuel Pulido Fernádez
Guest Editors

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