Using model simulation to evaluate soil loss potential in diversified agricultural landscapes

Agricultural production is facing a challenging transition through changing political framework conditions and climate change. Innovative field use and land management through temporal and spatial diversification measures support the political efforts to achieve the European Green Deal. However, increasing precipitation intensities through climate change are leading to an increased risk of soil erosion by water. To mitigate such risk, soil erosion should be taken into account when redesigning fields and landscapes. This paper aims to assess the present erosion risk situation in the innovative on-farm field experiment “patchCROP” with several implemented spatio-temporal crop diversification measures (field size, flower strips, crop rotation), using the physically-based Erosion 3D simulation model at the field scale. The modelling results showed that field reshaping from one large field into smaller field segments had the potential to reduce soil erosion. Flower strips reduced the sediment discharge to approximately half of that of small field segments without flower strips. However, as model results indicated, heterogeneous landscapes showed complex erosion and deposition patterns. To identify these, making use of physically based soil erosion models in new field arrangements is a critical future task.

Highlights

Evaluation of a physically based soil erosion model that can be integrated into field re-design.

Patch crop systems promise to enable higher spatial field diversification.

Equal consideration of minor site-specific topography and modified field design needed to prevent soil erosion.

Physically based soil erosion models offer a powerful tool to optimise design of future cropping systems.