The term soil erodibility (factor K in the Universal Soil Loss Equation – USLE) expresses the natural susceptibility of a soil to water erosion. The K factor stands for the soil loss rate per unit of rainfall erosivity (factor R in the USLE). Knowledge on the K factor, as well as about the other factors of the USLE, is important to establish soil conservation strategies since they permit the estimation of soil loss rates by water erosion under specific climate, […]

Tillage influences both surface and subsurface soil physical conditions, and consequently the values of the factors related to the rainfall-water erosion process. A field experiment using simulated rainfall was conducted from October, 1999 to May, 2000, in the Planalto Sul Catarinense region, Lages, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in order to evaluate some of the factors related to the rainfall-water erosion process under steady runoff-rate, with three different soil tillage methods. The soil used in the study was a clayey Typic […]

Although being temporary, the presence of tillage-induced surface roughness in the soil is an important requirement in conservation tillage systems. The reason is that surface roughness increases both surface retention and surface infiltration of water in the soil, reduces runoff velocity and volume, and traps eroded sediments, thus reducing water erosion damages. With this in mind, this study was developed with the objective of evaluating modifications in soil surface roughness by tillage and rainfall actions related to water erosion, in […]

Different management practices lead to distinct surface and subsurface soil physical conditions, which in turn result in different levels of rainfall erosion. In this context, a 5.5 year field erosion-study was conducted with the objective of studying the effects of both tillage and cropping systems and forms of crop residue management on some surface and subsurface physical soil conditions and their influence on rainfall erosion. For this purpose, rainfall was simulated on a severely degraded, sandy loam Paleudult with 0.08 m m-1 […]

Site-specific regression coefficient values are essential for erosion prediction with empirical models. With the objective to investigate the surface-soilconsolidation factor, Cf, linked to the RUSLE’s prior-land-use subfactor, PLU, an erosion experiment using simulated rainfall on a 0.075 m m-1 slope, sandy loam Paleudult soil, was conducted at the Agriculture Experimental Station of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (EEA/UFRGS), in Eldorado do Sul, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Firstly, a row-cropped area was excluded from cultivation […]

Erosion is deleterious because it reduces the soil’s productivity capacity for growing crops and causes sedimentation and water pollution problems. Surface and buried crop residue, as well as live and dead plant roots, play an important role in erosion control. An efficient way to assess the effectiveness of such materials in erosion reduction is by means of decomposition constants as used within the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation – RUSLE’s prior-land-use subfactor – PLU. This was investigated using simulated rainfall […]

Using simulated rainfall on a 0.12 m m-1-slope typic Hapludalf (Red Yellow Podzolic Soil), sandy-loam soil, erosion losses by water were evaluated during corn (Zea mays L.) that had followed oats (Avena strigosa Schieb) and bare-fallow in the winter. Field work was conducted at the Silviculture Experimental Station of the Secretary of Agriculture of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from 1994 to 1995. Conventional and no-tillage performed with animal and tractor traction were the main treatments studied. Rainfall was applied […]

The cessation of growth of native forage during winter has encouraged the improvement of native grasslands. Aiming to study water intake rates and soil and water losses by erosion as affected by different methods of native grassland improvement, an experiment was conducted at the Agronomic Experimental Station of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Eldorado do Sul, Brazil, on a Paleudult soil under extensive native grassland use. A mixture of winter species of forage, specifically oat (Avena […]

Soil water infiltration rate may be the soil property which best reflects the general soil physical conditions, especially the structural quality. A field study was conducted at the Embrapa Trigo, Passo Fundo, Brasil in an Oxisol under long-term soil tillage systems, to evaluate the influence of these systems on soil water infiltration rate as a function of the soil cover and soil physical conditions caused by the different tillage systems. During a corn cropping period, a simulated rainfall with intensity of […]