Showing papers by "Eric C. Brevik published in 2016"

Use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency–high magnitude simulated rainfall events

Abstract: Soil and water losses due to agricultural mismanagement are high and non-sustainable in many orchards. An experiment was set up with rainfall simulation at 78 mm h–1 over 1 hour on 20 paired plots of 2 m2 (bare and straw covered) in new persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain. Effects of straw cover on the control of soil and water losses were assessed. An addition of 60% straw cover (75 g m–2) resulted in delayed ponding and runoff generation and consequently reduced water losses from 60% to 13% of total rainfall. The straw cover reduced raindrop impact and thus sediment detachment from 1014 to 47 g plot–1 h–1. The erosion rate was reduced from 5.1 to 0.2 Mg ha–1 h–1. The straw mulch was found to be extremely efficient in reducing soil erosion rates.

Temporal stability of electrical conductivity in a sandy soil

Abstract: Funding for this work came from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER (Grants AGL2012- 40128-C03-03 and AGL2015-65036-C3-3-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE)), and from the Junta de Andalucia (P11-AGR-7431). Also support through Ph.D. grant No. 8 (Res. 15/04/2010) by IFAPA is acknowledged).

Historical highlights in American soil science — Prehistory to the 1970s

Abstract: Interest in understanding America's soils goes back to prehistory with the Native Americans. Following European settlement, notable individuals such as Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark made observations of the soil resource. Moving into the 1800s, state geological surveys became involved in soil work and E.W. Hilgard started to formulate ideas similar to those that would eventually lead to V.V. Dokuchaev being recognized as the father of modern soil science. However, Hilgard's advanced ideas on soil genesis were not accepted by the wider American soil science community at the time. Moving into the 1900s, the National Cooperative Soil Survey, the first nationally organized detailed soil survey in the world, was founded under the direction of M. Whitney. Initial soil classification ideas were heavily based in geology, but over time Russian ideas of soil genesis and classification moved into the American soil science community, mainly due to the influence of C.F. Marbut. Early American efforts at the scientific study of soil erosion and soil fertility were also begun in the 1910s and university programs to educate soil scientists started. Soil erosion studies took on high priority in the 1930s as the USA was impacted by the Dust Bowl. Soil Taxonomy, one of the most widely utilized soil classification systems in the world, was developed from the 1950s through the 1970s under the guidance of G.D. Smith and with the administrative support of C.E. Kellogg. American soil scientists, such as H. Jenny, R.W. Simonson, D.L. Johnson, and D. Watson-Stegner, developed influential models of soil genesis during the 20th Century, and the use of soil information moved beyond agriculture to include issues such as land-use planning, soil geomorphology, and the interactions between soils and human health.

Selected highlights in American soil science history from the 1980s to the mid-2010s

Abstract: The beginning of the 20th century through the 1970s were good times for soil science in the USA, with relatively strong funding and overall growth in the profession. However, the soil science discipline in the USA hit hard times in the 1980s and 1990s. Federal funding for soil survey work began to decline as did student numbers in university programs and membership in the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). Despite this, there were still many positive advances within soil science in the USA during these two decades. There was an increased use of geophysical instrumentation, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and global positioning systems (GPS), and research began in digital soil mapping, all of which lead to better understanding of the spatial distribution and variability of soils. Many NRCS soil products were put online, making them widely available to the general public, the use of soil knowledge was expanded into new areas such as archaeology and environmental work, and historic connections to geology were re-established. While expansion into new areas required soil science to evolve as a field, separating the discipline to an extent from its agricultural roots, it also helped reinvigorate the discipline. As we move through the early parts of the 21st century, student numbers are increasing in university soil science programs and membership in SSSA is at an all-time high. Digital soil mapping is being incorporated into the National Cooperative Soil Survey, and the impact of humans on the soil system is being fully recognized. The importance of soils is being recognized by events such as the United Nations declaration of 2015 as the “International Year of Soils”. The expansion of soils into new areas and widening recognition of the importance of soils gives the field hope for a bright future in the USA.

The influence of Dan H. Yaalon: his impact on people

Abstract: There are many ways to measure the accomplishments of a scientist, such as papers and books published, citations, and prestige of journals published in, but we rarely gather information that allows us to evaluate the variety of influences that individual scientists have on the careers of others. Dan H. Yaalon was one of the most accomplished pedologists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. In this paper we gather personal testimonials of the impact Yaalon had on scientists working in the areas of interest to Yaalon. This allows us to qualitatively evaluate the impact of an influential scientist on his field through the ways that he influenced the career choices of others. We found that this influence occurred through 1) personal, face-to-face contact, 2) written correspondence between Yaalon and other scientists, both through letters and through email, and 3) Yaalon's written record itself, without any direct, personal interaction between Yaalon and the other scientists. This influence took place over multiple generations of scientists, ranging from individuals who are currently retired to those who are just now in the very early stages of their scientific careers. The Yaalon example makes clear how successful scientists make significant contributions to their fields of interest well beyond those indicated by commonly used measures.

The use of straw to reduce the soil and water losses in agriculture and forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean Type-Ecosystem. The Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group contribution

Abstract: (1) Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain., (2) Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands, (3) Department of Agricultural Technology and Science and Genetics. ETSIA, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, Albacete, E-02071, Spain, (4) Department of Natural Sciences, Dickinson State University, Dickinson, ND, USA., (5) Environmental Management Centre, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania, (6) Department of Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, University of Palermo, viale delle scienze, Italy., (7) MED_Soil Research Group. Dep. of Crystallography, Mineralogy and Agricultural Chemistry, University of Seville, Spain, (8) Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Agripolis, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy, (9) University of Córdoba, Department of Rural Engineering, Campus Rabanales, Leonardo Da Vinci Building, 14071 Córdoba, Spain

Rock fragment cover controls the sediment detachment in citrus plantations

Abstract: (1) University of Valencia, Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group (SEDER). Department of Geography, Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Valencia, Spain. artemio.cerda@uv.es., (2) Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands. saskia.keesstra@wur.nl, (3) Department of Watershed Management Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University PO Box 46417-76489, Noor, Iran. sadeghi@modares.ac.ir, (4) Department of Natural Sciences, Dickinson State University, Dickinson, ND, USA. eric.brevik@dickinsonstate.edu, (5) Departamento de Economía y Ciencias Sociales, Escuela politécnica superior de Alcoy, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Alcoy, Alicante, Spain. angimo1@doctor.upv.es, (6) Department of Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, University of Palermo, viale delle scienze, Italy. agata.novara@unipa.it, (7) Environmental Management Division, CSIRCentral Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Digwadih Campus), Dhanbad, 828108, India. mastocfri@yahoo.com, (8) MED_Soil Research Group. Dep. of Crystallography, Mineralogy and Agricultural Chemistry, University of Seville, Spain. ajordan@us.es, (9) School of Hydraulic, Energy and Power Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009. China. wangjuan@yzu.edu.cn