University of Lleida

About: University of Lleida is a education organization based out in Lleida, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Pregnancy. The organization has 2939 authors who have published 5853 publications receiving 148417 citations. The organization is also known as: Escola Superior Politècnica & Universitat de Lleida.

Stable isotopes in archaeobotanical research

Abstract: In recent decades the analysis of stable isotopes in plants has become a useful method to infer natural and anthropogenic effects on the growing conditions of plants. Here we present a review of the state-of-the-art regarding the use of stable isotopes in plant macroremains. After providing a brief theoretical and methodological background, we will concentrate on the most common applications developed so far: reconstruction of climate and crop growing conditions, and crop provenancing. Finally, we will discuss current methodological challenges, and potential new directions for research.

Gully erosion in Europe

Abstract: Soil erosion by water has received and still receives a lot of attention from scientists, soil conservationists and policymakers in Europe. However, when dealing with this soil degradation process, attention has merely been focused on sheet (interrill) and rill erosion rather than on gully erosion. This is reflected in the scientific literature, where more than 2200 plot-year data on soil loss by sheet and rill erosion in Europe have been published (see Chapter 2.4). Such data have been and are still being used to assess the impacts of land use on soil loss by water erosion or to develop, calibrate and validate various empirical and process-based water erosion models (addressing mainly sheet and rill erosion). Such models are then used for assessing soil erosion under global change or for establishing soil erosion risk maps at various scales (e.g. Van der Knijff et al., 2000). However, in many European landscapes under different pedo-climatic conditions and with different land uses one can observe the presence and dynamics of various gully types, e.g. ephemeral gullies, permanent or classical gullies and bank gullies. Field-based evidence suggests that sheet and rill erosion as measured on runoff plots are not always realistic indicators of total catchment erosion in Europe, nor do they indicate adequately the redistribution of eroded soil within a field. It is through (ephemeral) gully erosion that a large fraction of soil eroded within a field or catchment is redistributed and delivered to water courses (e.g. Evans, 1993; Martı́nez-Casasnovas et al., 2002). Gully erosion in Europe has received much less attention than sheet and rill erosion, despite the fact that pictures from large or deep gullies are often shown to illustrate the seriousness of soil erosion by water in