@article{fdi:010053584,
  title = {{I}nfluence of grass soil cover on water runoff and soil detachment under rainfall simulation in a sub-humid {S}outh {A}frican degraded rangeland},
  author = {{P}odwojewski, {P}ascal and {J}aneau, {J}ean-{L}ouis and {G}rellier, {S}. and {V}alentin, {C}hristian and {L}orentz, {S}. and {C}haplot, {V}incent},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{I}n most regions of the world overgrazing plays a major role in land degradation and thus creates a major threat to natural ecosystems. {S}everal feedbacks exist between overgrazing, vegetation, soil infiltration by water and soil erosion that need to be better understood. {I}n this study of a sub-humid overgrazed rangeland in {S}outh {A}frica, the main objective was to evaluate the impact of grass cover on soil infiltration by water and soil detachment. {A}rtificial rains of 30 and 60 mm h(-1) were applied for 30 min on 1 m(2) micro-plots showing similar sandy-loam {A}crisols with different proportions of soil surface coverage by grass ({C}lass {A}: 75-100%; {B}: 75-50%; {C}: 50-25%; {D}: 25-5%; {E}: 5-0% with an outcropping {A} horizon; {F}: 0% with an outcropping {B} horizon) to evaluate pre-runoff rainfall ({P}r), steady state water infiltration ({I}), sediment concentration ({SC}) and soil losses ({SL}). {W}hatever the class of vegetal cover and the rainfall intensity, with the exception of two plots probably affected by biological activity, {I} decreased regularly to a steady rate <2 mm h(-1) after 15 min rain. {T}here was no significant correlation between {I} and {P}r with vegetal cover. {T}he average {SC} computed from the two rains increased from 0.16 g {L}-1 (class {A}) to 48.5 g {L}-1 (class {F}) while {SL} was varied between 4 g m(-2) h(-1) for {A} and 1883 g m(-2) h(-1) for {F}. {SL} increased significantly with decreasing vegetal cover with an exponential increase while the removal of the {A} horizon increased {SC} and {SL} by a factor of 4. {T}he results support the belief that soil vegetation cover and overgrazing plays a major role in soil infiltration by water but also suggest that the interrill erosion process is self-increasing. {A}bandoned cultivated lands and animal preferred pathways are more vulnerable to erosive processes than simply overgrazed rangelands.},
  keywords = {soil degradation ; interrill erosion ; rainfall simulation ; soil cover ; runoff ; infiltration},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{E}arth {S}urface {P}rocesses and {L}andforms},
  volume = {36},
  numero = {7},
  pages = {911--922},
  ISSN = {0197-9337},
  year = {2011},
  DOI = {10.1002/esp.2121},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053584},
}