Treatment effects of conservation trenching on regulating and provisioning ecosystem services
These videos have been matched automatically. Contact us if they are not relevant.
These videos have been matched automatically. Contact us if they are not relevant.
View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Staggered contour trenching (SCT) at 505 trenches per hectare best restores degraded lands. This method significantly reduces runoff and soil loss while improving soil nutrients and biomass yield, supporting land degradation neutrality.
Area Of Science
- Environmental Science
- Ecology
- Sustainable Land Management
Background
- United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15.3 emphasizes land restoration.
- Degraded lands require effective management and restoration strategies.
- Innovative research and policy frameworks are crucial for global land health.
Purpose Of The Study
- To quantify the impact of staggered contour trenching (SCT) combined with a silvi-pasture system on ecosystem services in degraded mini-watersheds.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of different SCT densities on hydrologic, regulating, and provisioning ecosystem services.
Main Methods
- Paired watershed approach to quantify hydrologic regulating services.
- Comparison of treated and untreated watersheds for non-hydrologic services.
- Assessment of SCT impact on runoff, soil loss, effective rainfall, soil nutrients, and biomass yield.
Main Results
- SCT density of 505 trenches ha⁻¹ maximally reduced runoff (63.3%) and soil loss (3.73%).
- This density also improved effective rainfall (9.9%) and retained 23.1 times more silt than lower densities.
- Significant increases in soil nutrients (N, P, K, organic carbon) and biomass yields (Acacia nilotica: 166.2%, Cenchrus ciliaris: 21.5%) were observed.
Conclusions
- A SCT density of 505 trenches ha⁻¹ within a silvi-pasture system is optimal for degraded land restoration.
- This practice enhances ecosystem services, supporting land degradation neutrality and SDG 15.3.
- Findings provide valuable data for policymakers and land managers in reclaiming degraded ecosystems.
These videos have been matched automatically. Contact us if they are not relevant.
These videos have been matched automatically. Contact us if they are not relevant.
Related Concept Videos
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
Perforation and dissection often occur during the initial stages of...
Conservation biology is a scientific field that focuses on the preservation of biodiversity in order to protect ecosystems while meeting the needs of the human population. Humans require properly functioning ecosystems to maintain our supply of natural resources, including food, medicines, and building materials.
Ecosystems also perform critical services, such as purifying our air and water. A large body of evidence indicates that such ecosystem services depend on biodiversity. Furthermore,...
An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.
Ecological disturbances can be caused by an event as small as the trampling of underbrush to an incident as wide-ranging as a...
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
Conservation efforts often utilize scientific approaches to identify the reasons, or the agents, causing the population to decline. This approach then devises steps to remove, oppose, or neutralize the agents.
Conservation efforts may also introduce a test group to determine the probable cause of the decline. The...
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a...