Nuclear Techniques for a Better Understanding of the Impact of Climate Change on Soil Erosion in Upland Agro-ecosystems
Closed for Proposals
Project Type
Coordinated Research ProjectProject Code
D15017
CRP
2038
Approved Date
3 September 2015Project Status
ClosedStart Date
18 March 2016Expected End Date
30 September 2021Completed Date
3 December 2021Participating Countries
Austria, Canada, Switzerland, China, Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Italy, Morocco, Madagascar, New Zealand, United States of AmericaDescription
Upland agro-ecosystems - defined as the less favoured higher altitude environments including areas with low soil quality and/or limited access to water - will face three major challenges related to food security and climate change in the coming decades: increasing food production while protecting against soil erosion, adapting to climate change impact on soil resource, and contributing to climate change mitigation. This CRP aims to (i) develop combinations of nuclear techniques to assess impacts of changes on soil erosion, and (ii) distinguish and apportion impacts of climate variability and agricultural management on soil erosion in upland agro-ecosystems.Nuclear techniques including Fallout Radionuclides (FRNs) such as caesium-137 (137Cs), lead-210 (210Pb), beryllium-7 (7Be) and plutonium-239 and 240 (239+240Pu), Compound-Specific Stable Isotope (CSSI) techniques based on the measurement of carbon-13 (13C) natural abundance signatures of specific organic compounds (i.e. fatty acid) and Cosmic Ray Soil Moisture Neutron Probe (CRNP) will be used to fulfil these specific objectives.
Objectives
Improving existing nuclear techniques to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of climate change on soil degradation in upland agro-ecosystems
Specific Objectives
Distinguish and apportion the impact of climate variability and agricultural management on soil resources in upland agro-ecosystems
Further development of nuclear techniques to assess the impacts of changes on soil erosion occurring in upland agro-ecosystems
Impact
The CRP has great impact on scientific community working on soil erosion and sustainable land management. During the lifetime of CRP there increased significantly interest in soil erosion research in many Member States. It can be demonstrated by increasing number of TC projects, during this period (mainly three great regional TC projects and several new national projects. Recently the number of TC projects is much greater than before this CRP.
Relevance
The CRP was relevant for developing methodological tools which are useful for providing background information needed for soil conservation policies and programmes for promoting sustainable agriculture of IAEA/FAO Member States.
CRP Publications
Springer (international publisher)
Open source Springer methodological handbook
2019
Mabit, L., Blake, W. (Eds.) (2019). Assessing Recent Soil Erosion Rates through the Use of Beryllium-7 (Be-7). Springer, Cham
UK
peer-reviewed article
2018
Iurian, A.R., Millward, G.E., Sima, O., Taylor, A., Blake, W. (2018). Self-attenuation corrections for Pb-210 in gamma-ray spectrometry using well and coaxial HPGe detectors. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 134, 151–156.
SWI; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2016
Arata, L., Alewell, C., Frenkel, E., A’Campo-Neuen, A., Iurian, A.R., Ketterer, M.E., Mabit, L., Meusburger, K. (2016b). Modelling Deposition and Erosion rates with RadioNuclides (MODERN) - Part 2: A comparison of different models to convert 239+240Pu inventories into soil redistribution rates at unploughed sites. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 162-163, 97–106.
SWI; ITA; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2016
Meusburger, K., Mabit, L., Ketterer, M., Park, J.H., Sandor, T., Porto, P., Alewell, C. (2016). A multi-radionuclide approach to evaluate the suitability of 239+240Pu as soil erosion tracer. Science of the Total Environment, 566-567, 1489–1499.
UK; SPA; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2018
Blake, W., Boeckx, P., Stock, B., Smith, H.G., Bode, S., Upadahayay, H.R., Gaspar, L., Goddard, R., Lennard, A., Lizaga, I., Lobb, D., Owens, P.N., Petticrew, E., Kuzyk, Z.Z., Gari, B., Munishi, L., Mtei, K., Munishi, L., Nebiyu, A., Mabit, L., Navas, A., Semmens, B., Lizaga, I. (2018). A deconvolutional Bayesian mixing model approach for river basin sediment source apportionment. Scientific Reports, 8:13073.
SWI; ITA; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2018
Meusburger, K., Porto, P., Mabit, L., La Spada, C., Arata, L., Alewell, C. (2018). Excess Lead-210 and Plutonium-239+240: Two suitable radiogenic soil erosion tracers for mountain grassland sites. Environmental Research, 160, 195–202.
SWI; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2017
Arata, L., Meusburger, K., Bürge, A., Zehringer, M., Ketterer, M.E., Mabit, L., Alewell, C. (2017). Decision support for the selection of reference sites using 137Cs as soil erosion tracer. SOIL, 3, 113–122.
ITA; UK
peer-reviewed article
2016
Porto, P., Walling, D.E., Cogliandro, V., Callegari, G. (2016). Exploring the potential for using 210Pbex measurements within a re-sampling approach to document recent changes in soil redistribution rates within a small catchment in southern Italy. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 164, 158–168.
ITA; UK
peer-reviewed article
2018
Porto, P., Walling, D.E., Callegari, G. (2018). Using repeated 137Cs and 210Pbex measurements to establish sediment budgets for different time windows and explore the effect of connectivity on soil erosion rates in a small experimental catchment in Southern Italy. Land Degradation & Development.
FAO/IAEA; AUS; NZE; SWI
peer-reviewed article
2018
Mabit, L., Gibbs, M., Mbaye, M., Meusburger, K., Toloza, A., Resch, C., Klik, A., Swales, A., Alewell, C. (2018a). Novel application of a Compound Specific Stable Isotope (CSSI) technique to investigate on-site sediment origins across arable fields. Geoderma, 316, 19–26.
IAEA
IAEA TECDOC
2019
IAEA. (2019). Guidelines for Sediment Tracing Using Compound Specific Carbon Stable Isotope Technique. IAEA TECDOC-1881.
SWI; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2016
Arata, L., Meusburger, K., Frenkel, E., A’Campo-Neuen, A., Iurian, A.R., Ketterer, M.E., Mabit, L., Alewell, C. (2016a). Modelling Deposition and Erosion rates with RadioNuclides (MODERN) - Part 1: a new conversion model to derive soil redistribution rates from inventories of fallout radionuclides. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 162-163, 45–55.
FAO/IAEA; CAN
peer-reviewed article
2018
Mabit, L., Bernard, C., Lee Zhi Yi, A., Fulajtar, L., Dercon, G., Zaman, M., Toloza, A., Heng, L. (2018b). Promoting the use of isotopic techniques to combat soil erosion: an overview of the key role played by the SWMCN Subprogramme of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division over the last 20 years. Land Degradation & Development, 29, 3077–3091.
UK; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2016
Taylor, A., Keith-Roach, M.J., Iurian, A.R., Mabit, L., Blake, W.H. (2016). Temporal variability of beryllium-7 fallout in southwest UK. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 160, 80–86.
SWI; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2017
Alewell, C., Pitois, A., Meusburger, K., Ketterer, M., Mabit, L. (2017). 239+240Pu from “contaminant” to soil erosion tracer: Where do we stand?. Earth-Science Reviews, 172, 107–123.
FAO
FAO Methodological handbook
2017
Fulajtar, E., Mabit, L., Renschler, C.S., Lee Zhi Yi, A. (2017). Use of 137Cs for soil erosion assessment. 76 pages. FAO Publication, Rome. ISBN: 978-92-5-130050-3.
MAG; FAO/IAEA
peer-reviewed article
2016
Rabesiranana, N., Rasolonirina, M., Solonjara, A.F., Ravoson, H.N., Raoelina Andriambololona, Mabit, L. (2016). Assessment of soil redistribution rates by 137Cs and 210Pbex in a typical Malagasy agricultural field. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 152, 112–118.
IAEA
IAEA TECDOC
2018
IAEA. (2018). Soil Moisture Mapping with a Portable Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor. IAEA-TECDOC-1845. IAEA publication.
IRA; FAO/IAEA; ITA
peer-reviewed article
2019
Khodadadi, M., Mabit, L., Zaman, M., Porto, P., Gorji, M. (2019). Using 137Cs and 210Pbex measurements to explore the effectiveness of soil conservation measures in semi-arid lands: a case study in the Kouhin region of Iran. Journal of Soils and Sediments.
ITA
peer-reviewed article
2018
Altieri, V., De Franco, S., Lombardi, F., Marziliano P.A., Menguzzato, G., Porto, P. (2018). The role of silvicultural systems and forest types in preventing soil erosion processes in mountain forests: a methodological approach using cesium-137 measurements. Journal of Soils and Sediments.