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Among the soil conservation practices that are used, mulching has been successfully applied to reduce soil and water losses in different contexts, such as agricultural lands, fire-affected areas, rangelands and anthropic sites. In these contexts, soil erosion by water is a serious problem, especially in semi-arid and semi-humid areas of the world. Although the beneficial effects of mulching are known, further research is needed to quantify them, especially in areas where soil erosion by water represents a severe threat. In the literature, there are still some uncertainties about how to maximize the effectiveness of mulching to reduce the soil and water loss rates. Given the seriousness of soil erosion by water and the uncertainties that are still associated with the correct use of mulching, this study review aims to (i) develop a documented and global database on the use of mulching with vegetative residues; (ii) quantify the effects of mulching on soil and water losses based on different measurement methods and, consequently, different spatial scales; (iii) evaluate the effects of different types of mulches on soil and water losses based on different measurement methods; and (iv) provide suggestions for more sustainable soil management. The data published in the literature have been collected. The results showed the beneficial effects of mulching in combating soil erosion by water in all of the environments considered here, with reduction rates in the average sediment concentration, soil loss and runoff volume that, in some cases, exceeded 90%. However, the economic feasibility of mulching application was not readily available in the literature. Therefore, more research should be performed to help both farmers and land managers by providing them with evidence-based means for implementing more sustainable soil management practices.

Soil water erosion on cultivated lands represents a severe threat to soil resources in the world, and especially in Mediterranean areas, due to their topographic, edaphic and climatic conditions. Among the cultivated lands, vineyards deserve a particular attention because, aside representing one of the most important crops in terms of income and employment, they also have proven to be the form of agricultural use that causes one of the highest soil losses. Although the topic of soil water erosion on vineyards has been studied, it still raises uncertainties, due to the high variability of procedures for data acquisition, which consists into different scales of analysis and measurement methods. There is still a great gap in knowledge about the effect of triggering factors on soil water erosion and, so far, an effort to quantify this effect on the Mediterranean viticulture has not been made yet. Therefore, this paper review aims to (i) develop a documented database on splash, sheet and rill erosion rates in Mediterranean vineyards, (ii) identify and, if possible, quantify the effect of triggering factors such as topography, soil properties, rainfall characteristics and soil conservation techniques on soil water erosion, and (iii) provide suggestions for a more sustainable viticulture. Although the large variability of data, some general trends between erosion rates and triggering factors could be found, as long as data were categorized according to the same measurement method. However, no general rule upon which to consider one triggering factor always predominant over the others came out. This paper review supports the importance of monitoring soil water erosion by field measurements to better understand the relationship between the factors. However, protocols should be established for standardizing the procedure of collecting data and reporting results to enable data comparison among different study areas.

One of the most important human–landscape interactions in the Anthropocene is the creation of reclamation landscapes. However, over the past half-century, reclamation networks have changed due to more intense urban and agricultural land use. These transformations imply a number of serious hydraulic dysfunctions, underlined by the recent floods affecting the floodplains in Europe. This study investigates the evidence and effects of these changes in a small area in Veneto (Italy). We analyzed the network drainage density and storage capacity, considering that they are the main requirements for hydraulic infrastructures and that the storage of water is crucial for any water management strategy. The effects of the network transformations were investigated using the Network Saturation Index (NSI) that quantifies how fast an area is saturated by a design rainfall. Over the past half-century, the study site witnessed a drastic reduction of the storage volume, resulting in shorter times for saturation especially for storm events having a shorter return period and for events that were less critical in the past. For our case study, climatic evidence shows that the rainfall regime is highly irregular, with intense events taking an increasing role in determining the total precipitation over the past half-century. Considering this climatic trend that cannot be controlled, our study suggests to carefully plan the changes in the drainage networks, as these changes might seriously constrain the functionality of the reclamation system, especially for rather frequent rainfall events not necessarily associated with extreme meteorological conditions or with the worst case scenarios.