Check-Dams and Silt Fences: Cost-Effective Methods to Monitor Soil Erosion under Various Disturbances in Forest Ecosystems

The present study was conducted in the suburban forest "Seich Sou", which is located at the north-east of Thessaloniki city (north Greece). "Seich Sou" is one of the most significant suburban forests of North Greece. However, many disastrous events have taken place in the suburban forest during the last 25 years, caused by either human interference or other biotic/abiotic factors, such as insect outbreaks. In the present study, erosion measurements and field data were collected using a combination of silt fences (USLE plots) and depositions retained behind the constructed check-dams, aiming to monitor the impact of the significant biotic and abiotic disturbances (forest fires, insect outbreaks, logging) in Seich Sou forest. Specifically, the aim of this study is to present a cost-effective and time saving methodology towards the achievement of accurate and reliable soil erosion measurements and field data acquisition. Additionally, the installation details, data recording and collection, field work, supplementary materials and the advantages of silt fences and check-dams are presented in detail, as well as the limitations of the methods and the difficulties during the installation, maintenance and data collection period. The proposed methodology could be effectively applied in many environments and in the context of varied purposes, to quantify the erosion and runoff processes with high accuracy, as well as to increase the accuracy of soil erosion modeling performance, through implementation of calibration and/or validation processes, which is a major issue for the scientific community.