A long-term soil erosion modeling example in Central Europe over the last 150 years.

Land use and climate change are the main anthropogenic factors influencing soil erosion (Borrelli et al., 2020), the former providing instant and abrupt effects. This justifies the profusion of related studies and their relevance in providing support for public policies. Europe acknowledges this importance, as the 8th EAP includes the goal of no net land take by 2050. The Rimov catchment, in the southern part of the Czech Republic and partly in Austria, has undergone many land use changes in the region over the last 150 years. It has undergone two opposing processes in terms of their contribution to soil erosion potential: on one hand, agricultural land has been left for spontaneous vegetation recovery (therefore, reducing its potential for soil erosion); on the other hand, the enlargement of parcel size after the collectivization of agriculture has the potential to increase soil erosion. In addition, long-term soil erosion modeling should consider the effect of the change in the rain erosivity factor (R-factor), with the calibration of the model done with the rainfall data covering the study period, which will be considered on the hydrological modeling prior to the soil erosion modeling in this study. Using the WATEM/Sedem model, we analyze whether the regeneration of vegetation has been enough to counteract the effects of an increasing R-factor in the Rimov catchment. Research has been supported by project TUDI (European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101000224) and by Program CELSA-fonds (Project The impact of depopulation on ecosystem services in Europe. A Pilot study in France, Czech Republic, and Poland No 3E220627) References The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, Decision (EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022D0591, 2022 Borrelli, P., Robinson, D. A., Panagos, P., Lugato, E., Yang, J. E., Alewell, C., Wuepper, D., Montanarella, L., & Ballabio, C. (2020). Land use and climate change impacts on global soil erosion by water (2015-2070). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(36), 21994–22001. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001403117