Soil erosion induced by land use changes as determined by plough marks and field evidence in the Aksum area (Ethiopia)

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

Volumn 146, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 197-208

  Ciampalini, Rossano ^a   Billi, Paolo ^b   Ferrari, Giovanni ^c   Borselli, Lorenzo ^d   Follain, Stéphane ^a  

^a UMR LISAH   (France)

^b UNIVERSITY OF FERRARA   (Italy)

^c UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE   (Italy)

^d UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE SAN LUIS POTOSÍ   (Mexico)

Author keywords

Aksum; Ethiopia; Land management; Plough marks; Soil erosion; Terracing

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE; CALIBRATION; EROSION RATE; GRAZING; HISTORICAL RECORD; LAND MANAGEMENT; LAND USE CHANGE; PLOWING; SOIL ANALYSIS; SOIL CONSERVATION; SOIL EROSION; TERRACING; WEATHERING;

AKSUM; ETHIOPIA;

BOS;

EID: 82455192473     PISSN: 01678809     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2011.11.006     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. Alcamo J., Moreno J.M., Nováky B., Bindi M., Corobov R., Devoy R.J.N., Giannakopoulos C., Martin E., Olesen J.E., Shvidenko A. Europe. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007, 541-580. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden, C.E. Hanson (Eds.).
2. Bard K.A., Coltorti M., DiBlasi M.C., Dramis F., Fattovich R. Environmental history of Tigray (northern Ethiopia) in the Middle and Late Holocene: a preliminary outline. African Archaeological Review 2000, 17:65-85.
3. Beccaluva, L. Personal communication. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy.
4. Bereket K. Land reform, distribution of land and institutions in rural Ethiopia: analysis of inequality with dirty data. Journal of African Economies 2008, 17:550-577.
5. Blum W.E.H. Soil degradation caused by industrialization and urbanisation. Towards Sustainable Land Use, Advances in Geoecology 1998, 31(1):755-766.
6. Boardman J. Soil erosion science: reflections on the limitations of current approaches. Catena 2006, 68:73-86.
7. Borselli L., Pellegrini S., Torri D., Bazzoffi P. Tillage erosion and land levelling: evidence in Tuscany (Italy). Proceedings of the 3th International Congress of the European Society for Soil Conservation " man and soil at third millenium" 2002, 1341-1350. J.L. Rubio, R.P.C. Morgan, S. Asins, V. Andreu (Eds.).
8. Brhane G., Mekonen K. Estimating soil loss using Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for soil conservation planning at Medego Watershed, Northern Ethiopia. Journal of American Science 2009, 5:58-69.
9. Butzer K.W. Rise and fall of Axum, Ethiopia: a geo-archaeological interpretation. American Antiquity 1981, 46:472-495.
10. Ciampalini, R., Manzo, A., Perlingieri, C. and Sernicola, L., 2006. Landscape archaeology and GIS for the eco-cultural heritage management of the Aksum region, Ethiopia. In: Forte, M., and Campana, S. (Eds), From space to place: second international conference on remote sensing in archaeology. Proceedings of the Second International Workshop, CNR, December 4-7 2006, Rome. BAR International Series 1568, Oxford, pp. 219-226.
11. Ciampalini R., Billi P., Ferrari G., Borselli L. Plough marks as a tool to assess soil erosion rates: a case study in Axum (Ethiopia). Catena 2008, 75:18-27.
12. Cremaschi M. The rock varnish in the MessakSettafet (Fezzan Libyan Sahara), age, archaeological context, and paleo-environmental implication. Geoarchaeology 1996, 11:393-421.
13. D'Andrea A.C., Richards M.P., Pavlish L.A., Wood S., Manzo A., Wolde-Kiros H.S. Stable isotopic analysis of human and animal diets from two pre-Aksumite/Proto-Aksumite archaeological sites in northern Ethiopia. Journal of Archaeological Science 2011, 38(2):367-374.
14. Dramis F., Umer M., Calderoni G., Haile M. Holocene climate phases from buried soils in Tigray (northern Ethiopia): comparison with lake level fluctuations in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Quaternary Research 2003, 60:274-283.
15. Desta G., Nyssen J., Poesen J., Deckers J., Haile Mitiku, Govers G., Moeyersons J. Effectiveness of stone bunds in controlling soil erosion on cropland in the Tigray Highlands, northern Ethiopia. Soil Use and Management 2005, 21:287-297.
16. EEA Down to earth: soil degradation and sustainable development in Europe. A challenge for the 21st century. United Nation Convention Fourth Conference of the Parties Bonn 2000.
17. Fattovich R. The peopling of the Tigray Plateau in ancient and medieval times (ca. 4000 B.C. - A.D. 1500): evidences and synthesis. Environmental History of Human Ecology on Northern Ethiopia in the Late Holocene 1997, 81-105. Istituto Universitario Orientale, Napoli. K.A. Bard (Ed.).
18. Fattovich R. Archaeology and Historical Dynamics: the Case of BietaGiyorgis (Aksum), Ethiopia. Annali dell'Istituto Universitario Orientale 1997, 57:46-79.
19. Fattovich, R., Bard, K.A., Detrassi, L., Pisano, V., 2000. The Axum archaeological area: A preliminary assessment. Ist. Univ. Orientale, Dip. Di Studi e Ricerche su Africa e Paesi Arabi. Working Paper 1.
20. Fattovich R. The development of ancient states in the Northern Horn of Africa, c. 3000 BC-AD, 1000. An archaeological outline. Journal of World Prehistory 2010, 23(3):145-175.
21. Follain S., Minasny B., McBratney A.B., Walter C. Simulation of soil thickness evolution in a complex agricultural landscape at fine spatial and temporal scales. Geoderma 2006, 133:71-86.
22. French C., Sulas F., Madella M. Newgeoarchaeological investigations of the valley systems in the Aksum area of northern Ethiopia. Catena 2009, 78:218-233.
23. Gebregziabher S., Mouazen A.M., Van Brussel H., Ramon H., Nyssen J., Verplancke H., Behailu M., Deckersf J., De Baerdemaeker J. Animal drawn tillage: the Ethiopian ard plough, maresha: a review. Soil and Tillage Research 2006, 89:129-143.
24. Hagos M., Koeberl C., Kabeto K., Koller F. Geochemical characteristics of the alkaline basalts and the phonolite-trachyte plugs of the Axum area, northern Ethiopia. Austrian Journal of Earth Science 2010, 103(2):153-170.
25. Hurni H. Erosion-productivity-conservation systems in Ethiopia. Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Soil Conservation 1985, 654-674.
26. IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R.K., Reisinger, A. (Eds.)). IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 104 pp.
27. Li S., Lobb D.A., Tiessen K.H.D. Modeling tillage-induced morphological features in cultivated landscapes. Soil and Tillage Research 2009, 103(1):33-45.
28. Liu T., Broecker W.S. How fast does rock varnish grow?. Geology 2000, 28:183-186.
29. Marcus H.G. A History of Ethiopia 1994, University of California Press, Berkeley.
30. Merla G., Abbate E., Azzaroli A., Bruni P., Canuti P., Mazzuoli M., Sagri M., Sacconi P. A Geological Map of Ethiopia and Somalia 1:2.000.000 and Comment 1979, University of Florence, Italy.
31. Michels J.W. Changing Settlement Patterns in the Aksum-Yeha Region of Ethiopia: 700 BC - AD 850. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 2005, British Archaeological Reports (BAR), Oxford.
32. Morgan R.P.C. Soil Erosion and Conservation 2005, Blackwells Publishing, UK.
33. Munsell-Color, 2000. Munsell soil color charts. Baltimore, MD, 22.
34. Nigussie H., Poesen J., Nyssen J., Verstraeten G., de Vente J., Govers G., Deckers S., Moeyersons J. Specific sediment yield in Tigray-Northern Ethiopia: assessment and semi-quantitative modelling. Geomorphology 2005, 69:315-331.
35. Nyssen J., Poesen J., Haile M., Moeyersons J., Deckers J. Tillage erosion on slopes with soil conservation structures in the Ethiopian highlands. Soil and Tillage Research 2000, 57:115-127.
36. Nyssen J., Haile M., Poesen J., Deckers J., Moeyersons J. Removal of rock fragments and its effect on soil loss and crop yield, Tigray, Ethiopia. Soil Use and Management 2001, 17:179-187.
37. Nyssen J., Poesen J., Moeyersons J., Deckers J., Haile M., Lang A. Human impact on the environment in the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands-a state of the art. Earth-Science Reviews 2004, 64(3-4):273-320.
38. Nyssen J., Naudts J., De Geyndt K., Haile M., Poesen J., Moeyersons J., Deckers J. Soils and land use in the Tigray highlands (Northern Ethiopia). Land Degradation & Development 2008, 19:257-274.
39. Nyssen J., Govaerts B., Araya T., Cornelis W.M., Bauer H., Haile M., Sayre K., Deckers J. The use of the marashaard plough for conservation agriculture in Northern Ethiopia. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 2010, 1-11.
40. Phillips J.D. Evolutionary geomorphology: thresholds and nonlinearity in landform response to environmental change. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2006, 10:731-742.
41. Phillips J.D Deterministic chaos and historical geomorphology: a review and look forward. Geomorphology 2006, 76:109-121.
42. Phillipson, D.W., 2000, Archaeology at Aksum, Ethiopia, 1993-7, Society of Antiquaries, London.
43. PSIAC, 1968. Factors affecting sediment yield and selection and evaluation of measures for the reduction of erosion and sediment yield. Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee (PSIAC) report of the water management subcommittee, 27.
44. Pulleman M.M., Bouma J., van Essen E.A., Meijles E.W. Soil organic matter content as a function of different land use history. Soil Science Society of America Journal 2000, 64:689-693.
45. Sacchi R., MulugetaAlene, Barbieri M., Conti A. On the Palaeozoic Tillite of the Adigrat Group (Tigrai Ethiopia). Periodico di mineralogia 2007, 76(2-3):241-251. 10.2451/2007PM0027.
46. Schmid T., Koch M., DiBlasi M., Hagos M. Spatial and spectral analysis of soil surface properties for an archaeological area in Aksum, Ethiopia, applying high and medium resolution data. Catena 2008, 75:93-101.
47. Sernicola, L. 2008. Il modello d'insediamento sull'altopiano tigrino (Etiopia settentrionale/Eritrea centrale) in epoca Pre-Aksumita e Aksumita (ca. 700 A.C.-800 D.C.). Uncontributo da Aksum. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of African and Arabian Studies, University of Naples, Naples.
48. Van Oost K., Cerdan O., Quine T.A. Accelerated sediment fluxes by water and tillage erosion on European agricultural land. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 2009, 34:1625-1634.