Soil conservation at the gully plot scale in the tropical volcanic landscape of Sumbing

Abstract

Gully erosion has the ability to transport enormous amounts of soil material, which can degrade tropical volcanic landscapes as the highest potential of agricultural land. It is critical to understand gully erosion control activities in order to reduce the initiation and development of gully erosion. The goals of this study were to: 1) classify the different forms of gully control; 2) pinpoint the advantages and disadvantages of the gully control system; and 3) suggest forthcoming changes to gully erosion control systems in tropical volcanic landscapes. Field surveys employing random sampling were used to collect data on gully erosion points and control system. The findings of the study were explained using exploratory descriptive analysis. The research findings demonstrate that gully erosion control was accomplished through biological (vegetative), mechanical and combination methods, which were classified into nine categories. While mechanical methods have benefits in terms of strength in slowing the rate of gully growth, biological systems have advantages in terms of cost and energy. Adopting a continuous live wicker and wicker check dam system might assist in preventing cracks in the gully dimension. This study's findings can potentially reduce gully erosion susceptibility for local communities and are expected to be implemented globally in settings with similar features. Further research could be conducted on multiple tropical volcanoes with comparable issues in order to improve the performance of research results.

Keywords

• soil conservation
• gully erosion
• plot scale
• tropical volcanoes