Long-term monitoring of soil management effects on runoff and soil erosion in sloping vineyards in Alto Monferrato (North–West Italy)

• Highest runoff and soil losses were measured in autumn.
• Grass cover was very effective in reducing soil losses in summer, but not in autumn.
• Adoption of tillage for more than 8 years caused increasing runoff and soil erosion.

Long-term runoff and soil erosion data have been collected from differently managed field-scale vineyard plots within the “Tenuta Cannona Experimental Vine and Wine Center of Regione Piemonte”, located in the Alto Monferrato vine production area (NW Italy). The primary intent of the program was to evaluate the effects of agricultural management practices on the hydrologic, soil erosion, nutrient transport and soil compaction processes in vineyards. Field runoff data have been collected for every event since the year 2000 until now. Sediment and nutrient concentrations in water have been also monitored. Regarding soil properties and initial conditions, surveys have been carried out to investigate spatial and temporal variability of soil bulk density, soil saturated conductivity, soil water content, and penetration resistance. The Cannona Data Base (CDB) includes data for more than 300 runoff events and over 90 soil loss events; moreover, periodic measurements for soil physical characteristics are included for the three plots.Runoff and sediment yield showed high annual and seasonal variability and were strongly affected by the adoption of different soil management in the vineyard inter-rows, especially after some years of observation. Grass cover reduced runoff by at least 37%, in comparison with management by tillage, and average annual sediment yield ranged from 1.8 Mg ha−1 year−1 to 20.7 Mg ha−1 year−1, respectively for the “grass covered” and the “reduced tillage” vineyards. Furthermore, results showed the effect of the adopted soil management on soil properties. The Cannona Data base (CDB) can be accessed via a website (http://sustag.to.cnr.it/index.php/cannona-db) supported by the IMAMOTER-CNR.