Soil erosion as a function of different agricultural land use in Rio de Janeiro

• Erosion plots are used to collect runoff and sediment yield.
• Erosion is monitored and correlated in four different land management areas.
• Rotary tillers impact the physical properties of the soil.
• Alternative small-scale livestock system for pastures can restore degraded land.
• Excessive tillage in olericulture accelerates erosion processes.

Accelerated erosion in the mountainous agricultural area of Rio de Janeiro has caused significant environmental degradation and financial loss. Consequently, quantifying and analyzing soil erosion under different agricultural systems in the region is essential for adoption of specific and effective soil conservation practices. Gerlach-type runoff-erosion plots were used to collect runoff and measure sediment yield from four different land management areas (olericulture with conventional tillage, pasture, forest restoration system and native rainforest). Physicochemical analyses, soil profile description and permeability assays were employed to reveal the erosive processes. Soil water retention curves were used to infer soil pore size distribution, which affects permeability and runoff. We observed that erosion increases with conventional tillage practices, as was revealed in the experimental olericulture plot, where erosion of 14,779 kg ha−1 was measured in the period of March 2008–January 2009, compared with only 4.5 kg ha−1 in the pasture plot in the same period, mainly because of the decrease in soil particle cohesion and infiltration in association with poor vegetation cover.