Abstract

CASTRO-VILLARREAL, Jorge Alberto; CABRERA-RODRIGUEZ, Juan Adriano  and  VILLARREAL-NUNEZ, José Ezequiel. Soil loss evaluated by the USLE method in the Estibana river sub- basin, Panama. Acta Agron. [online]. 2022, vol.71, n.4, pp.369-376.  Epub Apr 10, 2024. ISSN 0120-2812.  https://doi.org/10.15446/acag.v71n4.108071.

Soil loss due to erosion is one of the main forms of soil degradation. The objective of this research was to determine soil loss due to water erosion over time in the Estibana river sub-basin by implementing the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). For this purpose, rainfall data from records of eleven- years were used, and soil sampling, slope measurements and vegetation cover assessments were carried out. Three areas with different slopes were selected within the sub-basin, in each one, a trial with three blocks and three treatments was established: natural cover (NC), no cover + live barrier with Chrysopogon zizanioides (WC+LB), and no cover (WC). The research was divided into two stages, the first in the field, where soil sampling and vegetation cover assessment were carried out, while the second covered laboratory work, data analysis and interpretation. It was determined that, in the sub-basin, the estimated soil loss ranged from 0.021 - 70.67 t ha-1 year-1 and that WC on slopes >6% exceeded the tolerable rate of soil loss.

Keywords : vegetation cover; erosion; slope; conservation practices; rainfall; USLE.

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