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Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe: The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climate adaptation

Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe: The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climate adaptation
Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe: The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climate adaptation
Terraces and lynchets are ubiquitous worldwide and can provide increasingly important Ecosystem Services (ESs), which may be able to mitigate aspects of climate change. They are also a major cause of non-linearity between climate and erosion rates in agricultural systems as noted from alluvial and colluvial studies. New research in the ‘critical zone’ has shown that we must now treat soil production as an ecologically sensitive variable with implications for soil carbon sequestration. In this review and synthesis paper we present a modified classification of agricultural terraces, review the theoretical background of both terraces and lynchets, and show how new techniques are transforming the study of these widespread and often ancient anthropogenic landforms. The problems of dating terraces and the time-consuming nature of costly surveys have held back the geomorphological and geoarchaeological study of terraces until now. The suite of techniques now available, and reviewed here, includes Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) - Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (ALS-TLS); optically stimulated luminescence (OSL and pOSL), portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), Fourier-transform infra-red analysis (FTIR), phytoliths from plants, and potentially environmental DNA. Three process-related geomorphological questions arise from using this suite of methods; a) can they provide both a chronology of formation and use history, b) can we identify the sources of all the soil components? c) Can terrace soil formation and ecosystem services be modelled at the slope to catchment scale? The answers to these questions can also inform the management of the large areas of abandoned and under-used terraces that are resulting from both the economics of farming and rural population changes. Where possible, examples are drawn from a recently started ERC project (TerrACE; ERC-2018-2023; https://www.terrace.no/) that is working at over 15 sites in Europe ranging from Norway to Greece.
Erosion, Agricultural Soils, Soil Formation, Geomorphic History
0169-555X
1-20
Brown, Antony
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Fallu, Daniel
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Walsh, Kevin
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Cucchiaro, Sara
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Tarolli, Paolo
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Zhao, Pengzhi
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Pears, Benjamin
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Van Oost, Kristof
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Snape, Lisa
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Lang, Andreas
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Albert, Rosa-Maria
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Alsos, Inger G.
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Waddington, Clive
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Brown, Antony
c51f9d3e-02b0-47da-a483-41c354e78fab
Fallu, Daniel
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Walsh, Kevin
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Cucchiaro, Sara
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Tarolli, Paolo
2126b078-784e-4444-9bf1-2a2dffdb8e38
Zhao, Pengzhi
4aa7e133-ec83-4558-ad6b-593a23ee6301
Pears, Benjamin
36d04a0f-6948-4e68-8f60-3a2a54d70bd0
Van Oost, Kristof
ed4dab60-92c1-4fa4-b98e-49af41bbaa16
Snape, Lisa
d7048da5-96fd-4a20-a3b6-35a04332b005
Lang, Andreas
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Albert, Rosa-Maria
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Alsos, Inger G.
88244b90-b66f-4271-9064-db0544dec568
Waddington, Clive
07de8407-b45c-4a16-8db1-ad951a4776de

Brown, Antony, Fallu, Daniel, Walsh, Kevin, Cucchiaro, Sara, Tarolli, Paolo, Zhao, Pengzhi, Pears, Benjamin, Van Oost, Kristof, Snape, Lisa, Lang, Andreas, Albert, Rosa-Maria, Alsos, Inger G. and Waddington, Clive (2021) Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe: The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climate adaptation. Geomorphology, 379, 1-20, [379]. (doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107579).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Terraces and lynchets are ubiquitous worldwide and can provide increasingly important Ecosystem Services (ESs), which may be able to mitigate aspects of climate change. They are also a major cause of non-linearity between climate and erosion rates in agricultural systems as noted from alluvial and colluvial studies. New research in the ‘critical zone’ has shown that we must now treat soil production as an ecologically sensitive variable with implications for soil carbon sequestration. In this review and synthesis paper we present a modified classification of agricultural terraces, review the theoretical background of both terraces and lynchets, and show how new techniques are transforming the study of these widespread and often ancient anthropogenic landforms. The problems of dating terraces and the time-consuming nature of costly surveys have held back the geomorphological and geoarchaeological study of terraces until now. The suite of techniques now available, and reviewed here, includes Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) - Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (ALS-TLS); optically stimulated luminescence (OSL and pOSL), portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), Fourier-transform infra-red analysis (FTIR), phytoliths from plants, and potentially environmental DNA. Three process-related geomorphological questions arise from using this suite of methods; a) can they provide both a chronology of formation and use history, b) can we identify the sources of all the soil components? c) Can terrace soil formation and ecosystem services be modelled at the slope to catchment scale? The answers to these questions can also inform the management of the large areas of abandoned and under-used terraces that are resulting from both the economics of farming and rural population changes. Where possible, examples are drawn from a recently started ERC project (TerrACE; ERC-2018-2023; https://www.terrace.no/) that is working at over 15 sites in Europe ranging from Norway to Greece.

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Brown, A.G. et al. 2021 Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe. The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climatic adaptation - Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 15 December 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 January 2021
Keywords: Erosion, Agricultural Soils, Soil Formation, Geomorphic History

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 454976
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454976
ISSN: 0169-555X
PURE UUID: 83538909-6192-4256-ae47-7a0458d9da96
ORCID for Antony Brown: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1990-4654

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Date deposited: 03 Mar 2022 17:33
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:09

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Contributors

Author: Antony Brown ORCID iD
Author: Daniel Fallu
Author: Kevin Walsh
Author: Sara Cucchiaro
Author: Paolo Tarolli
Author: Pengzhi Zhao
Author: Benjamin Pears
Author: Kristof Van Oost
Author: Lisa Snape
Author: Andreas Lang
Author: Rosa-Maria Albert
Author: Inger G. Alsos
Author: Clive Waddington

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