The soil erosion paradox re‐examined: alluviation and land use history in a small British lowland river catchment in the late Holocene

Abstract

Modern studies show that soil erosion results in a loss of ecosystem function, particularly fertility, and is a cause of declining agricultural yields. However, despite the well-attested high rates of soil erosion across Roman and medieval Europe there appears to have been little or no soil-associated decline in agricultural production—the soil erosion paradox. Small low-slope erodible lowland catchments offer the opportunity to examine this question when sufficient historical information is available. Here, we show that, since its disconnection from the main River Severn (UK) floodplain in the mid-Holocene, the small Hatfield Brook catchment experienced high rates of soil erosion and alluviation (~2 mm year−1) associated with extensive catchment-bound open-field system agrarianism. Scientific and historical data both indicate increases in activity during the early medieval and medieval periods, associated with landscape control by the Bishopric of Worcester (BoW). Agricultural expansion by the church from the late 11th to mid-13th centuries AD extended further into lower valley slopes and alluviated flatlands, tilled using the heavy plough, and catchment hinterlands were further cleared of woodland via assarting, all leading to greater soil erosion. After AD 1250, the power and influence of the Bishopric of Worcester declined with arable cultivation and a move towards pastoralism leading to a reduction in soil erosion, increased slope stability and floodplain deposition. This suggests that in the low-relief erodible lowlands of Europe one solution to the erosion paradox is that most of the sediment generated by open-field cultivation was trapped in the basin and created new, flat, and highly productive agricultural land producing both a sustainable farming system and a non-linearity in the relationship between population and soil erosion. Further modelling-based research is needed though to identify the relative role of the manipulation of fertility through manuring and new land-creation.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Ben Pears: orcid.org/0000-0002-2124-2514

ORCID for Tony Brown: orcid.org/0000-0002-1990-4654

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