44%of steep slope cropland in Europe vulnerable to drought

Steep-slope cropland plays a vital role in food production,economic development,ecosystem diversity,and Eu-ropean cultural heritage.However,these systems are susceptible to extreme weather events.The 2022 summer drought significantly impacted European agriculture,but the specific effects on steep-slope crops remain uncer-tain.Clarifying this is essential for comprehending similar future events and for implementing effective water management strategies to ensure the sustainability of steep-slope agriculture and associated ecosystem services.This study quantitatively analyzes the spatial distribution of twelve major European steep-slope(>12%)crops and assesses agricultural drought severity during the 2022 events using open-access spatial data.The satellite-based Vegetation Health Index(VHI)is utilized to identify critical hotspots.Results show that olive grove is the most widespread crop in steep slope agriculture(34%of total area),followed by wheat(24%),maize(16%),and vineyard(11%).Almost half of the steep-slope agriculture in Europe suffered drought during summer 2022.Vineyards were hardest affected at 79%,primarily in northern Portugal,northern Spain,southern France,and central Italy.Sunflowers followed at 62%,mainly in Spain,central Italy,southern France,and northern Roma-nia.Olive groves ranked third at 59%,with the most impact in northern Portugal,southern and central Spain,and southern Italy.Maize was also significantly affected at 54%.In this paper,we therefore highlight the need to increase steep-slope agriculture resilience by improving water management and promoting sustainable land practices.

EFFECTS OF SUBSTITUTION OF MINERAL NITROGEN WITH ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON NITROGEN LOSS FROM SLOPING CROPLAND OF PURPLE SOIL

Nitrogen loss from purple soil can lead to large negative impacts to the environment considering the wide distribution of this soil type in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.Therefore,nitrogen loss patterns from sloping cropland of purple soil in the Sichuan Basin with the following fertilization regimes were studied in a wheat-maize rotation system:100%organic fertilizer(OM),using pig manure to replace 30%of mineral N(OMNPK)and crop residue to replace 15%of the mineral N(CRNPK)plus standard mineral fertilization(NPK)and no fertilizer control.The cumulative hydrological N loss could be as high as 45 kg·ha^(−1) N.The interflow accounted for up to 90%of the total N loss followed by sediment and overland flow losses.The high N loss via interflow found in this study highlighting that sloping cropland of purple soil may be one of the hot spots of N leaching.Compared to the NPK regime,organic substitution regimes(i.e.,OM,OMNPK and CRNPK)decreased total hydrological N loss loadings by 30%−68%.In addition,they can maintain annual crop yields and decrease yield-scaled total hydrological N losses by 18%−71%.In conclusion,long-term substitution of mineral N with organic amendments can maintain high crop productivity and reduce environmental N loss loadings,and thereby recommended as good N management practices to minimize the risk of agricultural non-point source pollution in the purple soil region of China.