Articles | Volume 12, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-93-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-93-2026
Review article
 | 
03 Feb 2026
Review article |  | 03 Feb 2026

Soil erosion in Mediterranean olive groves: a review

Andrés Peñuela, Emilio Jesús González-Sánchez, and Filippo Milazzo

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Cited articles

Álvarez, S., Soriano, M. A., Landa, B. B., and Gómez, J. A.: Soil properties in organic olive groves compared with that in natural areas in a mountainous landscape in southern Spain, Soil Use Manag., 23, 404–416, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-2743.2007.00104.x, 2007. 
Amate, J. I., De Molina, M. G., Vanwalleghem, T., Fernández, D. S., and Gómez, J. A.: Erosion in the Mediterranean: The Case of Olive Groves in the South of Spain (1752–2000), Environ. Hist., 18, 360–382, https://doi.org/10.1093/envhis/emt001, 2013. 
Bingner, R. and Theurer, F.: AnnAGNPS: estimating sediment yield by particle size for sheet and rill erosion, in: Proceedings of the 7th Interagency Sedimentation Conference, 2001. 
Boix-Fayos, C., Martínez-Mena, M., Arnau-Rosalén, E., Calvo-Cases, A., Castillo, V., and Albaladejo, J.: Measuring soil erosion by field plots: Understanding the sources of variation, Earth-Sci. Rev., 78, 267–285, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2006.05.005, 2006. 
Bombino, G., Denisi, P., Gómez, J. A., and Zema, D. A.: Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves, Int. Soil Water Conserv. Res., 9, 26–36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2020.10.002, 2021. 
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Short summary
Olive groves face severe soil erosion, threatening their sustainability. This study reviewed existing research to understand how and why erosion happens and why results often seem contradictory. We found that: (a) differences mostly come from how and where erosion is measured, not from disagreement about the problem and (b) soil management is decisive. Keeping the ground covered with vegetation consistently cuts soil loss by over half. This urges the adoption of soil conservation practices.
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