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In Montane Southeast Asia, deforestation and unsuitable combinations of crops and agricultural practices degrade soils at an unprecedented rate. Typically, smallholder farmers gain income from "available" land by replacing fallow or secondary forest by perennial crops. We aimed to understand how these practices increase or reduce soil erosion. Ten land uses were monitored in Northern Laos during the 2015 monsoon, using local farmers' fields. Experiments included plots of the conventional system(food crops and fallow), and land uses corresponding to new market opportunities (e.g. commercial tree plantations). Land uses were characterized by measuring plant cover and plant mean height per vegetation layer. Recorded meteorological variables included rainfall intensity, throughfall amount, throughfall kinetic energy (TKE), and raindrop size. Runoff coefficient, soil loss, and the percentage areas of soil surface types (free aggregates and gravel; crusts; macro-faunal, vegetal and pedestal features; plant litter) were derived from observations and measurements in 1-m(2) micro-plots. Relationships between these variables were explored with multiple regression analyses. Our results indicate that TKE induces soil crusting and soil loss. By reducing rainfall infiltration, crusted area enhances runoff, which removes and transports soil particles detached by splash over non-crusted areas. TKE is lower under land uses reducing the velocity of raindrops and/or preventing an increase in their size. Optimal vegetation structures combine minimum height of the lowest layer (to reduce drop velocity at ground level) and maximum coverage (to intercept the largest amount of rainfall), as exemplified by broom grass (Thysanolaena latifolia). In contrast, high canopies with large leaves will increase TKE by enlarging raindrops, as exemplified by teak trees (Tectona grandis), unless a protective understorey exists under the trees. Policies that ban the burning of multi-layered vegetation structure under tree plantations should be enforced. Shade-tolerant shrubs and grasses with potential economic return could be promoted as understorey.

International audience; Bacterial pathogens in surface waters threaten human health. The health risk is especially high in developing countries where sanitation systems are often lacking or deficient. Considering twelve flash-flood events sampled from 2011 to 2015 at the outlet of a 60-ha tropical montane headwater catchment in Northern Lao PDR, and using Escherichia coli as a fecal indicator bacteria, our objective was to quantify the contributions of both surface runoff and sub-surface flow to the in-stream concentration of E. coli during flood events, by (1) investigating E. coli dynamics during flood events and among flood events and (2) designing and comparing simple statistical and mixing models to predict E. coli concentration in stream flow during flood events. We found that in-stream E. coli concentration is high regardless of the contributions of both surface runoff and sub-surface flow to the flood event. However, we measured the highest concentration of E. coli during the flood events that are predominantly driven by surface runoff. This indicates that surface runoff, and causatively soil surface erosion, are the primary drivers of in-stream E. coli contamination. This was further confirmed by the step-wise regression applied to instantaneous E. coli concentration measured in individual water samples collected during the flood events, and by the three models applied to each flood event (linear model, partial least square model, and mixing model). The three models showed that the percentage of surface runoff in stream flow was the best predictor of the flood event mean E. coli concentration. The mixing model yielded a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.65 and showed that on average, 89% of the in-stream concentration of E. coli resulted from surface runoff, while the overall contribution of surface runoff to the stream flow was 41%. We also showed that stream flow turbidity and E. coli concentration were positively correlated, but that turbidity was not a strong predictor of E. coli concentration during flood events. These findings will help building adequate catchment-scale models to predict E. coli fate and transport, and mapping the related risk of fecal contamination in a global changing context.

The Dixon-Tyree stem hygrometer has hitherto been used primarily indoors in controlled conditions. We used it, and the leaf pressure chamber, to measure water potentials in plantation rubber trees outside in the Cote d’Ivoire (May and September 2004). Measurements of stem and root xylem water potentials were considered to be reliable, provided they complied with technical constraints that we specify. The stem hygrometer is non-destructive if the sensor is well installed, and provides measurements for two to three weeks without intervention, although the initial measurements are sometimes erroneous.

Linear erosion (LE), including rilling and gullying, has been identified as the major problem for sustainable agriculture in steepland areas. It causes severe environmental, economic, and social impacts. This issue is even more crucial in those areas undergoing rapid changes in land use, as for example northern Laos, and may dramatically affect soil conservation. Despite an increasing interest in the sloping lands of tropical areas, field evaluations of LE are still infrequent. Furthermore, the controlling environmental factors of topography, land use, climate and soils at the catchment level are seldom analysed. Our main objective was to quantify the spatial and temporal variations of LE at the catchment level and at a yearly basis. The study was conducted in a 0.62 km 2 watershed of Laos (Luang Prabang province) representative of the slash and burn systems of sloping lands. Linear erosion was monitored from 2001 to 2003 within 9 sub-catchments of differing surface areas, topographic characteristics and land use. The length, depth and width of the linear erosion features were recorded every 5-m from their headcuts to their outlets in order to estimate the total catchment LE. 52 linear features, mainly rills, were formed or developed within the study area with a mean erosion rate of 1.3 Mg ha − 1 y − 1 . LE rates ranged between 0.1 Mg ha − 1 y − 1 in 2003 to 2.4 Mg ha − 1 y − 1 in 2001. LE features mostly occurred within croplands where erosion rates reached 18 Mg ha − 1 y − 1 . In 2001 and 2002 there was a significant correlation between LE and the proportion of the catchment area under crops ( r = 0.88 and r = 0.69, respectively). However this was not the case in 2003 when few rills developed. In 2002 only, LE correlated well with the catchment surface area, the mean slope gradient and the sub-catchment perimeter confirming the non-constancy of LE landscape relation under varying rainstorm conditions. A linear regression model for LE prediction at the catchment level, generated from 2001 data, was able to explain 78% of LE variance for the 9 sub-catchments. However, this model was unable to predict accurately LE for 2002 and 2003 (ME > 5 Mg ha − 1 y − 1 ). This method for quantifying the linear erosion at the catchment level and some of its controlling factors can also be used for prediction over larger areas since topography and land use data, closely correlated with LE, are easily accessible.

The micro-topography of a groundnut plot in Senegal has been recorded over a full cultivation cycle, using an automated device able to measure 16.2 m2 at every 5 cm with an accuracy of 1 mm. Tillage is horse drawn, perpendicular to the general slope, and generates oriented microreliefs. Surface Storage Capacity (SSC) was calculated on both raw and slope-detrended surfaces. Additionally, various boundary conditions (BC) were used: no-wall; three-wall (up, left and right); or mirror (the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) surrounded by eight alternately reversed images of itself). SSC is more affected by these variants than by the variations of microrelief itself. Whatever the calculation method, SSC (as well as random roughness), follows a decreasing exponential with cumulated rainfall, but the coefficients of the exponential differ widely to each other. This suggests that SSC values could be of little use when they are obtained on various slopes, arbitrarily detrended or not, and calculated with arbitrary BC. We suggest a simple geometric model to characterise the way microrelief empties as the slope increases. The model has two calibrated depth-ratio parameters, one in each direction. It gives a more coherent framework for calculation and use of SSC. The model was applied to one of the DEMs of the data set, sampled after the first rain following hoeing. With the mirror-BC and detrended slope, SSC was 3.6 mm. Microrelief was found to behave in the same proportions, when tilted, than a tetrahedral container 94 times wider than deeper in the tillage direction and 11 times perpendicularly. This model represents the volume of surface water that cannot flow in any direction. With three-wall-BC, SSC was 6.7 mm, 1.4 mm remaining on the plot whatever the slope angle, and 5.3 mm behaving the same as a container 69 times wider than deeper. A possible use of this model is illustrated with an attempt to upscale the sampled plot to the watershed to which it belongs.