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Early cultivation and bioturbation cause high long-term soil erosion rates
in tropical forests: OSL based evidence from Ghana
Henrik Breuning-Madsen a,, Jeppe grd Kristensen a, Theodore W. Awadzi b, Andrew S. Murray c
a
Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
b
Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
c
Nordic Luminescence Laboratory, Aarhus University, Risoe Campus, Roskilde, Denmark
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Soil erosion in forests is often considered negligible or minimal. In some tropical forest ecosystems, however, the
Received 4 April 2016 combination of continuous surface exposure of ne soil particles at the upper slope by soil macrofauna and epi-
Received in revised form 26 October 2016 sodic precipitation can cause considerable downslope soil transport, and the introduction of slash and burn agri-
Accepted 7 December 2016
culture is often found to speed up soil erosion even more. Here we, for the rst time, use OSL dating to quantify
Available online xxxx
the long-term soil erosion rate along a hillslope in the moist semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. During the last
Keywords:
~ 45000 years about 100 cm of sediment has accumulated at an approximately constant rate of ~ 0.13
Bioturbation 0.21 mm year1 (1.953.15 t ha1 year1). This is about an order of magnitude higher than literature estimates
Soil erosion from similar environments, primarily obtained using short-term experimental setups; this suggests that care
Early cultivation should be taken when extrapolating short-term erosion estimates to centennial or millennial timescales. We fur-
OSL dating ther deduce that an apparent acceleration in erosion began ~4500 years ago. This may be due to the introduction
Tropical semi-deciduous forest of cultivation in the area, slightly earlier than previously suggested (28003500 years ago). In this case the ero-
Ghana sion rate based on deposition below 100 cm (~0.05 mm year1) can be taken to represent the (natural) erosion
rate without human inuence; this value is consistent with literature estimates. More retrospective studies of soil
erosion rates are needed in order to conrm the validity of our methodology and results, as well as to test the re-
liability of extrapolated short-term erosion estimates.
2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction studies in forests last 35 years. Thus, there is a strong need for long-
term estimates of soil erosion to validate the reliability of extrapolation
Soil erosion is a main cause of soil degradation around the world, not of short-term results. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is
least in the humid tropics (Labriere et al., 2015). It is typically assumed increasingly applied to study past landscape response to climate and
to be very small or even non-existent under dense natural forest vege- land use change by dating foot-slope deposits (reviewed in Fuchs and
tation (Garcia-Ruiz et al., 2015). However, in some tropical forest eco- Lang, 2009). It integrates soil erosion over hundreds to thousands of
systems the continuous exposure of readily erodible sediment to the years, and can thus provide a real long-term estimate.
surface by termite and ant activity (Awadzi et al., 2004; Lobry de Land use change due to human activity, primarily crop cultivation, is
Bruyn and Conacher, 1990; Nye, 1955) has long been believed to known to increase soil erosion substantially (e.g. Fuchs and Lang, 2009;
cause considerable erosion from upper slopes to foot slopes (e.g. Ahn, Labriere et al. 2015). Unfortunately there is little rm evidence
1970; Nye, 1954). However, only relatively few estimates of long-term constraining the introduction of crop cultivation in West Africa.
forest soil erosion rates exists, the great majority on short timescales Adekola (2011) concludes that yam and oil palms were likely the rst
(b 3 years, Garcia-Ruiz et al., 2015; Labriere et al., 2015). A recent soil crops to be cultivated in forested areas of West Africa, as these are native
erosion meta-analysis (Garcia-Ruiz et al., 2015) shows that there is a to the region and still are some of the most important crops for domestic
correlation between the estimated mean annual erosion rates and the purposes. He suggests that the occurrence of stone axes from about
duration of the studies, indicating that extrapolation of short-term ex- 5000 years BCE indicates use of the oil palm as a crop. Nonetheless,
periments tend to overestimate the long-term erosion rates. This analy- most other botanical and archaeological evidence suggest that the
sis also showed that wet tropical environments are underrepresented in major introduction of slash and burn cultivation was not until ~ 3
soil erosion studies. According to Labriere et al. (2015) meta-analysis of 4000 years ago (Adekola, 2011; Sowunmi, 1985, Stahl, 1993). Thus it
soil erosion studies in the humid tropics, the majority of the soil erosion is not clear when, or even if, human use of the landscape began to mod-
ify erosion rates in tropical forest ecosystems in West Africa.
Corresponding author at: Oester Voldgade 10, DK 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark. The aim of this study is to quantify the deposition rate at a foot slope
E-mail address: hbm@ign.ku.dk (H. Breuning-Madsen). in the semi-deciduous tropical forest zone of Ghana. By dating sediment
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.12.002
0341-8162/ 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
H. Breuning-Madsen et al. / Catena 151 (2017) 130136 131
samples collected in relatively high vertical resolution in a foot slope soil mainly falling from March to mid-July (major rainy season) and from
pit, we estimated the long-term erosion rate (inverse of the deposition September to November (minor rainy season). There is a major drought
rate). Changes in deposition rate and implications for extrapolation of period in DecemberFebruary where some of the trees lose their leaves.
short-term erosion estimates are discussed. Annual potential evapotranspiration is about 1400 mm, and the annual
actual evapotranspiration is about 1200 mm (Christensen and Awadzi,
1.1. The study site 2000). The soil moisture regime is udic and the soil temperature regime
is isohyperthermic (Soil Survey Staff, 1998; Van Wambeke, 1982).
The study site is located at the University of Ghana Agricultural Re- Christensen and Awadzi (2000) estimated that up to 15% of the precip-
search Station, Kade (6 05N; 0 55W) in the moist semi-deciduous for- itation runs off on the surface, which is thought to provide the main
est zone in Ghana (Fig. 1). The climate is humid tropical and the average down-slope transport process.
annual temperature is about 28 C with a difference between the coldest The studied catena is located in an approximately 50 ha patch of rel-
(August) and the warmest month (March) of b5 C. The rainfall pattern atively undisturbed forest. The study site has been a protected forest
is bimodal with a mean annual rainfall of ~ 1400 mm (Wills, 1962), since the beginning of the 20th century (Nye, 1961) and the vegetation
Fig. 1. Location of the study area, University of Ghana Agricultural Research Station, Kad, and the dominant agroecological zones of Ghana.
Modied from Awadzi et al. (2004).
132 H. Breuning-Madsen et al. / Catena 151 (2017) 130136
Fig. 2. Schematic presentation of the catena. The arrows show the location of the soil pits.
Modied from Awadzi et al. (2004).
H. Breuning-Madsen et al. / Catena 151 (2017) 130136 133
Table 2
Multigrain and adjusted OSL ages from the lower slope soil prole (Haplic Lixisol). The er-
rors show 1 standard error, n is the number of replicates and w.c. is the soil water content
used for the age calculation.
cm Gy Gy ka1 % ka ka
Fig. 5. Multigrain (MG) OSL ages (yellow circles) and adjusted (ADJ) ages (red triangles)
( 1 standard error) for the lower slope soil prole (Haplic Lixisol). The linear ADJ: 0.05 mm year1). Ignoring the higher clay content below 45 cm
regression through the upper 90 cm (dashed line) of the adjusted ages show an
(Table 1) due to lessivage, the sandy matrix of the soil is rather homoge-
accumulation rate of about 0.21 mm year1 during the last ~45000 years (R2 = 0.96).
The MG accumulation rate (the minimum rate) is 0.13 mm year1. Below ~100 cm the
neous. This supports the conceptual model; on the upper slope soil
apparent accumulation rate is signicantly lower (MG: 0.04 mm year1, Adj.: fauna carry particles less than ~ 1 mm to the surface to paste it into
0.06 mm year1). The dotted lines show the = 0.95 condence interval for the logs, while subsequent downslope alluvial transport sorts the sediments
regressions. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this gure legend, the further. After deposition percolating water cause lessivage removing a
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
fraction of the clay from the upper horizons, which is subsequently de-
posited in underlying horizons (cf. clay content, Table 1).
expected similar land-use history and on material with similar lumines-
cence characteristics (high sensitivity). Also, based on Fuchs and Lang
(2009), it seems a fair assumption that the number of saturated and 4. Discussion
poorly bleached grains in the samples for the current study is limited.
Therefore, we have used the ratio for calculating an adjusted age 4.1. Method discussion
based on our multigrain ages, as we believe this is a more reliable age
estimate. Both multigrain and adjusted ages are shown in Fig. 5 and Previous studies from similar environments have suggested that
Table 2 to allow the reader to make own conclusions, as we acknowl- multigrain OSL ages may overestimate the real deposition ages
edge that further investigations are needed to conrm this approach. (Fuchs and Lang, 2009; Kristensen et al., 2015). In a slope study con-
Nonetheless, the accumulation rate based on the multigrain age can ducted approximately 150 km to the south-east of the current study
be viewed as a minimum rate. area, Kristensen et al. (2015) observed the same marked shift in de-
position rate ~ 6500 years BP with quartz multigrain ages. However,
subsequent single grain investigations suggested that the shift was
3. Results not until ~ 4000 years BP. Although post-depositional mixing was
generally found to be very small in the upper 100 cm, the MG age
Table 1 shows basic soil properties for the two soil types. Table 2 and overestimation was found to be caused by a few very old or saturated
Fig. 5 show the OSL ages of the soil at the lower slope. A linear regression grains. These are likely mixed upwards from deeper layers by
of the data in the upper ~1 m of the soil was performed (only random termites, which cannot be excluded in the present study either, as
sources of error considered, as the systematic error is assumed equal termites are present along the slope (Awadzi et al., 2004). This antic-
for all samples). It suggests a rather constant surface accumulation ipated presence of a small amount of saturated grains skewing the
rate of about 0.21 mm year1 (3.15 t ha1 year1, assuming a bulk den- MG doses in the top 100 cm, is the reason why we include the adjust-
sity of 1500 t m3) during the last ~4500 years (R2 = 0.96). The age of ed ages, although we recognize its speculative nature.
the sample from 115 cm depth is substantially higher (MG: 13.2 The obvious presence of forest termites and other potential
0.9 ka, ADJ: 9.4 0.6 ka), which may be seen as a consequence of the bioturbators (e.g. tree roots) suggests that some degree of post deposi-
natural erosion level without human inuence (MG: 0.04 mm year1, tional vertical bioturbation could have taken place, as described in other
Table 1
Basic soil parameters from the upper and lower slope soil types. The horizon depths are in cm below the surface. The grain sizes (wt%) show the distribution when the gravel is omitted.
These numbers are from Awadzi et al. (2004), where further information can be found. Here, they are presented in merged and generalized horizons.
Upper slope
I 020 30 38 32 0 2.1 5.7 10YR 3/3 None
II 20100 34 44 22 40a 0.8 4.3 5YR 4/4 Few diffuse
III 100 + 36 56 8 3a 0.7 4.2 5YR4/6 Many distinct
Lower slope
I 010 23 36 41 0 4.3 7.2 10YR 2/3 None
II 1030 28 30 42 0 1.1 6.7 10YR 4/6 None
III 3045 28 29 43 0 0.6 6.3 10YR 5/4 None
IV 4580+ 41 21 38 0 0.3 6.3 10YR 5/4 Few soft spots
a
More that 90% iron/manganese nodules.
H. Breuning-Madsen et al. / Catena 151 (2017) 130136 135
studies (e.g. Bateman et al., 2007a, 2007b; Stockmann et al., 2013). This assuming similar bulk densities. However, due to the method applied,
is a challenge for any sediment dating method, as they assume negligi- these rates from Hewawasam et al. (2003) and von Blackenburg et al.
ble post depositional mixing. The authors do not have the sufcient data (2004) are integrated over timescales of 50250 ka, which is much lon-
to exclude vertical mixing totally, but if post-depositional vertical ger periods than the current study. Interestingly, the gures are quite
mixing was substantial, the ages should have been indistinguishable, similar to the erosion rate estimated below the top 100 cm in the cur-
which is not the case. Alternatively, if the sediment was adequately rent study (0.040.05 mm year1). This lends support to the idea that
bleached during transportation down the slope, and the accumulation this rate is close to the natural long-term rate in tropical forests with-
rate at present is similar to the last 45000 years, the extension of the out human inuence, i.e. due to the termite driven process described in
linear regression should theoretically intersect the surface at 0 years Section 2.1. The difculty of obtaining good retrospective erosion rate
(origo). In fact, the regression lines intersects the y-axis (MG: 5.6 estimates on Holocene timescales limits our ability to verify or refute
16.2 ADJ: 5.8 16.1) ~6 cm above the surface. This may indicate inad- the gures obtained in the current study. More retrospective erosion
equate bleaching of surface grains, but could also be due to a real change studies on similar timescales and in similar environments are clearly
in deposition rate, although the large standard errors due to extrapola- needed.
tion must be emphasized. All in all, the available data does not allow us The estimated average accumulation rate of the present study is
to draw rm conclusions regarding adequate bleaching of all grains nor generally considerably higher compared to short-term erosion rate
vertical mixing. However, based on the relatively small standard errors estimates. A recent review of short-term soil erosion rates from humid
and the intersect of the y-axis close to zero, we suggest that our rate es- tropics show that the estimate in the top 100 cm of the present study
timates of 0.13 (MG) and 0.21 (ADJ) mm year1 provide a useful rst is much higher than estimated rates from any type of tree-
estimate of the long-term erosion rate down the slope of interest. covered land (average 0.110.27 t ha 1 year 1, Labriere et al.
Lessivage appears to have transported material vertically in the pro- 2015). These numbers corresponds better to the erosion rate below
le of the present study (Bt horizon below 45 cm, Table 1). However, the 100 cm (~ 0.75 t ha1 year1). The rate calculated in the top 100 cm
grains used for dating are in the ne sand fraction (180250 m), which is more comparable to gures from croplands (average 0.83, spanning
do not move due to lessivage. Nonetheless, clay migration could theo- 0.661.02 t ha1 year1), although still substantially higher. Cerdan et
retically inuence the environmental dose rate used to calculate the al. (2010) present average short-term rates from the Mediterranean
OSL ages (Table 2), as the radioactive soil isotopes are closely associated area of 0.84 t ha1 year1 for arable land and 9.05 t ha1 year1 for
with clay particles (e.g. Olley, 1994). This issue is yet to be investigated, bare soil. The previously mentioned long-term estimate from
and should be a focus of future studies in order to allow widespread ap- Greece based on data from Fuchs et al. (2004) yields corresponds to a
plication of OSL in soil formation studies. For the current study this rate of ~ 6.7 t ha1 year1 (assuming a bulk density of 1500 kg m3),
seems irrelevant, as the dose rates in Table 2 do not show any correla- which is closer to short-term rates for bare soil than for arable soil.
tion with depth. This suggests that short-term erosion studies may underestimate the
long-term erosion rates, and contradicts the general tendency found
4.2. Comparison to literature erosion estimates in the recent metastudy by Garcia-Ruiz et al. (2015) who examined
studies on short to intermediate timescales. More retrospective esti-
OSL is used to reconstruct landscape formation history by dating mates must be obtained to investigate this further.
specic alluvial or colluvial deposits (Fuchs and Lang, 2009). They are
typically aimed at dating distinct events or periods of considerable soil 4.3. Land use change
erosion (e.g. Eriksson et al., 2000; Fuchs et al., 2010), rather than esti-
mating long-term rates by dating multiple samples vertically distribut- The natural erosion rate in tropical forests driven by bioturbation is
ed in a uniform soil unit. Nevertheless, Fuchs et al. (2004) published a rather small based on the literature values, which also corresponds to
slope study from an archaeological site in Greece with geometry similar the estimated erosion rate below 100 cm in the current study. Retro-
to the present study. When a linear function is tted to their data from a spective studies have demonstrated that human deforestation, primar-
rather uniform foot slope soil for a time-period comparable to the pres- ily due to introduction of agriculture, have increased erosion rates quite
ent study (~1.88.0 ka; 200500 cm, Prole B1 and B2), an average ero- substantially in the past (Fuchs and Lang, 2009). Fuchs et al. (2004) in-
sion rate of ~0.45 mm year1 is estimated. This is 23 times higher than dicate that the erosion rate increases quite substantially in their study
in the present study. The abundance of artefacts throughout this depth area at the time when charcoal and artefacts become abundant in the
interval suggests human presence during the entire period. This sup- soil proles, i.e. when human activity becomes substantial. They also
ports the suggestion that human activity increases soil erosion substan- nd a similar jump in age below the depth of apparent artefacts. Evi-
tially, when measured on 102103 year timescales. Dreibrodt et al. dence from the current study suggests that already around 4500
(2014) also estimate OSL based Holocene soil erosion rates from an ar- 5000 years ago, the erosion rate along the slope in the tropical forest
chaeological site ranging from 0.2 to 15.2 t ha1 year 1 (~ 0.01 to changed markedly. Modern analogue short-term rates and retrospec-
1.01 mm year 1), which is in line with the results of the current tive studies suggest that such rates are only found in areas of intense
study. Few other studies present OSL proles for foot-slope deposits cultivation or even bare soil (see previous section). However, most ar-
(Heimsath et al., 2002; Stockmann et al., 2013). These used single- chaeological and botanical evidence suggest that agriculture was not in-
grain OSL to investigate soil mixing, and thus are not directly compara- troduced in West Africa until about 28003500 years ago (Sowunmi,
ble to the current study. Nonetheless, it is difcult to determine whether 1985, Stahl, 1993). Despite the fact that it has never been supported
OSL equivalent dose distributions are due to soil mixing or incomplete by botanical evidence, some authors have nevertheless suggested that
bleaching or a combination. Moreover, only few long-term soil erosion the discovery of stone axes in Ghana dating back to ~7000 years ago is
estimates based on other methods exist for tropical ecosystems. an indication of early marginal cropping systems in forest areas with
Hewawasam et al. (2003) and von Blackenburg et al. (2004) applied the native species of oil palm and yam as the main crops (Adekola,
in situ production of cosmogenic nuclides in tropical Sri Lankan high- 2011) - these two crops are still today of great importance in the
land forests. The two studies yielded erosion rates of 0.130.30 and study area. The present dataset lends support to this hypothesis.
0.050.30 t ha 1 year 1, respectively. Another tropical catchment
scale cosmogenic nuclide study from Puerto Rico (Riebe et al., 2003) es- 5. Conclusion
timated soil erosion rates of 0.791.01 t ha1 year1. This is about an
order of magnitude lower (0.0030.07 mm year1) than the rate esti- Over the last ~4500 years about 100 cm of soil has accumulated on
mated in top 100 cm of the current study (0.130.21 mm year 1), the foot slope in our study area, in a moist semi-deciduous tropical
136 H. Breuning-Madsen et al. / Catena 151 (2017) 130136
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the literature. We thus argue that care must be taken when extrapolat- Basin, NE Peloponnese, Greece, based on optical dating. The Holocene 14 (3),
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apparent tripling or quadrupling in erosion rate from ~ 0.05 to 0.13 Sanjuan, Y., 2015. A meta-analysis of soil erosion rates across the world. Geomorphol-
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