Summary
This narrative review synthesises literature on the causes and controlling factors of valley bottom gullies, a significant land degradation problem affecting agricultural bottomlands. The authors identify watershed characteristics, increased water transport, rainfall, soil and bedrock properties as key determinants, and demonstrate that subsurface flow is particularly important in humid climates for bank slippage and gully head advancement. Crucially, the review reveals that conventional reclamation measures effective in arid and semi-arid regions are often unsuccessful in humid regions because they fail to account for subsurface drainage dynamics, highlighting the need for integrated landscape-scale approaches.
UK applicability
UK conditions are predominantly temperate maritime to humid, with significant subsurface flow similar to those in humid regions where standard remediation measures have proven ineffective. The findings suggest that existing valley bottom gully management practices in the UK may need re-evaluation and integration of subsurface drainage considerations to ensure effectiveness.
Key measures
Gully location and formation factors; gully advancement rates; effectiveness of reclamation measures across climate zones; subsurface flow effects on gully head advancement
Outcomes reported
The review identified watershed characteristics, rainfall, soil properties, and subsurface flow as primary determinants of valley bottom gully formation and progression. The study assessed the effectiveness of existing rehabilitation measures across different climatic zones, finding differential success rates between arid/semi-arid and humid regions.
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