Soil Carbon Erosion and Its Selectivity at the Plot Scale in Tropical and Mediterranean Regions

Global warming is one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. At the human time scale, climate change is closely linked to the increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are mainly carbon dioxide (CO₂ ), methane (CH₄ ), and nitrous oxide (N₂ O). Soil erosion consists of detachment, transport, and deposition of soil particles. The quantification of soil organic carbon (SOC) erosion requires the quantification of soil losses and the determination of sediment SOC content. The SOC contents of coarse and suspended sediments were determined separately, on individual samples resulting from “representative” rainfall events, or more frequently, on composite samples resulting from all events that occurred over a given period. Erosion is a selective process that removes the smallest or lightest soil particles faster than sand and gravels. The relationship between erosion and eroded SOC is generally recognized and is evident from the fact that eroded SOC is included in sediments.