Water erosion, soil organic carbon redistribution and soil and water conservation: a review

Introduction: Soil loss caused by water erosion impacts both positive and negative fluxes of carbon to the atmosphere. Objective: To identify the main research trends related to the influence of water erosion on soil organic carbon (SOC) redistribution and its relationship with soil and water conservation practices. Materials and methods. Literature published in national and international journals was consulted in Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, Redalyc, ResearchGate and Google Scholar. Research trends were analyzed using predefined keywords and grouped according to their affinity. Results: In the period 2012-2022, 80 % of global research focused on SOC redistribution caused by the effect of water erosion and the effect of soil management and conservation practices; however, no studies were found in this regard in Mexico. Due to water erosion, programs for the construction of soil and water conservation works have been implemented in Mexico with significant success, such as sediment control dams, but the impacts in terms of C storage have not been evaluated. Conclusions: In Mexico there are areas of opportunity to focus research at different scales: (I) analyze the redistribution of SOC caused by water erosion, (II) estimate the storage of SOC in sediments, (III) analyze the potential of mechanical soil and water conservation practices as carbon sinks, and (IV) propose a risk index of SOC loss using remote sensing.