Erik L.H. Cammeraat

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Verified

Erik L.H. verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Professor (Associate) Retired at University of Amsterdam

Vegetation is a major contributor of terrestrial evaporation and influences subsequent precipitation over land. Studies suggest that forests are crucial for moisture recycling, although the specific contribution of different vegetation to precipitation remains unclear. Using a moisture recycling approach, we investigate the contribution of transpir...

Forest expansion in Mediterranean mountain areas is a widespread phenomenon resulting from the abandonment of agricultural and pastoral activities during the last century. Therefore, knowledge of the long-term storage capacity of soil organic carbon (SOC) in Mediterranean forests is of great interest in the context of global change. However, the ef...

The redistribution of biological (transpiration) and non-biological (interception loss, soil evaporation) fluxes of terrestrial evaporation via atmospheric circulation and precipitation is an important Earth system process. In vegetated ecosystems, transpiration dominates terrestrial evaporation and is thought to be crucial for regional moisture re...

High mountain environments are among the most fragile on Earth. Due to anthropogenic disturbances and the exposure to extreme weather events, the rates of soil erosion have recently been accelerating, resulting in ecological degradation and geological hazards. Ecological restoration of mountains and an improved understanding of nature-based solutio...

Blowouts can mitigate the negative effects of acidification in the topsoil, especially in industrialized countries with high atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. However, blowout activity may differ between lime‐rich and lime‐poor dunes, which creates different regional responses and interactions between processes and patterns. To further explore t...

Biota are major drivers of geomorphological development. Vegetation and soil fauna act as ecosystem engineers, changing the environment through physical structures and individual activities such as litter layering, tree uprooting, and animal mounding. Furthermore, through varying litter quality triggering different degrees of animal bioturbation, t...

Forest fires cause many changes in the physical, chemical and biological soil properties such as aggregation and soil organic carbon contents (SOC) as well as on soil hydrology and erosion processes. Most studies on post-fire soil erosion in Mediterranean environments have been plot-based and research at hillslope or broader scale is scarce. Unders...

The consensus for mechanisms controlling soil organic matter (SOM) persistence has shifted from traditional views based on SOM recalcitrance to a new paradigm based on SOM stabilization controlled by soil minerals and aggregates. Recent studies indicate that the origin, composition and molecular diversity of SOM are crucial to the decomposition and...

The Mediterranean mountainous landscapes have undergone large-scale exploitation for millennia. In the Central Pyrenees, land abandonment has occurred since the 1950s, leading to a process of woody encroachment. The main objective of this paper is to shed light on the effects of different land use and land covers (LULCs) on soil organic carbon (SOC...

Green water, or plant-available soil moisture, is a substantial subset of terrestrial fresh water. Land-use change (LUC) alters green water dynamics through interactions on the micro-level (i.e., between the soil and vegetation) and on the macro-level (i.e., between the land surface and atmosphere). Ongoing global deforestation, and growing interes...

Human‐induced afforestation has been one of the main policies for environmental management of farmland abandonment in Mediterranean areas. Over the last decades, several studies have reviewed the impact of afforestation activities on geomorphological and hydrological responses and soil properties, although few studies have evaluated the effects on...

In the past years, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by soil microorganisms received an increasing interest, as they not only protect microbes against environmental stresses, but seem to play a pivotal role in soil structure formation as well. Within soils, root deposits provide an important source of easily accessible energy and nu...

In industrialized countries, biodiversity is threatened by high atmospheric N deposition. In coastal dunes, blowouts can mitigate this through deposition of fresh sand, but lime-rich and lime-poor dunes may differ in blowout activity. We studied natural blowout activity and explanatory factors in 2000 and 2014 in up to 51 sites along the Dutch coas...

Experiments in large wind tunnels have made vital contributions to our knowledge of aeolian processes. However, the size of these instruments makes them impractical for field application. To facilitate field measurements on the dust emission potential of soils, the Portable In-Situ Wind Erosion Lab (PI-SWERL) was developed. Previous research shows...

Las terrazas agrícolas o bancales constituyen un elemento esencial de la montaña mediterránea europea. Su construcción y mantenimiento exige mucha energía, dando lugar a culturas basadas en el aprovechamiento cuidadoso y complejo de las laderas. Hoy laderas enteras de bancales se han abandonado y sufren procesos muy intensos de erosión y revegetaci...

A taphonomic research facility for the study of human remains was recently realized in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to systematically investigate the decomposition of the human body under known conditions. Governmental authorization was obtained to make use of the body donation program of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, location Academic M...

Recent studies show increasing evidence for perseveration of soil organic matter (SOM) controlled by interactions with the soil matrix (i.e. mineral surfaces and aggregates) rather than chemical recalcitrance of the SOM. However, a consensus is still absent for potential controls of SOM chemical composition on SOM stabilization and persistence. Soi...

In the barren semiarid landscape individual plant species improve soil structure, reducing the erosion risks, whereby microaggregates form the most fundamental soil structural components. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are considered an important glue determining aggregation in addition to inorganic binding agents such as carbonates. Howe...

Soil erosion, rapid geomorphological change and vegetation degradation are major threats to the human and natural environment. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) can be used as tools to provide detailed and accurate estimations of landscape change. The effect of flight strategy on the accuracy of UAS image data products, typically a digital surface mode...

Individual plant species form so-called resource islands in the barren semiarid landscape, whereby many soil properties are enhanced including soil structure. Within the soil structure, mostly studied as soil aggregates, microaggregates (<250µm) form fundamental components, reducing potential erosion of finer particles and subsequent loss of nutrie...

The Río Santa (Ancash, Peru) and its tributaries are an essential source of drinking and irrigation water. Its discharge relies on glacial meltwater, which is diminishing due to the rapid decrease in glacial extent. As a secondary effect, water quality can be compromised (e.g. pH < 3 and high concentrations of SO4²⁻ and trace metals). Although this...

Large areas worldwide have been affected by farmland abandonment and subsequent plant colonization with significant environmental consequences. Although the process of farmland abandonment has slowed down, vegetation recovery in abandoned lands is far from complete. In addition, agricultural areas and pasture lands with low-intensity activities cou...

Alpine grasslands of the Peruvian Andes are characterized by high soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, which sustain their ecosystem services such as water provision. However, the potential effects of climate change on the high SOC stocks and their stability are less studied, especially for the underlying mechanisms at the molecular level. To investig...

Recent studies indicate that climate change influences soil mineralogy by altering weathering processes and thus impacts soil aggregation and organic carbon (SOC) stability. Alpine ecosystems of the Neotropical Andes are characterized by high SOC stocks, which are important for sustaining ecosystem services. However, climate change in the form of a...

Alpine grasslands of the Neotropical Andes have high soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and provide crucial ecosystem services. However, stability of the SOC in these grasslands is not well-studied. Having insights into SOC stability contributes to a better understanding of ecosystem vulnerability and maintaining of ecosystem services. The objectives...

A review of the literature on water governance reveals that most studies focus on blue water governance; while there is some literature on green and atmospheric water, explicit literature on how to govern green and atmospheric water is lacking. Hence, this paper addresses the question: What are the arguments for governing green and atmospheric wate...

Recent studies indicate that climate change influences soil mineralogy by altering weathering processes, and thus impacts soil aggregation and organic carbon (SOC) stability. Alpine ecosystems of the Neotropical Andes are characterized by high SOC stocks, which are important to sustain ecosystem services. However, climate change in the form of alte...

Under semiarid climate conditions complex soil-vegetation interactions are present. Individual plant species form so-called resource islands in the barren landscape, whereby many soil properties are enhanced. Additionally, every plant species has its own root shape, canopy influences and specific root exudates, shaping the microbial community compo...

Land degradation affects natural and cultivated socio-ecosystems worldwide. Soil erosion is one of the main processes leading to land degradation, and the process is accelerated by human actions. Spain is dealing with extensive land degradation caused by land use and land cover change (LULCC), for instance by land abandonment, and local geo-ecologi...

The high grasslands of the Neotropical Andes have high SOC stocks, which help to sustain their ecosystem services as a primary water source. We studied the potential effect of climate change on SOC stability and soil aggregation along a rainfall gradient. Climate change influences soil mineralogy by altering weathering processes, and directly and i...

Afforestation is an important strategy that can decrease atmospheric carbon by sequestering carbon in biomass and soil. In Spain, an active afforestation programme was adopted in the 1950s when the soil was severely eroded after widespread abandonment of arable land. The Araguás catchment (Central Spanish Pyrenees) is a good example of this program...

Human activities have left signatures on the Earth for millennials, and these impacts are growing in the last decades. As a consequence, recent global change suggests that Earth may have entered a new human-dominated geological epoch. In the last years, much scientific debate has focused on the definition, stratigraphic signatures and timing of the...

The soil is the largest carbon (C) pool in the terrestrial ecosystem, and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks play an important role in global C dynamics. Alpine grasslands of the Andes are characterized by high SOC stocks. Quantifying SOC stocks and unraveling key factors controlling SOC stocks, is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the dy...

Semiarid climate conditions hamper natural re-vegetation, leaving the soil vulnerable to erosion after the cessation of agriculture. Therefore, soil and landscape protective measures, especially afforestations, have been implemented in the Mediterranean region since the early 20th century. This study aims to determine the long term impact of affore...

Woody encroachment has been an ongoing process in the subalpine belt of Mediterranean mountains, after land abandonment, the disappearance of the transhumant system and the decrease of the livestock number. The main objectives of this study were: (i) to identify land use/land cover (LULC) changes from 1956 to 2015, and (ii) to investigate the effec...

The soil pattern of the Lias cuesta landscape in central Luxembourg is strongly related to lithology, land cover and land use. On a short distance, many of the major soil types of the temperate zone can be found, as the substrates show a clear distinction and gradient from acidic to more neutral conditions in both fine and coarser textured material...

Digital physiotope maps combine multi-source abiotic information, and can be used to assess derived characteristics such as natural hazards and type of forest community. Physiotopes are spatially explicit functional landscape units that stratify landscapes into distinct units, resulting from the interplay between geological, geomorphological and so...

The process of clay dispersion and soil formation is investigated for an ‘in situ’ soil under semi-natural deciduous forest in Luxembourg on Steinmergelkeuper marls. We studied the genesis of these soils with a characteristic abrupt textural contrast between the topsoil and the subsurface soil. During and after rainfall, subsurface flow is generate...

The Attert River basin in Luxembourg is characterised by a large variety of clean and mixed physiogeographical settings (i.e. topography, soil types, land use, bedrock geology, etc.). This in turn generates manifold configurations of rainfall-runoff transformation processes. Here, we provide experimental data from more than a decade of hydro-meteor...

Animal activity and litter quality play a key role in forests on decalcified Steinmergelkeuper marls. The dominant trees hornbeam and beech clearly differ in litter quality, which affects earthworm activity and soil formation. Trees were even more important to topsoil characteristics than the subsoil. Under hornbeam, with high-palatable litter, org...

This book gathers older and current knowledge of the evolution and functioning of cuesta landscapes to provide a better understanding of the Luxembourgian landscape. The geological variety and tectonic setting of the area provide excellent opportunities to study landscape development, hydrology, geomorphological processes, soil formation, forest ve...

Alpine grasslands of the Neotropical Andes are characterized by large soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks , and they received increasing research attention because of their vulnerability to global change. However, most studies on SOC in the Andean region focus on volcanic-ash soils, but non-volcanic ash soils that cover large areas of Andean region as...

Forest fires can be a source of contamination because, among others, of the use of chemicals to their extinction (flame retardants, FRs), or by the production of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) derived from high temperature alteration of organic matter. Up to our knowledge, this study is the first to assess the direct (PAHs 16 on the USA EP...

Runoff connectivity depends on topography, rainfall, man-made elements (terraces, trails, roads and drainage systems) and vegetation. In this study, we quantified the effects of 70years of human activities on runoff connectivity in the mountainous Araguás afforested sub-catchment (17·2ha; Central Spanish Pyrenees). The IC index of hydrological conn...

In this chapter the approaches and methods used to measure plant effectiveness in reducing runoff and erosion are explained and results presented for each of the major land units, hillslopes and channels. Evaluations of the properties of plants required are made to inform plant selection for different sites. For use of cover crops in orchards it is...

The context of processes and characteristics of soil erosion and land degradation in Mediterranean lands is outlined. The concept of connectivity is explained. The remainder of the chapter demonstrates development of methods of mapping, analysis and modelling of connectivity to produce a spatial framework for development of strategies of use of veg...

The knowledge that has been acquired in the project RECONDES on critical conditions necessary for plants and on the occurrence of such conditions in the landscape is used in combination with the analysis of processes to develop strategies that could be applied at critical points and locations, identified by the connectivity mapping, to produce grea...

This chapter sets out the approach and research methods used to assess the plant types and species that grow in different parts of the targeted Mediterranean landscape and that could potentially be used in restoration strategies and mitigation of desertified and degraded land. Species occurring in the various land units in the study catchment in so...

The agricultural management of citrus orchards is changing from flood irrigated managed orchards to drip irrigated organic managed orchards. Eastern Spain is the oldest and largest European producer of citrus, and is representative of the environmental changes triggered by innovations in orchard management. In order to determine the impact of land...

The effects of land use changes on soil carbon stocks are a matter of concern stated in international policy agendas on the mitigation of greenhouse emissions. Afforestation is increasingly viewed as an environmental restorative land use change prescription and is considered one of the most efficient carbon sequestration strategies currently availa...

16 Pags. This article as a Preface by the Editors belonging to a special issue of Catena titled "Geoecology in Mediterranean mountain areas. Tribute to Professor Jose Maria Garcia Ruiz". The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03418162

Former agricultural fields are increasingly abandoned in several regions in Southern Europe. In many cases this leads to vegetation succession which may have a direct impact on soil quality, biodiversity and hydrological connectivity. The aim of this study is to provide insights on the role of vegetation succession in response to land abandonment o...

Soils under the Mediterranean climate are vulnerable for degradation, especially after land abandonment. Abandonment is an important factor in the Mediterranean landscape as vegetation regeneration is hampered due to the characteristic semi-arid and sub-humid Mediterranean climate regime. During the past 70 year extensive afforestation projects hav...

The effects of afforestation on water resources are still controversial. The aim of this paper is to (i) analyze the hydrological response of an afforested area in the Central Pyrenees, and (ii) compare the hydrological response of an afforested area with the response observed in a natural undisturbed forest. The Araguás catchment was cultivated un...

Increasing evidence shows that Neotropical alpine ecosystems are vulnerable to global change. Since soils in the alpine grasslands of the Peruvian Andean region have large soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, profound understanding of soil organic matter (OM) stabilization mechanisms will improve the prediction of the feedback between SOC stocks and g...

Afforestation practices have led to alterations in the hydrological dynamics: runoff generation processes, groundwater and connectivity. This study aims to gain more insight into the discussion by exploring the following research question: How does connectivity work in a terrace afforestation catchment? The main objectives are: (i) to analyze the r...

The concept of hydrological connectivity is increasingly being applied in hydrological and geomorphological studies and is a key factor to understand the redistribution and accumulation dynamics of overland flow in the different compartments at hillslope and catchment scales. Runoff generation is an important process, related to connectivity. Affor...

The fraction of forest cover in the Mediterranean region is increasing due to afforestation programs conducted by national forest services and also due to natural revegetation processes. Literature review suggests that afforestation might threaten water resources because it (i) reduces the number of floods and many rainfall events produce no notabl...

Erosion and deposition redistribute large quantities of sediment and soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural landscapes. In the perspective of global carbon cycling, the coupling between erosion processes and the fate of SOC is of particular interest. However, different concepts have been proposed to assess the impact of erosion-induced lateral a...

Dunes in the northern lowlands on planet Mars are composed of volcanic sands with high contents of volcanic glass and these deposits are mobilised and transported by winds in the present-day surface environment. In this experimental study we measured fluid thresholds for detachment of Mars-analogue volcanic glass particles using a low-fluid density...

The fate of soil-derived organic C (SOC) transported during erosion is a large uncertainty in assessing the impact of soil erosion on aquatic environments and in balancing C budgets. In our study, we determined C mineralization from solid soil organic C and dissolved organic C (DOC) translocated from a loess soil into surface water. We used runoff...

Fragmental volcanic glass or ‘hyaloclastite’ is a common glaciovolcanic eruption product that is formed in large abundance during basaltic, andesitic and rhyolitic subglacial eruptions. The physical weathering of rhyolitic hyaloclastites differs notably from basaltic hyaloclastites due to differences in cementation and edifice consolidation. As rhy...

A better process understanding of how water erosion influences the redistribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is sorely needed to unravel the role of soil erosion for the carbon (C) budget from local to global scales. The main objective of this study was to determine SOC redistribution and the complete C budget of a loess soil affected by water er...

Geoconservation potential is, in our approach, closely linked to the spatial distribution of geomorphological sites and thus, geomorphological inventories. Detailed geomorphological maps are translated, using a standardized workflow, into polygonal maps showing the potential geoconservation value of landforms. A new development is to semi-automatic...

Soil erosion has significant impacts on terrestrial carbon (C) dynamics. It removes C-rich topsoil and deposits it in lower areas, which might result in its stabilization against microbial decay. Subsequently, C-poor deeper horizons will be exposed, which also affects C stabilization. We analysed factors governing soil organic C (SOC) mineralizatio...

A better understanding of how water erosion influences the redistribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is sorely needed. Here, the main objective was to determine the complete carbon (C) budget of a loess soil affected by water erosion. We measured fluxes of SOC, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and CO2 in a unique replicated rainfall-simulation expe...

Soils are crucial to sustain our lives and therefor their origin, use and potential vulnerability are important to understand. Any graduate in an education program focusing on the "Earth's Critical Zone" should have a basic understanding of soils. We present here an instruction lecture, which is developed for the bachelor programs Earth Sciences as...

Recent discoveries of volcanic glass on Mars show that amorphous materials are a vital ingredient in surface sediments and various aeolian landforms. Mobilisation of these materials still occurs today based on geomorphologic evidence of erosion patterns and dune migration. We suggest that particle mobility (rolling) below the saltation fluid thresh...

Hyaloclastites are a common eruption product formed during subglacial eruptions. These glassy materials are often found in periglacial environments and they are highly abundant in the environments in Iceland and on planet Mars. Physical weathering results therefore primarily from freeze-thaw cycles and abrasion during aeolian transport. We studied...

In this study we discuss the role of erosion processes for two selected case studies in Africa. We especially would like to emphasis how hydrological and erosional connectivity is affected by semi-natural and agricultural related vegetation patterns. We selected a case study from an intensively agriculturally used semiarid region of Burkina Faso, a...

Few quantitative experimental studies have been carried out on the influence of subterranean termite activity on the water infiltration capacity of crusted soils in the semi-arid Sahelian region. These studies found increased infiltration rates on soils that were affected by foraging galleries of subterranean termites. In this paper, remarkable res...

Semiarid environments show specific hydrological responses and geomorphological processes. Semiarid environments are characterized by dry conditions that do not allow for a full but, instead, only for a partial vegetation cover. The vegetation cover is generally patterned in a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation patches and bare interpatches. This p...

Scree cones and slopes are common sedimentary landforms created by rock fall and rock particle fall in mountainous environments. These formative processes are attributed to various weathering and particle detachment mechanisms. However, the aeolian contributions to the weathering of rock faces and formation of scree sediments are poorly understood...

The invader shrub Pteronia incana has colonised extensive areas in communal villages, commercial farms and game reserves in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The spatial and temporal trends in patchiness dynamics for P. incana and their implications for landscape connectivity and functionality were analysed at the hillslope scale in one of t...

Historically soil erosion focused on the effects of on-site soil quality loss and consequently reduced crop yields, and off-site effects related to deposition of material and water quality issues such as increased sediment loads of rivers. In agricultural landscapes geomorphological processes reallocate considerable amounts of soil and soil organic...

Mediterranean-type ecosystems are characterised by a seasonally contrasted distribution of precipitation, by the coincidence of the driest and hottest season in summer, by an often-mountainous terrain, and by a long history of intense human occupation, especially around the Mediterranean Sea. The history of the Mediterranean lands is the history of...

The impact of soil fauna on soil processes is of utmost importance, as the activity of soil fauna directly affects soil quality. This is expressed by the direct effects of soil fauna on soil physical and soil chemical properties that not only have great importance to food production and ecosystems services, but also on weathering and hydrological a...

Landscapes in SE Spain are strongly affected by calcretes. Calcretes are especially found in many geomorphic positions, often attached to a backwall which are part of hill or ridge systems. These calcretes which can be perceived as palaeosols with a petrocalcic nature and that are typical for soil formation processes under a non-leaching semi-arid...

In southeastern South Africa sub-humid grasslands on abandoned soils are spontaneously being invaded by the exotic shrub Pteronia incana (Blue bush) originating from the semi-arid and arid Karoo region. This results eventually in soil loss and rill and gully erosion and consequently loss in agricultural production affecting the local rural economy....

The invader shrub Pteronia incana has colonised extensive areas in communal villages, commercial farms and game reserves in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The spatial and temporal trends in patchiness dynamics for P. incana and their implications for landscape connectivity and functionality were analysed at the hillslope scale in one of t...

Thresholds have been recognized to be important in many environmental processes, including hydrological and geomorphological systems, and they have been studied and discussed from different perspectives. Since the work of Schumm it is more widely accepted that processes and their spatial effects are not operating at a continuous scales but that pro...

This study gives a first approximation of the relationship between hydrology and water quality, geology and soils for a jalca ecosystem near Cajamarca in Northern Peru. As the jalca areas are prone to degradation of their humic soils as a result of land use and climate change, more information is needed on their hydrology and geo-ecology. During tw...

The heating effect on the soil organic matter (SOM) of a Mediterranean soil was studied in two fractions (macro- and microaggregates) and in two environments (soil under canopy of Quercus coccifera and bare soil between plants). Samples were heated under laboratory conditions at different temperatures (220, 380 and 500°C) to establish their effects...