Seasonal variability of runoff and soil loss on forest road backslopes under simulated rainfall

Runoff and soil loss from forest road backslopes is a serious problem in Mediterranean areas. Surface runoff and sediment production on backslopes of forest roads in Los Alcornocales Natural Park (southern Spain) has been studied in this paper using a simple portable rainfall simulator at an intensity of 90 mm h^− 1. One hundred rainfall simulations were performed on bare and vegetated road backslopes during summer and winter in order to study seasonal differences. Runoff coefficients and soil loss rates were lower on the vegetated plots than on the bare ones. Runoff coefficients increased 1.7 (bare backslopes) and 3.1 times (vegetated backslopes) from summer to winter. Preserving the vegetation cover over 20% is recommended for keeping soil loss rates under low levels, especially during winter.