A detailed reconstruction of changes in the factors and parameters of soil erosion over the past 250 years in the forest zone of European Russia (Moscow region)

Accelerated soil erosion is a major threat to soil, and there are great variations in the rate of soil erosion over time due to natural and human-induced factors. The temperate forest zone of Russia is characterized by complex stages of land-use history (i.e. active urbanization, agricultural development, land abandonment, etc.). We have for the first time estimated the rates of soil erosion by the WaTEM/SEDEM model (rainfall erosion) and by a regional model (snowmelt erosion) over the past 250 years (from 1780 to 2019) for a 100-km² study site in the Moscow region of Russia. The calculations were made on the basis of a detailed historical reconstruction of the following factors: the location of the arable land, crop rotation, the rain erosivity factor, and the maximum snow water equivalent. The area of arable land has decreased more than 3.5-fold over the past 250 years. At the end of the 20th century, the rates of gross erosion had declined more than 5.5-fold (from 28 × 10³ to 5 × 10³ t?ha^?1?yr^?1) in comparison with the end of the 18th century. Changes in the boundaries of arable land and also the relief features had led to a significant intra-slope accumulation of sediments. As a result of sediment redeposition within the arable land, the variation in net soil erosion was significantly lower than the variation in gross soil erosion. The changes in arable land area and in crop composition are the factors that have to the greatest extent determined the changes in soil erosion in this territory.