The complex environmental process of soil erosion is crucial to sustainable land management and conservation. This study uses the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model to understand the intricate interactions that cause soil erosion in Cluj County, Romania, a region susceptible to complex erosion and landslide phenomenon. The established analysis depicts erosion patterns from localised hotspots to regions of relative stability, providing valuable insights into this critical issue. Spatial distribution maps with color-coded gradients show soil erosion risk and identify vulnerable regions, with temporal investigations depicting how environmental changes affect soil erosion, making it relevant to soil conservation and land management. A careful analysis of the USLE model's parameters (Ls, Cs, C, S, K) shows their soil erosion contributions. The erosion rates were graded in five classes in accordance to general practices of USLE modelling, which range from very-low, low, moderate, high and very-high susceptibility to soil erosion. While a significant majority of the county’s surface is represented by very-low and low erosion risk, several hotspots were identified with intense erosion processes that highlights the critical need to implement soil conservation measures in the area. Identifying erosion hotspots and conservation solutions encourages stakeholders to protect soils, and can provide policymakers with useful information for developing improved guidelines for soil and water conservation.

As the fertile topsoil is constantly washed away and agricultural production is decreased, soil erosion is a serious environmental issue that affects the entire planet. All river basins experience changes in land use that affect sediment dynamics, soil erodibility, and hydrologic response. The main reason for the faster erosion rates is frequently attributed to those alterations. In the current study, the Intensity of Erosion and Outflow (IntErO) model was used to estimate the sediment yield and maximum outflow from three river basins in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. Because the county is hilly and has significant erosion issues, it is essential to have a solid understanding of how soil erosion occurs in river basins. This will allow for more precise planning of soil conservation projects and will allow for more effective management of the severity of the erosion processes. The IntErO model offers quick, efficient, and feasible insight into how changing land use affects soil erosion processes. The testing of the procedures that have been put into place is an essential component of the ongoing development of watershed management strategies at the regional level. The relief characteristics and predominant land use of the three selected prototype river basins significantly influenced the resulting real soil losses. The application of the IntErO model in assessing soil erosion rates in the Transylvanian hills represents a novel approach. The findings of this study hold potential for informing policymakers in the formulation of more robust regulations pertaining to soil and water conservation. Consequently, the implementation of such measures is expected to contribute to the safeguarding of river basin soils.

This study aims to investigate how grazing is perceived across the Curvature Subcarpathians (Romania) by farmers. We investigate farmers’ attitudes toward and understanding of grazing practice and associated processes involving small ruminants (sheep and goats). Additionally, we review the scientific literature and new discussions about grazing vs overgrazing terms and changes in the Romanian small ruminant livestock. Results of the survey on the total of 101 case studies from villages in 3 counties (Damboviţa, Buzau, and Vrancea) show that: (i) grazing is differently perceived; (ii) most of the areas designated for grazing are located near riverbanks (over 55%); most of the respondents reported that the areas intended for grazing are quite close to the inhabited areas; distances are less than 2.5 km; and over 60% of respondents believe that the areas are continuously subject to soil degradation processes; (iii) answers given in connection with the issues addressed provide both relevance to the Curvature Subcarpathians (6792 km2) and the potential impact of higher pressure of grazing on local areas due to the discouragement of specific transhumance policies (more than 60% required subsidies). The average stocking density is about 4.7 head per ha. In general, beyond different farmers’ perceptions, a scientific question remains open regarding the quantitative impact of grazing on hydrological processes. Hence, a field survey (e.g., rainfall-runoff experiments) to assess grazing pressure on water and soil resources will be performed.

In order to ensure agricultural productivity and, implicitly, food security, irrigation is indispensable in regions with extensive agricultural areas subject to water stress. In such areas, approaches are needed to optimize water resources and better understand irrigation needs, aspects that cannot be captured exclusively through administrative reporting. This study analyzed the annual dynamics of irrigation in Galați County, Romania, during 2017–2025 using satellite data, spatial analysis techniques, and public administrative records. Using a Random Forest classifier applied to multitemporal Sentinel-2 and Landsat data, annual maps of irrigated areas were generated and their distribution inside and outside official irrigation systems was analyzed. Satellite-detected irrigated area varied from 19.1 thousand ha in 2017 to 41.8 thousand ha in 2023, broadly consistent with hydroclimatic variability. Agreement between satellite data and official reports was moderate at the aggregate level (r = 0.782, R² = 0.612), but strong at the irrigation-scheme level (r = 0.907, R² = 0.822). Spatial analysis further showed that 60.1% of the cropland-filtered outside-system irrigated area was located within 500 m of the nearest potential surface water source. The results indicate that satellite-based analysis can serve as a useful complementary tool for irrigation monitoring, spatial assessment, and county-scale irrigation auditing.

Recent studies affirm that climate change is affecting areas worldwide, particularly long droughts, which would transform many fertile territories into degraded areas. This could imply significant impacts and natural hazards influencing both water and soil resources and, subsequently, plant species composition and biodiversity. One of the affected land use and related type of ecosystem are the pastures of the hills with small ruminants (sheep and goats). However, there is a lack of studies aimed to develop integrated hydrological and climate approaches to assess these possible impacts in countries such as Romania. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate drought impacts on hills pastures occupied by small ruminants (SRs) based on the analysis of aridity indices, rainfall simulation experiments, and field surveys (e.g., soil profiles and vegetation transects) in an experimental plot located in the Curvature Subcarpathians of Romania. Preliminary results show high monthly variability of aridity, vertical dehydrated layers in the main soil types (chernozems exhibiting shrinkage and swelling processes), degraded herbaceous vegetation, and high runoff coefficient for bare soils. At the hillslope scale, vegetation, SRs, and water occurrence (e.g., low runoff coefficients and high infiltration rates) are strongly affected by droughts, especially during August and September. The intensification of SRs grazing in these areas (under dry conditions) amplifies the drought effects on the environment (e.g., soil compaction, grass depletion, water scarcity). Our field observations do not support SRs grazing as a major driving factor for land degradation, but unsustainable SRs grazing can drastically induce changes in seasonally available soil water content under arid conditions.

Research Journal of Agricultural Science