Agriculture: Cultivation on slopes

Abstract

Among all anthropogenic geomorphological features, agricultural terraces on slopes have the largest relief-modifying impact, equally affecting soil, climatic, hydrologic and biogeographic conditions. Terraces are the predominant elements of landscapes in many parts of the world. The techniques of terrace construction and maintenance show regional characteristics, adjusted to the local natural resources, economic demands or crop requirements. The size of terraces primarily depends on slope inclination, their material on the availability of stones and their degradation on climate. Staircase terraces are an obstacle to air movements and, therefore, have a significant microclimatic impact. While in Hungary terraces are applied almost exclusively in vine plantations, in the Mediterranean, in addition to vineyards, terraced olive, citrus and chestnut plantations are almost equally common. The maintenance and reconstruction of agricultural terraces is an important task in landscape conservation, particularly at World Heritage sites. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.