Universal Soil Loss Equationhttps://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/HGB0MRInternational Center for Tropical AgricultureHarvard Dataverse2016-12-202019-08-02T11:44:08ZThe rainfall erosivity (R) and soil erodibility (K) factors of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) were determined on two sites in the Colombian Cauca Department over a five year period when rainfall was mostly lower than average. The results showed that the high erosion potential of the soils can be attributed more to high rain erosivity than soil erodibility. The R factor explained between 59 and 81% of the variation in soil loss recorded on continuously clean-tilled fallow plots. The erodibility of Inceptisols in the study region is classified as low. Values for soil erodibility (K) ranged from 0.012 to 0.015 (measured in SI units) in the fifth year of permanent bare fallowing. K factors were higher in the rainy than in the dry season. Soils, previously under grass vegetation, were very resistant to erosion in the first two years of bare fallowing. In the third year erodibility increased sharply and continued to increase steadily until the sixth year. K factors predicted by the USLE nomograph underestimated the empirically-determined erodibility of these highly aggregated clay soils.Earth and Environmental SciencesErosionEroded soilUniversal soil loss equationSoil testingLatin America and the CaribbeanSoilsSoilsRuppenthal, M., Leihner, D.E., Hilger, T.H. and Castillo F., J.A. (1996) ‘Rainfall Erosivity and Erodibility of Inceptisols in the Southwest Colombian Andes’, Experimental Agriculture, 32(1), pp. 91–101. doi: 10.1017/S0014479700025904., doi, 10.1017/S0014479700025904, https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S00144797000259042016-12-20Garcia, Carolina2016-12-091987-04-291992-04-25Experimental DataSoil DataSantander de QuilichaoCaucaColombiaMondomoCaucaColombia<P><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /> These data and documents are licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank"> Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.</a> You may copy, distribute and transmit the data as long as you acknowledge the source through proper <a href="http://best-practices.dataverse.org/data-citation/" target="_blank">data citation</a>.</P> <Strong>Disclaimer</Strong> <P> Whilst utmost care has been taken by CIAT and data authors while collecting and compiling the data, the data is however offered "as is" with no express or implied warranty. In no event shall the data authors, CIAT, or relevant funding agencies be liable for any actual, incidental or consequential damages arising from use of the data. <BR/><BR/> By using the CIAT Dataverse, the user expressly acknowledges that the Data may contain some nonconformities, defects, or errors. No warranty is given that the data will meet the user's needs or expectations or that all nonconformities, defects, or errors can or will be corrected. <BR/><BR/> The user should always verify actual data; therefore the user bears all responsibility in determining whether the data is fit for the user’s intended use. The user of the data should use the related publications as a baseline for their analysis whenever possible. Doing so will be an added safeguard against misinterpretation of the data. Related publications are listed in the metadata section of the Dataverse study. </P>