Soil Physical-Hydrological Degradation in the Root-Zone of Tree Crops: Problems and Solutions

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The review manuscript is very informative and worth for publication but I would like to make points to improve the manuscript.

Specific parts of introducing studies are very long and too detailed comparing with other parts. For example, Line 354 – 373, and line 516 – 565. This manuscript is a review so that the introduction of each study needs to be concise and evaluate its excellence and limitation.

Winter rainy season occur in Mediterranean climate but this is not true for the other climate region. It is better to mention the limitation of interpretation of the studies in Italy if they are related to season, such in line 724 – 739.

This is an editorial matter but usage of abbreviations is inconsistent. If the abbreviation list put on the top of the manuscript, they can use abbreviation in all part without explanation.

It would be better to apply sub-chapters in the chapter 3 as is used in the other chapter.

Line 469 – 485: The discussion is interesting but it is better to discuss with references.

Table 2. Clarify the unit of Optimal range.

Line 491, Where -> where

Author Response

Dear reviewer

here are the answers to your suggestions. Thank you very much for your help.

Specific parts of introducing studies are very long and too detailed comparing with other parts. For example, Line 354 – 373, and line 516 – 565. This manuscript is a review so that the introduction of each study needs to be concise and evaluate its excellence and limitation.

 The text has been considerably shortened and rewritten so to avoid details of the considered studies.

Winter rainy season occur in Mediterranean climate but this is not true for the other climate region. It is better to mention the limitation of interpretation of the studies in Italy if they are related to season, such in line 724 – 739.

We specified the contest of cover crops in seasonal climatic conditions (lines 686-698)

 This is an editorial matter but usage of abbreviations is inconsistent. If the abbreviation list put on the top of the manuscript, they can use abbreviation in all part without explanation.

 We used the abbreviations consistently in every part of the text.

It would be better to apply sub-chapters in the chapter 3 as is used in the other chapter.

 Sub-chapters have been added

Line 469 – 485: The discussion is interesting but it is better to discuss with references.

 References have been added to the discussion in this specific paragraph 

Table 2. Clarify the unit of Optimal range.

 Units have been specified in a column

Line 491, Where -> where

Corrected

Reviewer 2 Report

A graph with the increase in degraded soil would be interesting (Europe, World, etc). As well as the % degradation of soils in the most tree crops.

Author Response

Dear reviewer

here are the answers to your suggestions. Thank you very much for your help.

A graph with the increase in degraded soil would be interesting (Europe, World, etc). As well as the % degradation of soils in the most tree crops.

An analysis of the trend of soil degradation in the world or Europe is outside the scope of this paper, as well as a report of the extent of soil degradation under tree crops. Nevertheless, we added references to the situation of soil degradation and the linkage between soil erosion and some tree crops, such as vineyards.

Reviewer 3 Report

This is a very important Review Article with respect to physical and hydrological properties of agricultural soils and their degradation, related to tree crops in particular.

However, the manuscript is very poorly structured. I lost when I was reading it. I think the same point is being repeated several times. I strongly recommend authors to very carefully go through it and restructure it for logical flow and easy reading. This will be a very useful paper with important points for readers of the journal. Authors should also pay attention to the introduction and use of abbreviations which also confuse the reader. I have highlighted some of these points.

The conclusion needs to be rewritten

Lines 792-795

“Tree crops are more susceptible than annual herbaceous crops to soil physical-hydrological degradation, because of the deeper and wider rooting system, the longer life cycle, as well as the deep mechanical impact of land preparation for tree crop plantation, namely deep ploughing, land levelling, and, eventually, artificial drainages.”

I cannot agree on this point. I think we cannot generalize it. It depends on agronomic practices. Normally annual crops create more destruction [annual tillage, lack of ground cover etc.] compared to perennial crops such as fruit crops [what is given in Figure 6].

I hope the authors would agree with me and re-structure the manuscript for easy understanding.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear reviewer

here are the answers to your suggestions. Thank you very much for your valuable help.

This is a very important Review Article with respect to physical and hydrological properties of agricultural soils and their degradation, related to tree crops in particular.

However, the manuscript is very poorly structured. I lost when I was reading it. I think the same point is being repeated several times. I strongly recommend authors to very carefully go through it and restructure it for logical flow and easy reading. This will be a very useful paper with important points for readers of the journal. Authors should also pay attention to the introduction and use of abbreviations which also confuse the reader. I have highlighted some of these points.

The manuscript has been completely revised and many parts changed in position, rewritten, and some parts shortened. The use of abbreviation was standardized throughout the text.

The conclusion needs to be rewritten

The conclusions have been modified according to the suggestions reported in your annotated text

Lines 792-795

“Tree crops are more susceptible than annual herbaceous crops to soil physical-hydrological degradation, because of the deeper and wider rooting system, the longer life cycle, as well as the deep mechanical impact of land preparation for tree crop plantation, namely deep ploughing, land levelling, and, eventually, artificial drainages.”

I cannot agree on this point. I think we cannot generalize it. It depends on agronomic practices. Normally annual crops create more destruction [annual tillage, lack of ground cover etc.] compared to perennial crops such as fruit crops [what is given in Figure 6].

We changed the phrase so to specify that tree crops are more sensitive to poor soil conditions because of the wider root system, which interests deep soil layers. Deep soil layers can be negatively affected by land preparation and then difficult to be remediated by ordinary cultivation, which interests the surface horizon.

I hope the authors would agree with me and re-structure the manuscript for easy understanding.

Thank you very much for the careful revision and useful suggestions, which has been all followed