scholarly journals Land use and climate change impacts on global soil erosion by water (2015-2070)

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (36) ◽  
pp. 21994-22001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Borrelli ◽  
David A. Robinson ◽  
Panos Panagos ◽  
Emanuele Lugato ◽  
Jae E. Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Global Dynamics ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
River Bank ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
Soil Erosion By Water

Soil erosion is a major global soil degradation threat to land, freshwater, and oceans. Wind and water are the major drivers, with water erosion over land being the focus of this work; excluding gullying and river bank erosion. Improving knowledge of the probable future rates of soil erosion, accelerated by human activity, is important both for policy makers engaged in land use decision-making and for earth-system modelers seeking to reduce uncertainty on global predictions. Here we predict future rates of erosion by modeling change in potential global soil erosion by water using three alternative (2.6, 4.5, and 8.5) Shared Socioeconomic Pathway and Representative Concentration Pathway (SSP-RCP) scenarios. Global predictions rely on a high spatial resolution Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)-based semiempirical modeling approach (GloSEM). The baseline model (2015) predicts global potential soil erosion rates of43−7+9.2Pg yr−1, with current conservation agriculture (CA) practices estimated to reduce this by ∼5%. Our future scenarios suggest that socioeconomic developments impacting land use will either decrease (SSP1-RCP2.6–10%) or increase (SSP2-RCP4.5 +2%, SSP5-RCP8.5 +10%) water erosion by 2070. Climate projections, for all global dynamics scenarios, indicate a trend, moving toward a more vigorous hydrological cycle, which could increase global water erosion (+30 to +66%). Accepting some degrees of uncertainty, our findings provide insights into how possible future socioeconomic development will affect soil erosion by water using a globally consistent approach. This preliminary evidence seeks to inform efforts such as those of the United Nations to assess global soil erosion and inform decision makers developing national strategies for soil conservation.

Global soil erosion: Storm on the horizon 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Borrelli ◽  
David A. Robinson ◽  
Panos Panagos ◽  
Emanuele Lugato ◽  
Jae E. Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Global Dynamics ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Global Soil

<p>We use the latest projections of climate and land use change (year 2070) to assess potential global soil erosion rates by water erosion (interrill and rill processes) (Borrelli et al., 2020) using the RUSLE-based semiempirical modeling platform (GloSEM) (Borrelli et al., 2017). With some degree of uncertainty, GloSEM allows prediction of both state and change of soil erosion, identifying hotspots thanks to its high resolution (250 × 250 m) and predicting future variation based on projections of change in land use, soil conservation practices, and climate change.</p><p>Three alternative scenarios (2.6, 4.5, and 8.5) are tested using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway and Representative Concentration Pathway (SSP-RCP) (LUH2 data) and 14 General Climate Models (GCMs) (WorldClim data), for a total of 42 modelling scenarios.</p><p>In the 2015 scenario, we estimate global soil erosion equal to 43 (+9.2/−7) Pg yr<sup>−1</sup>; with a study area covering ∼95.5% of the Earth’s land surface (in Borrelli et al. 2017 the study area was ~84.1% of the Earth’s land surface). The future scenarios suggest that socioeconomic developments impacting land use will either decrease (SSP1-RCP2.6–10%) or increase (SSP2-RCP4.5 +2%, SSP5-RCP8.5 +10%) water erosion by 2070. By contrast, climate projections, for all global dynamics scenarios, indicate a trend, moving toward a more vigorous hydrological cycle, which could increase global water erosion (+30 to +66%). Quantitatively, 56.1 (+20.6+ /- 16.4) Pg yr<sup>−1</sup>, 64.8 (+28.5/-21.4) Pg yr<sup>−1</sup>, and 71.6 (+32.5/-24.7) Pg yr<sup>−1</sup> are predicted for the SSP1-RCP2.6, SSP2-RCP4.5, and SSP5-RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively.</p><p>The modeling framework presented in this study adopts standardized data in an adequate format to communicate with adjacent disciplines and moves us toward robust, reproducible, and open data science.</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>Borrelli, P., Robinson, D.A., Fleischer, L.R., Lugato, E., Ballabio, C., Alewell, C., Meusburger, K., Modugno, S., Schütt, B., Ferro, V. and Bagarello, V., 2017. An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil erosion. Nature communications, 8(1), pp.1-13.</p><p>Borrelli, P., Robinson, D.A., Panagos, P., Lugato, E., Yang, J.E., Alewell, C., Wuepper, D., Montanarella, L. and Ballabio, C., 2020. Land use and climate change impacts on global soil erosion by water (2015-2070). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(36), pp.21994-22001.</p>

scholarly journals Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a subalpine area in Switzerland

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 3763-3775 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Meusburger ◽  
G. Leitinger ◽  
L. Mabit ◽  
M. H. Mueller ◽  
A. Walter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Sediment Yield ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Snow Gliding

Abstract. Snow processes might be one important driver of soil erosion in Alpine grasslands and thus the unknown variable when erosion modelling is attempted. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of snow gliding as a soil erosion agent for four different land use/land cover types in a subalpine area in Switzerland. We used three different approaches to estimate soil erosion rates: sediment yield measurements in snow glide depositions, the fallout radionuclide 137Cs and modelling with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). RUSLE permits the evaluation of soil loss by water erosion, the 137Cs method integrates soil loss due to all erosion agents involved, and the measurement of snow glide deposition sediment yield can be directly related to snow-glide-induced erosion. Further, cumulative snow glide distance was measured for the sites in the winter of 2009/2010 and modelled for the surrounding area and long-term average winter precipitation (1959–2010) with the spatial snow glide model (SSGM). Measured snow glide distance confirmed the presence of snow gliding and ranged from 2 to 189 cm, with lower values on the north-facing slopes. We observed a reduction of snow glide distance with increasing surface roughness of the vegetation, which is an important information with respect to conservation planning and expected and ongoing land use changes in the Alps. Snow glide erosion estimated from the snow glide depositions was highly variable with values ranging from 0.03 to 22.9 t ha−1 yr−1 in the winter of 2012/2013. For sites affected by snow glide deposition, a mean erosion rate of 8.4 t ha−1 yr−1 was found. The difference in long-term erosion rates determined with RUSLE and 137Cs confirms the constant influence of snow-glide-induced erosion, since a large difference (lower proportion of water erosion compared to total net erosion) was observed for sites with high snow glide rates and vice versa. Moreover, the difference between RUSLE and 137Cs erosion rates was related to the measured snow glide distance (R2 = 0.64; p < 0.005) and to the snow deposition sediment yields (R2 = 0.39; p = 0.13). The SSGM reproduced the relative difference of the measured snow glide values under different land uses and land cover types. The resulting map highlighted the relevance of snow gliding for large parts of the investigated area. Based on these results, we conclude that snow gliding appears to be a crucial and non-negligible process impacting soil erosion patterns and magnitude in subalpine areas with similar topographic and climatic conditions.

scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of Floods Disaster on Soil Erosion Risk Based on the RUSLE-GloSEM Approach in Western Iran

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Akbari ◽  
Ehsan Neamatollahi ◽  
Hadi Memarian ◽  
Mohammad Alizadeh Noughani
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Erosion Risk ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
Major Floods ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Floods cause great damage to ecosystems and are among the main agents of soil erosion. Given the importance of soils for the functioning of ecosystems and development and improvement of bio-economic conditions, the risk and rate of soil erosion was assessed using the RUSLE model in Iran’s Lorestan province before and after a period of major floods in late 2018 and early 2019. Furthermore, soil erosion was calculated for current and future conditions based on the Global Soil Erosion Modeling Database (GloSEM). The results showed that agricultural development and land use change are the main causes of land degradation in the southern and central parts of the study area. The impact of floods was also significant since our evaluations showed that soil erosion increased from 4.12 t ha-1 yr-1 before the floods to 10.93 t ha-1 yr-1 afterwards. Field surveying using 64 ground control points determined that erodibility varies from 0.17 to 0.49% in the study area. Orchards, farms, rangelands and forests with moderate or low vegetation cover were the most vulnerable land uses to soil erosion. The GloSEM modeling results revealed that climate change is the main cause of change in the rate of soil erosion. Combined land use change-climate change simulation showed that soil erosion will increase considerably in the future under SSP1-RCP2.6, SSP2-RCP4.5, and SSP5-RCP8.5 scenarios. In the study area, both natural factors, i.e. climate change and human factors such as agricultural development, population growth, and overgrazing are the main drivers of soil erosion.

scholarly journals On-Site Water and Wind Erosion Experiments Reveal Relative Impact on Total Soil Erosion

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Marzen ◽  
Thomas Iserloh ◽  
Wolfgang Fister ◽  
Manuel Seeger ◽  
Jesus Rodrigo-Comino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Relative Impact ◽  
Wheat Field ◽  
Total Soil ◽  
Potential Impact

The relative impact of water and wind on total erosion was investigated by means of an experimental-empirical study. Wind erosion and water erosion were measured at five different sites: (1) Mediterranean fallow, (2) Mediterranean orchard, (3) wheat field, (4) vineyard and (5) sand substrate. Mean erosion rates ranged from 1.55 to 618 g·m−2·h−1 for wind and from 0.09 to 133.90 g·m−2·h−1 for rain eroded material over all tested sites. Percentages (%) of eroded sediment for wind and rain, respectively, were found to be 2:98 on Mediterranean fallow, 11:89 on Mediterranean orchard, 3:97 on wheat field, 98:2 on vineyard and 99:1 on sand substrate. For the special case of soil surface crust destroyed by goat trampling, the measured values emphasize a strong potential impact of herding on total soil erosion. All sites produced erosion by wind and rain, and relations show that both erosive forces may have an impact on total soil erosion depending on site characteristics. The results indicate a strong need to focus on both wind and water erosion particularly concerning soils and substrates in vulnerable environments. Measured rates show a general potential erosion depending on recent developments of land use and climate change and may raise awareness of scientist, farmers and decision makers about potential impact of both erosive forces. Knowledge about exact relationship is key for an adapted land use management, which has great potential to mitigate degradation processes related to climate change.

scholarly journals Estimating Human Impacts on Soil Erosion Considering Different Hillslope Inclinations and Land Uses in the Coastal Region of Syria

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safwan Mohammed ◽  
Hazem G. Abdo ◽  
Szilard Szabo ◽  
Quoc Bao Pham ◽  
Imre J. Holb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Erosion Processes

Soils in the coastal region of Syria (CRoS) are one of the most fragile components of natural ecosystems. However, they are adversely affected by water erosion processes after extreme land cover modifications such as wildfires or intensive agricultural activities. The main goal of this research was to clarify the dynamic interaction between erosion processes and different ecosystem components (inclination, land cover/land use, and rainy storms) along with the vulnerable territory of the CRoS. Experiments were carried out in five different locations using a total of 15 erosion plots. Soil loss and runoff were quantified in each experimental plot, considering different inclinations and land uses (agricultural land (AG), burnt forest (BF), forest/control plot (F)). Observed runoff and soil loss varied greatly according to both inclination and land cover after 750 mm of rainfall (26 events). In the cultivated areas, the average soil water erosion ranged between 0.14 ± 0.07 and 0.74 ± 0.33 kg/m2; in the BF plots, mean soil erosion ranged between 0.03 ± 0.01 and 0.24 ± 0.10 kg/m2. The lowest amount of erosion was recorded in the F plots where the erosion ranged between 0.1 ± 0.001 and 0.07 ± 0.03 kg/m2. Interestingly, the General Linear Model revealed that all factors (i.e., inclination, rainfall and land use) had a significant (p < 0.001) effect on the soil loss. We concluded that human activities greatly influenced soil erosion rates, being higher in the AG lands, followed by BF and F. Therefore, the current study could be very useful to policymakers and planners for proposing immediate conservation or restoration plans in a less studied area which has been shown to be vulnerable to soil erosion processes.

Management-induced soil water erosion and nutrient losses in different land use in Mediterranean environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Bogunovic ◽  
Leon Josip Telak ◽  
Paulo Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Rainfall Simulation ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Nutrient Losses ◽  
Olive Orchard

&lt;p&gt;Soil erosion by water is one of the most important degradation processes. Land use has important effects on soil properties, therefore it is key to identify the type of management that have more impacts and find solutions to mitigate it. In order to understand the effects of land use management on soil and soil erosion in the Istria region (Croatia), we studied the impacts of different agriculture practices (vineyard, cropland, and olive orchard) on soil properties and runoff. The simulated rainfall was carried out at 58 mm h&lt;sup&gt;&amp;#8722;1&lt;/sup&gt; in the summer of 2018 (30% soil water content) for 30 min on 0.785 m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; circular plots. The results showed that bulk density was significantly higher in cropland plots than in the vineyard and olive orchard. Soil organic matter, mean weight diameter, and aggregate stability were significantly higher in olive orchard plots than in the vineyard and cropland. Runoff and sediment losses were higher in olive orchard compared to vineyard plots. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus losses were highest in olive orchard plots with 3.9 kg ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, 405.2 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; and 73.6 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, respectively, while lower values were measured in the vineyard plots, where nutrients losses were lower with 0.9 kg ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, 73.8 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; and 6.5 g ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, respectively. No runoff was observed in cropland plots. Even with the highest measured values of runoff and erosion in the herbicide treated olive orchard, results indicate that both herbicide application and tillage represent a threat to the sustainability of Istrian soils. Vegetation cover on cropland reduces the runoff generation indicating the need for adoption of conservation strategies. In current management, vegetation removal should be avoided since it contributes to practice to reduce nutrient losses and increase the sustainability of the soils.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keywords&lt;/strong&gt;: Soil water erosion, Soil tillage, Rainfall simulation, Agriculture land management, Mediterranean&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acknowledgements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This work was supported by Croatian Science Foundation through the project &quot;Soil erosion and degradation in Croatia&quot; (UIP-2017-05-7834) (SEDCRO).&lt;/p&gt;

Evaluation of changes in soil erosion rates in Andalucia between 1990 and 2018

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Milazzo ◽  
Tom Vanwalleghem ◽  
Pilar Fernández, Rebollo ◽  
Jesus Fernández-Habas
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Soil Erosion Rate ◽  
Soil Erosion Rates ◽  
Management Changes ◽  
Soil Erosion By Water

&lt;p&gt;Land use and land management changes impact significantly on soil erosion rates. The Mediterranean, and in particular Southern Spain, has been affected by important shifts in the last decades. This area is currently identified as a hotspot for soil erosion by water. In the effort to achieve the SDG Target 15, we aim to show the effect of land management change, assessing soil erosion rate based on historical data. We analyzed the evolution of land use from historical aerial photographs between 1990 and 2018. We then calculated soil erosion with RUSLE. For this, we first determined the distribution frequency of cover-management factors for each land use class, comparing current land use maps with the European Soil Erosion Map (Panagos et al., 2015). Past C factors where then assigned using a Monte Carlo approach, based on the obtained frequency distributions.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean de Dieu Nambajimana ◽  
Xiubin He ◽  
Ji Zhou ◽  
Meta Francis Justine ◽  
Jinlin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Control Water

Rwanda has experienced accelerated soil erosion as a result of unsustainable human activities and changes in land use. Therefore, this study aimed at applying the RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) model using GIS (Geographical Information System) and remote sensing to assess water erosion in Rwanda, focusing on the erosion-prone lands for the time span 2000 to 2015. The estimated mean annual soil losses were 48.6 t ha−1 y−1 and 39.2 t ha−1 y−1 in 2000 and 2015, respectively, resulting in total nationwide losses of approximately 110 and 89 million tons. Over the 15 years, 34.6% of the total area of evaluated LULC (land use/land cover) types have undergone changes. The highest mean soil loss of 91.6 t ha−1 y−1 occurred in the area changing from grassland to forestland (0.5%) while a mean soil loss of 10.0 t ha−1 y−1 was observed for grassland converting to cropland (4.4%). An attempt has been made to identify the embedded driving forces of soil erosion in Rwanda. As a result, we found that mean soil loss for Rwanda’s districts in 2015 was significantly correlated with poverty (r = 0.45, p = 0.013), increased use of chemical fertilizers (r = 0.77, p = 0.005), and especially was related to extreme poverty (r = 0.77, p = 0.000). The soil conservation scenario analysis for Rwanda’s cropland in 2015 revealed that terracing could reduce the soil loss by 24.8% (from 14.6 t ha−1 y−1 to 11.7 t ha−1 y−1). Most importantly, the study suggests that (1) terracing integrated with mulching and cover crops could effectively control water erosion while ameliorating soil quality and fertility, and (2) reforestation schemes targeting the rapid-growing tree species are therefore recommended as an important feature for erosion control in the study area.

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