Soil and water conservation on the Loess Plateau in China: review and perspective

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liding Chen ◽  
Wei Wei ◽  
Bojie Fu ◽  
Yihe Lü
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
The Past ◽  
Soil And Water ◽  
Made In

The Loess Plateau, China, has long been suffering from serious soil erosion. About 2000 years ago, larger areas were used for grain production and soil erosion was thus becoming severe with increase in human activity. Severe soil and water loss led to widespread land degradation. During the past decades, great efforts were made in vegetation restoration to reduce soil erosion. However, the efficiency of vegetation restoration was not as satisfactory as expected due to water shortage. China initiated another state-funded scheme, the `Grain-for-Green' project in 1999, on the Loess Plateau to reduce soil erosion and improve land quality. However, the control of soil erosion effectively by land-use modification raised problems. In this paper, the lessons and experiences regarding soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau in the past decades are analysed first. Urgent problems are then elaborated, such as the contradiction between land resource and human population, shortage of water both in amount and tempospatial distribution for vegetation growth, weak awareness of the problems of soil conservation by local officials, and poor public participation in soil and water conservation. Finally, suggestions regarding soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau are given. In order to control soil erosion and improve vegetation, a scientific and detailed land-use plan for the Loess Plateau has to be made, in the first instance, and then planning for wise use of water resources should be undertaken to control mass movement effectively and to improve land productivity. Methods of improving public awareness of environmental conservation and public involvement in vegetation rehabilitation are also important.

scholarly journals Effects of Vegetation Restoration on Soil Erosion on the Loess Plateau: A Case Study in the Ansai Watershed

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6266
Author(s):  
Hui Wei ◽  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Han Wang
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Vegetation Restoration ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Local Soil ◽  
Erosion Environment

Large-scale vegetation restoration greatly changed the soil erosion environment in the Loess Plateau since the implementation of the “Grain for Green Project” (GGP) in 1999. Evaluating the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erosion is significant to local soil and water conservation and vegetation construction. Taking the Ansai Watershed as the case area, this study calculated the soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration, using the Chinese Soil Loess Equation (CSLE), based on rainfall and soil data, remote sensing images and socio-economic data. The effect of vegetation restoration on soil erosion was evaluated by comparing the average annual soil erosion modulus under two scenarios among 16 years. The results showed: (1) vegetation restoration significantly changed the local land use, characterized by the conversion of farmland to grassland, arboreal land, and shrub land. From 2000 to 2015, the area of arboreal land, shrub land, and grassland increased from 19.46 km2, 19.43 km2, and 719.49 km2 to 99.26 km2, 75.97 km2, and 1084.24 km2; while the farmland area decreased from 547.90 km2 to 34.35 km2; (2) the average annual soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under the initial and current scenarios of vegetation restoration was 114.44 t/(hm²·a) and 78.42 t/(hm²·a), respectively, with an average annual reduction of 4.81 × 106 t of soil erosion amount thanks to the vegetation restoration; (3) the dominant soil erosion intensity changed from “severe and light erosion” to “moderate and light erosion”, vegetation restoration greatly improved the soil erosion environment in the study area; (4) areas with increased erosion and decreased erosion were alternately distributed, accounting for 48% and 52% of the total land area, and mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast of the watershed, respectively. Irrational land use changes in local areas (such as the conversion of farmland and grassland into construction land, etc.) and the ineffective implementation of vegetation restoration are the main reasons leading to the existence of areas with increased erosion.

The response of extreme rainstorm to global climate pattern changes in the loess plateau

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
shaobo long
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Sst Anomaly ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Soil And Water

<p><strong>The response of extreme rainstorm to global </strong><strong>climate pattern changes in the loess plateau</strong></p><p>Shaobo Long<sup>1,3</sup>、Jianen Gao<sup>1,2,3*</sup>、Huijuan Li<sup>5</sup>、Zhe Gao<sup>4</sup>、minmin Qiang<sup>1,3</sup>、Sixuan Liu<sup>1,3</sup></p><ol><li>Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.</li> <li>Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.</li> <li>Research Center on Soil and Water Conservation, Ministry of Water Resources, 712100, Yangling, Shannxi, China.</li> <li>College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.</li> <li>Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Research, CAS, 100101, Beijing, China.</li> </ol><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>The loess plateau is the region with the most serious soil and water problems in the world, the soil erosion mainly occurs in the season of rainfall, especially the extreme rainstorm has great influence on soil erosion. In recent years, under the background of global climate change, extreme rainstorm occurs frequently in the loess plateau, causes a series of soil damage, was difficult to predict. Therefore, it is a great significance to study the rule of extreme rainstorm for the soil erosion in the loess plateau. Based on the daily rainfall data of 56 meteorological stations and global sea surface temperatures (SST) data in the last 60 years, the effects of El Niño on extreme rainstorm were studied by using empirical orthogonal function (EOF), wavelet transform, and other statistical methods. The results show:</p><ul><li>(1) The extreme rainstorm has obvious spatial distribution characteristics, which decreases gradually from the south to the north of the loess plateau; Temporal variation of extreme rainstorm has obvious decadal oscillation, showing a decreasing trend from 1982 to 2012 and an increasing trend after 2012.</li> <li>(2) There was a significant positive correlation between the time coefficient of EOF1 for SST and the extreme rainstorm (P < 0.05). Wavelet analysis shows that Both extreme rainstorm and SST anomaly have a 30-year cycle, with the time change becoming more dramatic after 2012.</li> <li>(3) El Niño has obvious influence on the extreme rainstorm in the loess plateau region. Extreme rainstorm can be predicted about 1 year in advance by the change of SST anomaly. This is of great significance to the study of extreme rainfall erosion in the loess plateau.</li> </ul><p><strong>Keywords: The loess plateau; Extreme rainstorm; El Niño</strong></p><p><strong>Funding:</strong></p><ol><li>The National key Research and Development Program of China (No.2017YFC0504703).</li> <li>National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41877078, 41371276).</li> <li>Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.A315021615).</li> </ol>

scholarly journals Vulnerability Assessment of Soil and Water Loss in Loess Plateau and Its Impact on Farmers’ Soil and Water Conservation Adaptive Behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Huang ◽  
Lili Wang ◽  
Qian Lu
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Loss ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil And Water Loss ◽  
Conservation Technology ◽  
Soil And Water

Analyzing vulnerability and adaptation to soil and water loss is an important part of the study on the human–environment relationship in the Loess Plateau. It has also provided a new perspective for studying the farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology in the soil erosion area of the Loess Plateau. Based on the Turner vulnerability framework, this paper constructs a household-scale index system of soil and water loss vulnerability in the Loess Plateau and evaluates the soil and water loss vulnerability in the Loess Plateau using the field survey data of the Loess Plateau applied entropy method. Finally, we use the binary logistic model to estimate the impact mechanism of farmers’ soil erosion vulnerability on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) In the total sample, susceptibility > exposure > adaptability, whereas in the Shaanxi and Gansu subsample, susceptibility > adaptability > exposure. The Ningxia subsample was similar to the total sample. For each index, Ningxia > Gansu > Shaanxi; (2) The exposure and susceptibility of soil and water loss have a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology, and natural capital has a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Physical capital has a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of biological measures. Financial capital has a negative impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of biological measures and farming measures. Social capital has a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of engineering measures and biological measures; (3) Overall, the marginal effect of the adoption behavior of farmers’ soil and water conservation techniques, adaptability > susceptibility > exposure. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of soil and water loss, encourage the government and farmers to respond in time, and reduce the losses caused by soil erosion. Enriching the capital endowment of farmers, breaking through the endowment restriction of farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation technology.

scholarly journals Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change, Coal Mining and Soil and Water Conservation on Streamflow in a Coal Mining Concentrated Watershed on the Loess Plateau, China

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaoling Guo ◽  
Yaoyao Han ◽  
Yunsong Yang ◽  
Guobin Fu ◽  
Jianlin Li
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Annual Streamflow ◽  
Significant Downward Trend ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil And Water

The streamflow has declined significantly in the coal mining concentrated watershed of the Loess Plateau, China, since the 1970s. Quantifying the impact of climate change, coal mining and soil and water conservation (SWC), which are mainly human activities, on streamflow is essential not only for understanding the mechanism of hydrological response, but also for water resource management in the catchment. In this study, the trend of annual streamflow series by Mann-Kendall test has been analyzed, and years showing abrupt changes have been detected using the cumulative anomaly curves and Pettitt test. The contribution of climate change, coal mining and SWC on streamflow has been separated with the monthly water-balance model (MWBM) and field investigation. The results showed: (1) The streamflow had an statistically significant downward trend during 1955–2013; (2) The two break points were in 1979 and 1996; (3) Relative to the baseline period, i.e., 1955–1978, the mean annual streamflow reduction in 1979–1996 was mainly affected by climate change, which was responsible for a decreased annual streamflow of 12.70 mm, for 70.95%, while coal mining and SWC resulted in a runoff reduction of 2.15 mm, 12.01% and 3.05mm, 17.04%, respectively; (4) In a recent period, i.e., 1997–2013, the impact of coal mining on streamflow reduction was dominant, reaching 29.88 mm, 54.24%. At the same time, the declining mean annual streamflow induced through climate change and SWC were 13.01 mm, 23.62% and 12.20 mm, 22.14%, respectively.

scholarly journals A Bibliometric Analysis of Soil and Water Conservation in the Loess Tableland-Gully Region of China

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaping Wang ◽  
Wenzhao Liu ◽  
Gang Li ◽  
Weiming Yan ◽  
Guangyao Gao
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Chinese Loess Plateau ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Chinese Loess ◽  
Ecological Remediation ◽  
Soil And Water

The tableland-gully region is one of the main topographic-ecological units in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), and the soil in this region suffers from serious water erosion. In recent years, much work has been conducted to control soil erosion in this area. This paper summarized the development of soil and water conservation researches in the CLP from the bibliometric perspective based on the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. The quantity of SCI literatures has increased rapidly since 2007, with an average annual growth rate of 21.4%, and the quantity of CNKI literatures in the last decade accounted for 62% of the past 30 years. The development trends showed that early SCI research was related to loess geology in the context of ecological remediation, while the CNKI literature focused on agricultural production under comprehensive management. Over time, the research themes of the two databases gradually became unified, i.e., the management of sloping farmland and the improvement of agricultural productivity. Subsequently, the themes gradually extended to the disposition of comprehensive control measures for soil erosion and the environmental effect of agro-fruit ecosystems. The highly cited papers mainly focused on soil reservoir reconstruction, soil erosion factors, and environmental effects of vegetation restoration. Two aspects need further study, including (i) the effect of soil erosion control under different ecological remediation patterns; and, (ii) the ecosystem maintenance mechanism and regulation approaches that are based on the sustainable utilization of soil and water resources in the tableland-gully region of the Loess Plateau.

The Geo-Hazards Triggered of Serial Reclamation Land of Extreme Precipitation in Typical Regions of the Loess Plateau

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Gao
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
Land Consolidation ◽  
Geological Hazards ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
The World ◽  
Soil And Water ◽  
Land Consolidation Project

<p>The Geo-Hazards Triggered of Serial Reclamation Land of Extreme Precipitation in Typical Regions of the Loess Plateau<br>Gao Zhe<sup>1</sup>,Zhang Genguang <sup>1*</sup>,Gao Jian'en<sup>1,2,3</sup>,Li Xingyao<sup>1</sup>,Han Jianqiao<sup>2,3</sup>,Kang Youcai<sup>3</sup>,Guo Zihao<sup>3</sup>,Long Shaobo<sup>2</sup>,Dou Shaohui<sup>2</sup>,Zhang Yuanyuan<sup>3</sup><br>1. College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China;<br>2. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China;<br>3. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China;</p><p>The “Gully Land Consolidation Project”(GLCP) was widely carried out all over the world, such as Spain, the United States and China. It was a new attempt to solve the shortage of regional land resources. Aiming at the problem that the influence of extreme rainstorms on the “Gully Land Consolidation Project”(GLCP) on the Loess Plateau.By using the method of actual measurement and analysis of categorical data, the erosion disaster in July 26 2017 was investigated in Niu Xue Gully of Wuding River Watershed in Zizhou County of the Central part of the Loess Plateau. The results showed : </p><p>(1) The Niu Xue Gully Small Watershed in Zizhou County (109°55'25"E, 37°39'46"N), which was located in the central part of the Loess Plateau and belonged to the northern Shaanxi Loess Hilly-Gully region. The Niu Xuegou catchment covered an area of 0.48 km<sup>2</sup> and the average altitude of the region in about 1000-1200 meters, land consolidation in the basin about 38 mu（25333.3m<sup>2</sup>）since 2014.</p><p>(2) This storm was characterized by "long duration and large precipitation", the accumulated rainfall was 147.9 mm, the average rainfall intensity was 13.45 mm/h, the maximum rainfall intensity was close to 5 mm/min, the maximum flood peak discharge was 44.64 m<sup>3</sup>/s, the flood duration was about 11 hours, and the flood recurrence period was more than once in a hundred years.</p><p>(3) The storm caused nearly a thousand geological hazards at the channel of the basin. The main types of disasters were as follows, gravity erosion types, such as landslides, landslides, and mudflows, account for 14.85% of the conventional geological hazards; secondary disasters of water erosion types, such as trench erosion and dam erosion, occurring at different locations on the slope, accounted for 51.05% and composite new-derived land destruction and dam break disasters account for nearly 10% .</p><p>(4) The damage of cascade land preparation was closely related to the average flood discharge, embankment height and ecological vegetation cover in the watershed.<br>The investigation provided technical support for the consolidation of the Chinese implementation of the "Cropland to Forest (Grass)" results on the Loess Plateau, and also provided theoretical support for the safe implementation of the “Gully Land Consolidation Project”(GLCP) around the world.<br><br></p><p>Keywords: The loess plateau; Extreme rainstorm;The “Gully Land Consolidation Project”(GLCP)</p><p>Funding:(National Key R&D Program of China: 2017YFC0504703)；(National Natural Science Foundation of China,41877078,41371276,51879227);(Research and Development and Integrated demonstration of key Technologies in soil and Water Conservation Engineering,A315021615)</p><p><strong>        </strong></p>

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