Spatial Modeling of Relationship Between Soil Erosion Factors and Land-use Changes at Sub-Watershed Scale for the Talar Watershed, Iran

Abstract Soil erosion is one of the most common types of land degradation. To provide useful information for proper management, quantitative soil erosion evaluation and identification of effective factors are needed. However, rare studies have been reported on spatial modeling of soil erosion in connection with affective factors to prioritize the locality and the type of erosion control measures Hence, the aim of this study was to (1) assess erosion-prone areas in the Talar Watershed, Iran, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model, and (2) investigate the relationship between soil erosion variability and land-use changes. Toward that, the ordinary least squares (OLS), geographically weighted regression (GWR) models, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to analyze spatial relationships between soil erosion, and land-use, and the RUSLE factors. The results of the OLS and GWR models indicated these relationships are spatially non-stationary and GWR models had a good predictive performance rather than OLS with lower Akaike's Information Criterion (from 254.31 to 276.81 in OLS, and from 247.87 to 269.42 in GWR) and higher adjusted R2 values (from 0.12 to 0.54 in OLS, and from 0.36 to 0.66 in GWR). Among the aforementioned variables, LS factor, P factor, forest, and irrigated land were the most effective variables in GWR models. The results of PCA showed PC1 and PC2 explained 66.2 % of the variation in soil erosion concerning land-use and the RUSLE factors. These results provided appropriate references for managers and experts in the proper planning of the study watershed.

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Interplay between land use changes and soil erosion in a small mountainous catchment in southern Italy

Rendiconti online della Società Geologica Italiana ◽

10.3301/rol.2016.08 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. 25-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Massimo Conforti ◽

Gabriele Buttafuoco

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Mountainous Catchment

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Land-Use Change Impacts from Sustainable Hydropower Production in EU28 Region: An Empirical Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13094599 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 4599

Author(s):

Mohd Alsaleh ◽

Muhammad Mansur Abdulwakil ◽

Abdul Samad Abdul-Rahim

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Land Use ◽

European Union ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Energy Production ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Ordinary Least Squares ◽

The European Union ◽

Hydropower Production

Under the current European Union (EU) constitution approved in May 2018, EU countries ought to guarantee that estimated greenhouse-gas releases from land use, land-use change, or forestry are entirely compensated by an equivalent accounted removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air during the period between 2021 and 2030. This study investigates the effect of sustainable hydropower production on land-use change in the European Union (EU28) region countries during 1990–2018, using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). The results revealed that land-use change incline with an increase in hydropower energy production. In addition, economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions, and population density are found to be increasing land-use changes, while institutional quality is found to be decreasing land-use change significantly. The finding implies that land-use change in EU28 region countries can be significantly increased by mounting the amount of hydropower energy production to achieve Energy Union aims by 2030. This will finally be spread to combat climate change and environmental pollution. The findings are considered robust as they were checked with DOLS and pooled OLS. The research suggests that the EU28 countries pay attention to the share of hydropower in their renewable energy combination to minimize carbon releases. Politicians and investors in the EU28 region ought to invest further in the efficiency and sustainability of hydropower generation to increase its production and accessibility without further degradation of forest and agricultural conditions. The authorities of the EU28 region should emphasize on efficiency and sustainability of hydropower energy with land-use management to achieve the international commitments for climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development, reduce dependence on fossil fuel, and energy insecurity.

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

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18126266 ◽

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.

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Impacts of oak deforestation and rainfed cultivation on soil redistribution processes across hillslopes using 137Cs techniques

Forest Ecosystems ◽

10.1186/s40663-021-00311-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Shamsollah Ayoubi ◽

Nafiseh Sadeghi ◽

Farideh Abbaszadeh Afshar ◽

Mohammad Reza Abdi ◽

Mojtaba Zeraatpisheh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Erosion Rate ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Natural Forest ◽

Oak Forests ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Rainfed Farming

Abstract Background As one of the main components of land-use change, deforestation is considered the greatest threat to global environmental diversity with possible irreversible environmental consequences. Specifically, one example could be the impacts of land-use changes from oak forests into agricultural ecosystems, which may have detrimental impacts on soil mobilization across hillslopes. However, to date, scarce studies are assessing these impacts at different slope positions and soil depths, shedding light on key geomorphological processes. Methods In this research, the Caesium-137 (137Cs) technique was applied to evaluate soil redistribution and soil erosion rates due to the effects of these above-mentioned land-use changes. To achieve this goal, we select a representative area in the Lordegan district, central Iran. 137Cs depth distribution profiles were established in four different hillslope positions after converting natural oak forests to rainfed farming. In each hillslope, soil samples from three depths (0–10, 10–20, and 20–50 cm) and in four different slope positions (summit, shoulder, backslope, and footslope) were taken in three transects of about 20 m away from each other. The activity of 137Cs was determined in all the soil samples (72 soil samples) by a gamma spectrometer. In addition, some physicochemical properties and the magnetic susceptibility (MS) of soil samples were measured. Results Erosion rates reached 51.1 t·ha− 1·yr− 1 in rainfed farming, whereas in the natural forest, the erosion rate was 9.3 t·ha− 1·yr− 1. Magnetic susceptibility was considerably lower in the cultivated land (χhf = 43.5 × 10− 8 m3·kg− 1) than in the natural forest (χhf = 55.1 × 10− 8 m3·kg− 1). The lower soil erosion rate in the natural forest land indicated significantly higher MS in all landform positions except at the summit one, compared to that in the rainfed farming land. The shoulder and summit positions were the most erodible hillslope positions in the natural forest and rainfed farming, respectively. Conclusions We concluded that land-use change and hillslope positions played a key role in eroding the surface soils in this area. Moreover, land management can influence soil erosion intensity and may both mitigate and amplify soil loss.

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Impacts of land use changes on soil erosion in Pa Deng sub-district, adjacent area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Soil and Water Research ◽

10.17221/32/2011-swr ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (No. 1) ◽

pp. 10-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

S. Wijitkosum

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Land Cover ◽

National Park ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Influential Factors ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Adjacent Area ◽

Erosion Risk ◽

Study Results

Soil erosion has been considered as the primary cause of soil degradation since soil erosion leads to the loss of topsoil and soil organic matters which are essential for the growing of plants. Land use, which relates to land cover, is one of the influential factors that affect soil erosion. In this study, impacts of land use changes on soil erosion in Pa Deng sub-district, adjacent area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand, were investigated by applying remote sensing technique, geographical information system (GIS) and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The study results revealed that land use changes in terms of area size and pattern influenced the soil erosion risk in Pa Deng in the 1990–2010 period. The area with smaller land cover obviously showed the high risk of soil erosion than the larger land cover did.

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Modeling the Impacts of Land Use Changes on Soil Erosion at the River Basin Scale

Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University ◽

10.5109/27370 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 377-387

Author(s):

Yanna Xiong ◽

Guoqiang Wang ◽

Yanguo Teng ◽

Kyoichi Otsuki

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

River Basin ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

River Basin Scale ◽

Basin Scale

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Modeling Soil Erosion and Landscape Metric Analysis of River Catchments in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University ◽

10.35741/issn.0258-2724.55.3.19 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Sumayyah Aimi Mohd Najib

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Shannon Diversity Index ◽

Universal Soil Loss Equation ◽

Data Sampling ◽

Shannon Diversity ◽

Soil Loss Equation

To determine the soil erosion in ungauged catchments, the author used 2 methods: Universal Soil Loss Equation model and sampling data. Sampling data were used to verify and validate data from model. Changing land use due to human activities will affect soil erosion. Land use has changed significantly during the last century in Pulau Pinang. The main rapid changes are related to agriculture, settlement, and urbanization. Because soil erosion depends on surface runoff, which is regulated by the structure of land use and brought about through changes in slope length, land-use changes are one of many factors influencing land degradation caused by erosion. The Universal Soil Loss Equation was used to estimate past soil erosion based on land uses from 1974 to 2012. Results indicated a significant increase in three land-use categories: forestry, built-up areas, and agriculture. Another method to evaluate land use changes in this study was by using landscape metrics analysis. The mean patch size of built-up area and forest increased, while agriculture land use decreased from 48.82 patches in 1974 to 22.46 patches in 2012. Soil erosion increased from an estimated 110.18 ton/km2/year in 1974 to an estimated 122.44 ton/km2/year in 2012. Soil erosion is highly related (R2 = 0.97) to the Shannon Diversity Index, which describes the diversity in land-use composition in river basins. The Shannon Diversity Index also increased between 1974 and 2012. The findings from this study can be used for future reference and for ungauged catchment research studies.

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