Estimating Medium-Term Soil Erosion Rates under Different Types of Land Use in Red Soil Region of Jiangxi, Southern China Using 137Cs Technique

Soil erosion has been recognized as one of the major environmental problem in red soil region of southern China. The spatial variation of soil erosion was studied using 137Cs technique at three sites (site A, site B, site C) under different type of land use in Jiangxi province. To understand the spatial distribution of soil erosion is important for taking proper soil and water conservation measures. 280 samples were collected at three sites. Medium-term average soil erosion rates estimated for dry farmland is 83.1 kg ha-1 a-1 at site A, and that for paddy fields with terraces on the middle-lower slope is 79.2 kg ha-1 a-1 at site B. Among the uncultivated lands, the average soil erosion rate of bare land is 3700 kg ha-1 a-1 on the upper slope at site A, that of woodland covered with masson pines on the upper slope is 1106 kg ha-1 a-1 at site B and that of economic forest that covered with orchard is 1380.5 kg ha-1 a-1 at site C. On the whole, the soil erosion rate of cultivated land is lower than that of uncultivated land. Bare land, woodland and orchard are the three main sources of soil erosion in red soil region of southern China. Protective measures of cultivated land, such as terraces, field ridge and ditch beside the land, had been demonstrated effectively in controlling soil erosion. The findings provide more information on agricultural land under different type of land use and managed measures which play an important role in controlling the soil loss in Southern China to a certain degree.

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Estimation of soil loss using remote sensing and GIS-based universal soil loss equation in northern catchment of Lake Tana Sub-basin, Upper Blue Nile Basin, Northwest Ethiopia

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH ◽

10.1186/s40068-020-00203-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Veera Narayana Balabathina ◽

R. P. Raju ◽

Wuletaw Mulualem ◽

Gedefaw Tadele

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Erosion Rate ◽

Soil Erodibility ◽

Lake Tana ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Soil Erosion Rate ◽

Soil Loss Equation

Abstract Background Soil erosion is one of the major environmental challenges and has a significant impact on potential land productivity and food security in many highland regions of Ethiopia. Quantifying and identifying the spatial patterns of soil erosion is important for management. The present study aims to estimate soil erosion by water in the Northern catchment of Lake Tana basin in the NW highlands of Ethiopia. The estimations are based on available data through the application of the Universal Soil Loss Equation integrated with Geographic Information System and remote sensing technologies. The study further explored the effects of land use and land cover, topography, soil erodibility, and drainage density on soil erosion rate in the catchment. Results The total estimated soil loss in the catchment was 1,705,370 tons per year and the mean erosion rate was 37.89 t ha−1 year−1, with a standard deviation of 59.2 t ha−1 year−1. The average annual soil erosion rare for the sub-catchments Derma, Megech, Gumara, Garno, and Gabi Kura were estimated at 46.8, 40.9, 30.9, 30.0, and 29.7 t ha−1 year−1, respectively. Based on estimated erosion rates in the catchment, the grid cells were divided into five different erosion severity classes: very low, low, moderate, high and extreme. The soil erosion severity map showed about 58.9% of the area was in very low erosion potential (0–1 t ha−1 year−1) that contributes only 1.1% of the total soil loss, while 12.4% of the areas (36,617 ha) were in high and extreme erosion potential with erosion rates of 10 t ha−1 year−1 or more that contributed about 82.1% of the total soil loss in the catchment which should be a high priority. Areas with high to extreme erosion severity classes were mostly found in Megech, Gumero and Garno sub-catchments. Results of Multiple linear regression analysis showed a relationship between soil erosion rate (A) and USLE factors that soil erosion rate was most sensitive to the topographic factor (LS) followed by the support practice (P), soil erodibility (K), crop management (C) and rainfall erosivity factor (R). Barenland showed the most severe erosion, followed by croplands and plantation forests in the catchment. Conclusions Use of the erosion severity classes coupled with various individual factors can help to understand the primary processes affecting erosion and spatial patterns in the catchment. This could be used for the site-specific implementation of effective soil conservation practices and land use plans targeted in erosion-prone locations to control soil erosion.

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Effects of Land Use and Slope Gradient on Soil Erosion in a Red Soil Hilly Watershed of Southern China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su71014309 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. 14309-14325 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Zhanyu Zhang ◽

Liting Sheng ◽

Jie Yang ◽

Xiao-An Chen ◽

Lili Kong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Southern China ◽

Red Soil ◽

Slope Gradient ◽

Hilly Watershed ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-863 ◽

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

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.&#160;

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Investigation of the effect of anthropogenic land use on the Pănăzii Lake (Romania) catchment area using Cs-137 and Pb-210 radionuclides

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0251603 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. e0251603

Author(s):

Robert-Csaba Begy ◽

Codrin F. Savin ◽

Szabolcs Kelemen ◽

Daniel Veres ◽

Octavian-Liviu Muntean ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Sedimentation Rate ◽

Catchment Area ◽

Gamma Spectroscopy ◽

Soil Parameters ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Soil Erosion Rate ◽

Soil Erosion Rates ◽

Lake Catchment

The problem of soil degradation has accentuated over recent decades. Aspects related to soil erosion and its relation to changes in land use as well as anthropogenic influence constitute a topic of great interest. The current study is focused on a soil erosion assessment in relation to land use activities in the Pănăzii Lake catchment area. Fallout radionuclides were used to provide information on soil erosion as well as redistribution rates and patterns. Variations in the sedimentation rate of the lake were also investigated as these reflect periods in which massive erosion events occurred in the lake catchment area. The novelty of this study is the construction of a timescale with regard to the soil erosion events to better understand the relationship between soil erosion and land use activities. In this study, 10 soil profiles and one sediment core from the lake were taken. Soil parameters were determined for each sample. The activities of 210Pb, 137Cs and 226Ra were measured by gamma spectroscopy. For low 210Pb activities, measurements via 210Po using an alpha spectrometer were performed. Soil erosion rates were determined by the 137Cs method and the sedimentation rate calculated by the Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) model. A soil erosion rate of 13.5 t·ha-1·yr-1 was obtained. Three distinct periods could be observed in the evolution of the sedimentation rate. For the first period, between 1880 and 1958, the average deposition rate was 9.2 tons/year, followed by a high deposition period (1960–1991) of 29.6 tons/year and a third period, consisting of the last 30 years, during which the sedimentation rate was 15.7 tons/year. These sedimentation rates fluctuated depending on the main land use activity, which can also be seen in the soil erosion rates that had almost doubled by the time agricultural activities were performed in the area.

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Assessment of Soil Erosion at Multiple Spatial Scales Following Land Use Changes in 1980-2017 in the Black Soil Region, (NE) China

10.20944/preprints202009.0082.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Haiyan Fang ◽

Zemeng Fan

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Erosion Rate ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Arable Land ◽

Rainfall Erosivity ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Soil Erosion Rate

Impact of land use and land cover (LULC) change on soil erosion is still imperfectly understood, especially in northeastern China (NEC). Based on the Revised Universal Loss Equation (RUSLE), the variability of soil erosion at different spatial scales following land use changes in1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017 was analyzed. The regionally spatial patterns of soil loss coincided with the topography, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, and use patterns, and around 45% soil loss came from arable land. Regionally, soil erosion rates increased from 1980 to 2010 and decreased from 2010 to 2017, ranging from 3.91 to 4.45 t ha-1 yr-1 with an average of 4.22 t ha-1 yr-1 in 1980-2017. The rates of soil erosion less than 1.41 t ha-1 yr-1 decreased from 1980 to 2010, and increased from 2010 to 2017, and opposite changing patterns occurred in higher erosion classes (i.e., above 5 t ha-1 yr-1). At a provincial scale, Liaoning Province experienced the highest soil erosion rate of 9.43 t ha-1 yr-1, followed by Jilin Province, the east Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjing Province. Arable land continuously increased at the expense of forest in the high-elevation and steep-slope areas from 1980 to 2010, and decreased from 2010 to 2017, resulting in increased areas with erosion rates higher than 7.05 t ha-1 yr-1. At a county scale, around 75% of the countries had soil erosion rate higher than its tolerance level. The county numbers with higher erosion rate increased in 1980-2010 and decreased in 2010- 2017, resulting from the sprawl and withdrawal of arable land. The results indicate that appropriate policies can control soil loss through limiting arable land sprawl in areas of unfavorable regions in the NEC.

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Assessment of Soil Erosion at Multiple Spatial Scales Following Land Use Changes in 1980–2017 in the Black Soil Region, (NE) China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17207378 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (20) ◽

pp. 7378

Author(s):

Haiyan Fang ◽

Zemeng Fan

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Erosion Rate ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Arable Land ◽

Black Soil ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Soil Erosion Rate ◽

Black Soil Region

Impact of land use and land cover change on soil erosion is still imperfectly understood, especially in northeastern China where severe soil erosion has occurred since the 1950s. It is important to identify temporal changes of soil erosion for the black soil region at different spatial scales. In the present study, potential soil erosion in northeastern China was estimated based on the Revised Universal Loss Equation by integrating satellite images, and the variability of soil erosion at different spatial scales following land use changes in 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017 was analyzed. The regionally spatial patterns of soil loss coincided with the topography, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, and use patterns, and around 45% of soil loss came from arable land. Regionally, soil erosion rates increased from 1980 to 2010 and decreased from 2010 to 2017, ranging from 3.91 to 4.45 Mg ha−1 yr−1 with an average of 4.22 Mg ha−1 yr−1 in 1980–2017. Areas with a rate of soil erosion less than 1.41 Mg ha−1 yr−1 decreased from 1980 to 2010 and increased from 2010 to 2017, and the opposite changing patterns occurred in higher erosion classes. Arable land continuously increased at the expense of forest in the high-elevation and steep-slope areas from 1980 to 2010, and decreased from 2010 to 2017, resulting in increased areas with erosion rates higher than 7.05 Mg ha−1 yr−1. At a provincial scale, Liaoning Province experienced the highest soil erosion rate of 9.43 Mg ha−1 yr−1, followed by Jilin Province, the eastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Heilongjiang Province. At a county scale, around 75% of the counties had a soil erosion rate higher than the tolerance level. The county numbers with higher erosion rate increased in 1980–2010 and decreased in 2010–2017, resulting from the sprawl and withdrawal of arable land.

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Interactive effects of land use and soil erosion on soil organic carbon in the dry-hot valley region of southern China

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2556 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yawen Li ◽

Xingwu Duan ◽

Ya Li ◽

Yuxiang Li ◽

Lanlan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Southern China ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Land Use Types ◽

Study Results ◽

Effects Of Land Use

Changes in land use can result in soil erosion and the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the individual contribution of different land use types on SOC variability as well as the combined impacts of land use and soil erosion are still unclear. The aims of the present study were to: (1) evaluate soil erosion and SOC contents under different land use types, (2) identify the influences of soil depth and land use on SOC content, and (3) determine the contribution of land use and soil erosion on SOC variability. We assessed the SOC and total soil nitrogen (TSN) contents under three types of land use in the dry-hot valley in southern China. Caesium-137 (137Cs) and excess lead-210 (210Pbex) contents were also measured to determine soil-erosion rates. Land use was found to significantly affect soil erosion, and erosion rates were higher in orchard land (OL) relative to farmland (FL), which is in contrast with previous study results. SOC and TSN contents varied significantly between the three land use types, with highest values in forest land (FRL) and lowest values in OL. SOC was found to decrease with decreasing soil depth; the highest rate of reduction occurred in the reference site (RS), followed by FRL and FL. The interaction between soil erosion and land use significantly impacted SOC in the soil surface layer (0&#8211;12 cm); the direct impact of soil erosion accounted for 1.5% of the SOC variability, and the direct or indirect effects of land use accounted for the remainder of the variability. SOC content in deep soil was mainly affected by factors related to land uses (89.0%). This quantitative study furthers our understanding on the interactive mechanisms of land use and soil erosion on changes in soil organic carbon.

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SOIL EROSION RATE ESTIMATION USING 137CS TECHNIQUE IN RED SOIL REGION, SOUTHERN CHINA

Soil Science ◽

10.1097/00010694-200502000-00005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 170 (2) ◽

pp. 120-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

S. Y. Zhuang ◽

M. K. Wang ◽

C. Y. Wu ◽

H. Yang

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Erosion Rate ◽

Southern China ◽

Red Soil ◽

Rate Estimation ◽

Soil Erosion Rate ◽

137Cs Technique

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

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-18-3763-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 3763-3775 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

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.

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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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