Effects of large-scale rubber farm on soil erosion and river bed material in the upper Mekong Basin

2014 ◽  
pp. 2305-2312
Author(s):  
Xiongdong Zhou ◽  
Zhaoyin Wang ◽  
Bofu Yu ◽  
Lydia Seitz
Author(s):  
Hui Wei ◽  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Han Wang

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 687-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris P. C. Eekhout ◽  
Wilco Terink ◽  
Joris de Vente

Abstract. Assessing the impacts of environmental change on soil erosion and sediment yield at the large catchment scale remains one of the main challenges in soil erosion modelling studies. Here, we present a process-based soil erosion model, based on the integration of the Morgan–Morgan–Finney erosion model in a daily based hydrological model. The model overcomes many of the limitations of previous large-scale soil erosion models, as it includes a more complete representation of crucial processes like surface runoff generation, dynamic vegetation development, and sediment deposition, and runs at the catchment scale with a daily time step. This makes the model especially suited for the evaluation of the impacts of environmental change on soil erosion and sediment yield at regional scales and over decadal periods. The model was successfully applied in a large catchment in southeastern Spain. We demonstrate the model's capacity to perform impact assessments of environmental change scenarios, specifically simulating the scenario impacts of intra- and inter-annual variations in climate, land management, and vegetation development on soil erosion and sediment yield.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Dai ◽  
Jingxuan Zhu ◽  
Shuliang Zhang ◽  
Shaonan Zhu ◽  
Dawei Han ◽  
...  

Abstract. Soil erosion can cause various ecological problems, such as land degradation, soil fertility loss, and river siltation. Rainfall is the primary water-driving force for soil erosion and its potential effect on soil erosion is reflected by rainfall erosivity that relates to the raindrop kinetic energy (KE). As it is difficult to observe large-scale dynamic characteristics of raindrops, all the current rainfall erosivity models use the function based on rainfall amount to represent the raindrops KE. With the development of global atmospheric re-analysis data, numerical weather prediction (NWP) techniques become a promising way to estimate rainfall KE directly at regional and global scales with high spatial and temporal resolutions. This study proposed a novel method for large-scale and long-term rainfall erosivity investigations based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, avoiding errors caused by inappropriate rainfall–energy relationships and large-scale interpolation. We adopted three microphysical parameterizations schemes (Morrison, WDM6, and Thompson aerosol-aware [TAA]) to obtain raindrop size distributions, rainfall KE and rainfall erosivity, with validation by two disdrometers and 304 rain gauges around the United Kingdom. Among the three WRF schemes, TAA had the best performance compared with the disdrometers at a monthly scale. The results revealed that high rainfall erosivity occurred in the west coast area at the whole country scale during 2013–2017. The proposed methodology makes a significant contribution to improving large-scale soil erosion estimation and for better understanding microphysical rainfall–soil interactions to support the rational formulation of soil and water conservation planning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 5407-5422
Author(s):  
Qiang Dai ◽  
Jingxuan Zhu ◽  
Shuliang Zhang ◽  
Shaonan Zhu ◽  
Dawei Han ◽  
...  

Abstract. Soil erosion can cause various ecological problems, such as land degradation, soil fertility loss, and river siltation. Rainfall is the primary water-driven force for soil erosion, and its potential effect on soil erosion is reflected by rainfall erosivity that relates to the raindrop kinetic energy. As it is difficult to observe large-scale dynamic characteristics of raindrops, all the current rainfall erosivity models use the function based on rainfall amount to represent the raindrops' kinetic energy. With the development of global atmospheric re-analysis data, numerical weather prediction techniques become a promising way to estimate rainfall kinetic energy directly at regional and global scales with high spatial and temporal resolutions. This study proposed a novel method for large-scale and long-term rainfall erosivity investigations based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, avoiding errors caused by inappropriate rainfall–energy relationships and large-scale interpolation. We adopted three microphysical parameterizations schemes (Morrison, WDM6, and Thompson aerosol-aware) to obtain raindrop size distributions, rainfall kinetic energy, and rainfall erosivity, with validation by two disdrometers and 304 rain gauges around the United Kingdom. Among the three WRF schemes, Thompson aerosol-aware had the best performance compared with the disdrometers at a monthly scale. The results revealed that high rainfall erosivity occurred in the west coast area at the whole country scale during 2013–2017. The proposed methodology makes a significant contribution to improving large-scale soil erosion estimation and for better understanding microphysical rainfall–soil interactions to support the rational formulation of soil and water conservation planning.


2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 885-896
Author(s):  
Seung Sook Shin ◽  
Sang Deog Park ◽  
Jong Seol Lee ◽  
Kyu Song Lee

2014 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 33-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Vrieling ◽  
Joost C.B. Hoedjes ◽  
Marijn van der Velde

1959 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-465
Author(s):  
R. J. Kernaghan ◽  
J. B. Davies

Two field trials of obstruction (‘ obstructive clearing ’) as a means of control of Glossina palpalis (R.-D.) in locations representative of the Northern and Southern Guinea Savannah zones of Nigeria, are described.In neither case was complete eradication achieved, pockets of G. palpalis remaining from the beginning at certain points on the main stream. Greater success was obtained in the smaller tributaries, which lent themselves more to obstruction. There was little penetration of G. palpalis for any great distance into obstructed reaches from natural ‘ reservoirs ’ left abutting on to the obstruction, but a trial of the ‘ protective ’ value of obstruction failed, owing to complete penetration in some strength of 300 yd. of obstructed stream on either side of the point to be protected. In neither case was immigration of flies from elsewhere into the trial areas an important factor. Although, at first, the surviving fly population was very localised, there were later indications that dispersal was beginning to take place.Some accidents which may happen to obstruction are described, with their effects on its ultimate appearance. Consequent to these, a number of factors which limit the wide application of obstruction are stated. The more important of these are: the dimensions of the river-bed, which may be too large to permit of successful obstruction; the presence of wide swampy forest through which G. palpalis ranges freely; alternatively, the presence of shallow rocky stretches with low eroded banks that may be devoid of all but certain characteristic trees, where adequate obstruction is impossible; the rate of run-off of water in the catchment area, rapid run-off leading to spates which disrupt the obstruction; human interference with the obstruction in quest of firewood.No technical difficulties were encountered in carrying out obstruction, and costs were from 40 to 50 per cent, cheaper than comparable partial clearing.Considering the subsequent appearance of originally obstructed stream, and its frequent resemblance to partial clearing, the suggestion of ‘ destructive ’ clearing is put forward, in which the top canopy would be destroyed, but no effort made either to create obstruction or to clear away the fallen trees. Instead, reliance would be placed on the action of the various agencies encountered in these trials, which brought about the disruption of the obstruction, to produce the desired end-result.It is concluded that successful obstruction depends too much on specialised conditions, difficult to fulfil in large-scale tsetse control schemes, and that it is unlikely to become a normal method of control of G. palpalis in the savannah zones of Nigeria.


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