Analysis of Changes in Landslide Susceptibility according to Land Use over 38 Years in Lixian County, China

Jie Liu,Huiwen Zhang,Zhen Wu

doi:10.3390/su131910858

Jie Liu, Huiwen Zhang + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910858

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Abstract

Landslides occur frequently in Lixian County, China, and land use has changed significantly in recent decades. We obtained land use data for the years 1980, 2000, and 2018, as well as three landslide susceptibility maps from a Random Forest model. Agricultural land, low coverage grassland, water area, and urban, rural and other construction land were prone to landslides. Landslide susceptibility was low in areas of woodland, moderate and high coverage grassland, bare rock land, desert and tundra. Areas with high landslide susceptibility were mainly located in the catchment of the study region, and a 2.61% decrease in high landslide susceptibility areas over the 38-year period was primarily driven by changes in agricultural and rural land. By contrast, a 1.42% increase in low landslide susceptibility areas over the 38-year period was driven by changes in moderate and high coverage woodland and moderate coverage grassland. There is a need for effective management measures to be implemented because areas with high landslide susceptibility are still present. We also found that human aggregations, or the absence of these, vary in their effects on the areas of Lixian County most susceptible to landslides.

Highlights

Landslides are dangerous geological disasters that can result in substantial losses of life and property and affect social development [1,2]
Areas with very high (VH) and H susceptibility across all three years were located in the main stream of the Western Han River Basin in the eastern part of the study area
Areas with low landslide susceptibility (LS) index increased over the 38-year period, low LS areas decreased from 2000 to 2018, indicating that there is still a need for effective management measures to be implemented in the future

Summary

Introduction

Landslides are dangerous geological disasters that can result in substantial losses of life and property and affect social development [1,2]. Land use can have a substantial effect on landslide susceptibility (LS) by altering slope stability [3]. Vegetation cover can modify slope stability in various ways. Tree roots in the soil increase the macroscopic stiffness of the soil mass, which redistributes the forces of the hillslope through small deformations [5]. This can reduce the risk of various natural hazards such as shallow landslides, seepage, and soil creep [6]. Grassland can slow the erosion of surface soil, its effect on the stability of the deep soil layer is weak. Previous studies have shown that areas with denser vegetation are considered less susceptible to landslides compared with areas with little or no vegetation [12,13]

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