Dynamics of Agricultural Soil Erosion in Siberia and Far East

Abstract

Socioeconomic reforms in agrarian sector together with climate changes induce spatial changes in the anthropogenic factors of agricultural soil erosion and soil erosion patterns in the Asian part of Russia. Comparison of pre- and post-reform quantitative parameters of erosion rate and soil loss from arable slopes was performed using logical-mathematical erosion models for different administrative regions of the Asian part of Russia. Significant spatially-differentiated decrease in the annual soil loss from arable slopes was revealed in most of the administrative regions, except for the Altai krai and Amur oblast. On the arable lands of other administrative regions, the decrease in the annual soil loss varied within 25–50% of the soil loss in 1960–1990. The maximum decrease was observed in arid landscapes of the republics of Tyva and Buryatia and in the Zabaykalsky (Transbaikal) krai (–73–93%). Spatial changes in the rate of erosion are less prominent on currently cultivated land; a significant growth in the rate of agricultural soil erosion has taken place in the Far East economic region. The main driver of the post-reform dynamics of agricultural erosion was the countrywide decrease of cropland area and the change in the soil-protecting capacity of agrocenoses.