Abstract
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.
Highlights
20% of the land area is currently experiencing a decline in productivity linked to erosion, wastage, and pollution in the world [1]
Loess Plateau, Plateau, this this study study identified the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erosion by comparing the differences identified the effects of vegetation restoration on soil erosion by comparing the differences between the soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2015 under two land use scenarios
Results of this study indicated that the average annual soil erosion modulus dropped from 114.56 t/(hm2 ·a) to 78.42 t/(hm2 ·a), and the dominant soil erosion intensity changed from severe erosion and light erosion to moderate erosion and light erosion in the Ansai Watershed during
Summary
20% of the land area is currently experiencing a decline in productivity linked to erosion, wastage, and pollution in the world [1] Among these factors, soil erosion causes problems such as soil quality decline, land degradation, and loss of farmland resources, and leads to a series of ecological and environmental problems such as water environment deterioration, river siltation, debris flows, and even flood disasters [2,3,4,5,6]. 16.8% of the total land area and threatening the security of 27% of the total farmland area [7] To this end, soil erosion has become a global ecological and environmental problem [8,9,10,11,12]. The Loess Plateau is the region with the most severe soil erosion in China, where the area of soil and water loss is as
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