Increased precipitation weakenes the positive effect of vegetation greening on erosion

Abstract

Soil erosion is a major global soil degradation problem that threatens land, freshwater and oceans. Rainfall erosivity has led to an increasing in the global soil erosion rate, while vegetation restoration is a safeguard measure to reduce soil erosion. Therefore, probing the influence of precipitation and vegetation on the spatial distribution of soil erosion is important for understanding the mechanism of erosion. In order to assess the degree of global soil erosion, based on the RUSLE model, a global soil erosion data set from 2000 to 2015 (0.25°× 0.25°) was created, showing that soil erosion was increasing in 70.80% of the study area, where precipitation was the dominant factor. Different grades of erosion showed that the soil erosion area of mild and above mild erosion increased by 44.88 106 ha, an increase of 5.39%. Spatial erosion is mainly distributed in Asia and North America. The difference from North America is that the erosion in Asia showed a decreasing trend during the study period. Different climatic zones show that erosion mainly occurs in the temperate zone, accounting for 39.97% of the area. Precipitation and vegetation increasing significantly in 24.43% and 16.74% of the regions. However, the proportion of regions where precipitation and vegetation had a negative contribution to erosion was 29.12% and 53.81%. Above results will deepen our understanding of the mechanism of erosion.