Abstract
In the Loess Plateau, soil erosion has not only caused serious ecological and environmental problems but has also impacted downstream areas. Therefore, a model is needed to guide the comprehensive control of soil erosion. In this study, we introduced the WEPP model to simulate soil erosion both at the slope and watershed scales. Our analyses showed that: the simulated values at the slope scale were very close to the measured. However, both the runoff and soil erosion simulated values at the watershed scale were higher than the measured. At the slope scale, under different coverage, the simulated erosion was slightly higher than the measured. When the coverage is 40%, the simulated results of both runoff and erosion are the best. At the watershed scale, the actual annual runoff of the Liudaogou watershed is 83m3; sediment content is 0.097 t/m3, annual erosion sediment 8.057t and erosion intensity 0.288 t ha-1 yr-1. Both the simulated values of soil erosion and runoff are higher than the measured, especially the runoff. But the simulated erosion trend is relatively accurate after the farmland is returned to grassland. We concluded that the WEPP model can be used to establish a reasonable vegetation restoration model and guide the vegetation restoration of the Loess Plateau.
Highlights
Soil erosion has become one of the global environmental hazards that limit today's human survival and restricts global socioeconomic sustainable development
The biggest different parameter between the two soils was Ke which was 11.86 mmÁh-1 in the sandy soil but 9.06 mmÁh-1 in the loess soil. These calibrated parameter values were in agreement with the range of values reported in the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model documentation [28]
The results show that the runoff is sensitive to Ke alone whereas, sediment yield was sensitive to Ke, ki, Kr andτc as could be seen by the sensitivity ratio values bigger than zero
Summary
Soil erosion has become one of the global environmental hazards that limit today's human survival and restricts global socioeconomic sustainable development. The global area of soil erosion covers about 16.43 × 106km, or 10.95% of the total area [1]. One of the most serious soil erosion regions in the world is the Loess Plateau, where water erosion impacts more than 45% of the area [2]. Soil erosion has caused serious local impacts, and significant downstream impacts. Severe soil erosion led to a large amount of sediment discharged into the Yellow river and its tributaries. 90% of the sediment in the Yellow River originates from soil erosion on the Loess plateau [4]. Some studies have confirmed the reduction of soil erosion on hill slopes or in the small catchments of the Loess Plateau [5, 6]. The PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0148445 March 10, 2016
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