Soil Erosion Vulnerability Research Articles

Erosion risk assessment through morphometric indices for prioritisation of Arjuna watershed using ALOS-PALSAR DEM

Pressure of growing population rates and unsustainable usage of resources have greatly affected the productivity of agricultural lands due to land degradation. In a developing country such as India, degradation of land happens mainly due to the action of fluvial resources. The morphometric analysis of the drainage basin and channel network gives a detailed understanding of the geo-hydrological behaviour of drainage basin and expresses the prevailing climate, geology, geomorphology, and structural antecedents of the catchment which is very decisive in identifying regions vulnerable to soil erosion. Advancement in Remote Sensing (DEM) products and GIS techniques has made the assessment of morphometric indices more accurate, effective and less time consuming. Therefore, in this study, to assess the vulnerability of soil erosion in Arjuna watershed of vaippar basin, morphometric indices-based prioritisation of 16 sub-watersheds have been carried out using high-resolution ALOS-PALSAR DEM with a spatial resolution of 12.5 m. The linear and shape parameters which are responsible for soil erodability are assigned ranking using Compound Factor (CF) technique to arrive at the prioritisation of sub-watersheds. Based on the CF values, sub-watershed are classified into three categories of priority as high (5–7), medium (7–9), and low (9–12), respectively. The sub-watersheds such as Kamba Ittu Malai, Arjuna Nadi, Mela Gopulapuram, and Kodikulam come under the high priority category, whereas Muvaraivenran, Thaniparai, Chittar River,Vadugapatti, Perumalswamiuchi, Ayan Karisalkulam, Kurukkamuttu malai, and Satpur R.F come under the medium priority category and the Ramachandrapuram, Arjunapuram, Kovil Aru, and Periyar River sub-watersheds come under the low priority category.

Geospatial assessment of soil erosion vulnerability in the upper uMgeni catchment in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Soil erosion remains a major environmental threat confronting agriculture in South Africa. The main objective of the study was, therefore, to assess and map soil erosion vulnerability in the upper uMgeni catchment of South Africa. To achieve this objective, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to calculate the normalized weights of six soil erosion controlling factors i.e. slope (27.6%), vegetation cover (21.4%), soil type (15.5%), rainfall (19.1%), land cover (8.6%) and drainage network (7.9%). The results show that approximately 41% of the study area had a high risk of soil erosion. These findings, therefore, indicate that use of geospatial technologies yields spatial informative data required for detailed soil erosion risk assessment and remediation.

Evaluation of soil erosion vulnerability on the basis of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity: A case study in the Zhuxi watershed, Changting, Fujian Province, Southern China

Soil erosion by water is a critical issue in the red soil regions of Southern China. Particularly, Changting County experiences severe erosion due to unreasonable human activities, high rainfall intensities, steep slopes, erodible parent material, and poor vegetation cover. In this study, a quantitative soil loss analysis and qualitative social surveys (data from 1999 to 2015) are integrated to identify the erosion vulnerable areas in Zhuxi watershed of Southern China. Using Zhuxi watershed as an example in the investigation of soil erosion problems, analytic hierarchy and entropy value methods are adopted to evaluate soil erosion vulnerability and determine the proportions of factors in an index system. The vulnerability of soil erosion is evaluated from the human–nature system coupling perspective, considering socio-economic factors, which are synthetically analyzed and evaluated for soil erosion exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Results show that (1) vulnerability is low in the east and west and highest in the middle of the Zhuxi watershed. The vulnerability of low, mild, and moderate soil erosions show a patchy distribution, wide range of intensity, and severe soil erosion fragility. (2) The degree of soil erosion vulnerability gradually decreased from 1999 to 2015. Low levels of vulnerability were distributed from fragmentation to concentrated distribution, while high vulnerabilities presented the opposite trend. However, the high levels of soil erosion showed a gradual decrease in vulnerability from 1999 to 2015. This study provides important theoretical and practical information for constructing a safe soil erosion control and management system and accelerating the sustainable development of social economy in the watershed.

Environmental and economic effects of investments in sustainable land management in the basin of Sutilovac stream

This paper presents the results of an erosion processes research on the territory of the morphological unit of Sutilovacki stream, the prevention measures of same processes, as well as the justification of socio-economic investments and a sensitivity analysis of the economic efficiency parameters. The research includes a period from 2017-2032 year, whereby the evaluation methods of professor Gavrilovic are applied in erosion process intensity assessment, on the whole research area, and universal soil loss equation - USLE, on the agricultural land area. Different rates of soil erosion vulnerability are established on the whole research area by applying these methods. Present erosion processes are prevented by the predicted model of future production from the aspect of soil resource protection in the area of the city of Belgrade, by professor Zlatic (1994). Erosion soil losses are significantly diminished and reduced under a tolerable limit, along with the accomplishment of socio-economic justification of investment, examined by the dynamic methods of internal rate of yield, term for the repayment of invested funds, cost-benefit ratio, and net present value. In addition, an analysis of internal rate of yield sensitivity and term for repayment of invested funds are executed. The obtained data indicate justification of the investment.

Vulnerability Assessment of Soil and Water Loss in Loess Plateau and Its Impact on Farmers’ Soil and Water Conservation Adaptive Behavior

Analyzing vulnerability and adaptation to soil and water loss is an important part of the study on the human–environment relationship in the Loess Plateau. It has also provided a new perspective for studying the farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology in the soil erosion area of the Loess Plateau. Based on the Turner vulnerability framework, this paper constructs a household-scale index system of soil and water loss vulnerability in the Loess Plateau and evaluates the soil and water loss vulnerability in the Loess Plateau using the field survey data of the Loess Plateau applied entropy method. Finally, we use the binary logistic model to estimate the impact mechanism of farmers’ soil erosion vulnerability on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) In the total sample, susceptibility > exposure > adaptability, whereas in the Shaanxi and Gansu subsample, susceptibility > adaptability > exposure. The Ningxia subsample was similar to the total sample. For each index, Ningxia > Gansu > Shaanxi; (2) The exposure and susceptibility of soil and water loss have a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology, and natural capital has a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Physical capital has a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of biological measures. Financial capital has a negative impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of biological measures and farming measures. Social capital has a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of engineering measures and biological measures; (3) Overall, the marginal effect of the adoption behavior of farmers’ soil and water conservation techniques, adaptability > susceptibility > exposure. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of soil and water loss, encourage the government and farmers to respond in time, and reduce the losses caused by soil erosion. Enriching the capital endowment of farmers, breaking through the endowment restriction of farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation technology.

Impacts of land use changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates and vulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneo

The evaluation of the impact of changes in land use on soil erosion rates and vulnerability was carried out in a tropical rainforest region of Sarawak, Borneo. Although tropical rainforest covers over 88% of the study area, supervised classification of Landsat 8 Optical Land Imager (OLI) images identified eight other classes of land cover (LC) (mixed agriculture, hill paddy, wet paddy, bushes/shrubs/grasses, exposed barren land, artificial surface, pebbles / cobbles and waterbody) with an overall classification accuracy above 80%. Maximum rate of soil loss estimated from the study area through Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was 1312 t ha−1y−1 and the result aided the identification of regions with critical soil erosion vulnerability. Mean soil erosion rate in the study area was assessed to be 27 t ha−1 y−1. The zones with higher soil erosion rates exceed 25 t ha−1y−1 and amounted to a total area of 11%. Critical erosion zones (> 50 t ha−1 y−1) were found to cover 8% and show linear characteristics which is innate of logging roads and skid trails. At the same time, over 64% of the study area showed low erosion risk with soil losses lower than 5 t ha−1 y−1. Assessment made through geospatial overlay indicates dominance of four LC classes in contributing to soil erosion vulnerability and erosion rates. These are exposed barren land, secondary forest, bushes/shrubs and mixed agriculture. Field assessments confirmed the critical role of logging and hill paddy cultivation, which alter the natural terrain conditions and remove the forest cover. Although forest clearing for hill paddy cultivation removes vegetation and hence decreases protection against erosive rainfall, the sediment delivery will be relatively low due to less terrain alteration. Logging and associated activities induce the formation of soil erosion hotspots, which remain as such for several years. Logging activities generate exposed barren land which although only covers over 4% of the study area contributes more than 28% of the total soil loss.

Assessment of soil erosion vulnerability in the heavily populated and ecologically fragile communities in Motozintla de Mendoza, Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract. Variability in physical rates and local knowledge of soil erosion was assessed across six rural communities in the Sierra Madre del Sur, Chiapas, Mexico. The average erosion rate estimated using the RUSLE model is 274 t ha−1 yr−1, with the estimated erosion rates ranging from 28 to 717 t ha−1 yr−1. These very high erosion rates are associated with high rainfall erosivity (17 000 MJ mm ha−1 h−1 yr−1) and steep slopes (mean slope = 67 %). Many of the highest soil erosion rates are found in communities that are dominated by forestland, but where most of the tree cover has been removed. Conversely, lower erosion rates are often found where corn is cultivated for most of the year. According to the results of the soil erosion KAP (knowledge, attitude and practices) survey, awareness of the concept of soil erosion was reasonably high in all of the communities, but awareness of the causes of erosion was considerably lower. More than half of respondents believed that reforestation is a viable option for reducing soil erosion, but only a third of respondents were currently implementing reforestation practices. Another third of the respondents indicated that they were not following any soil conservation practices. Respondents indicated that adoption of government reforestation efforts have been hindered by the need to clear their land to sell forest products or cultivate corn. Respondents also mentioned the difficulties involved with obtaining favorable tree stocks for reforestation. The KAP results were used to assess the overall level of motivation to solve soil erosion problems by compiling negative responses. The relationship between the magnitude of the soil erosion problem and the capacity to reduce soil erosion is inconsistent across the communities. One community, Barrio Vicente Guerrero, had the highest average negative response rate and the second highest soil erosion rate, indicating that this community is particularly vulnerable.

Aerosol pollution, including eroded soils, intensifies cloud growth, precipitation, and soil erosion: A review

Abstract The Earth's critical zone is vulnerable to atmospheric aerosol pollution due to aerosol impacts on cloud microphysics, precipitation characteristics, soil erosion, and the subsequent interactions of the soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer of water, energy and aerosols. This review explains the individual and inter-connected processes of aerosol loading, cloud microphysics, precipitation characteristics, and soil erosion. A by-product of soil erosion is the generation of additional atmospheric aerosols, as well as the enhancement of surface erosion due to increased runoff. The literature includes empirical and theoretical studies within and across these domains. Case studies from China and Italy are provided to illustrate the key concepts connecting this system. The knowledge of the multiscale-impacts of aerosol pollution enables actions toward cleaner production processes to reduce aerosol pollution as well as forest and vegetation management to reduce soil erosion vulnerability. This review provides our community new insights on how to assess and manage earth's critical zone and our energy, food, water, and human resources.

Appraisal of Soil Conservation Capacity Using NDVI Model-Based C Factor of RUSLE Model for a Semi Arid Ungauged Watershed: a Case Study

Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and Geographic Information System (GIS) have been used to map and quantify vulnerability of soil erosion in a semi arid ungauged Jhagrabaria watershed of Allahabad district of state Uttar Pradesh, India. The spatial pattern of average annual soil erosion rate was estimated by integrating different thematic layers at GIS platform. GIS vector layers including, rainfall erosivity (Ro), slope length and steepness (LS) factor, soil erodibility (K), conservation practices (P), and cover management factor (C) have been estimated using satellite data and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), respectively. The resultant map of average annual soil erosion shows a maximum soil loss in range of 0.3 to 0.6 t ha−1 year−1 (82.41 km2 and 54.92% of watershed area). While maximum soil loss ranges from > 9.0 t ha−1 year−1 (0.67 km2 and 0.45% of watershed) was reported under hillocks (lower part) of the study area. The work outlines that the vegetation cover arrests the soil erosion in the region. The study provides spatial erosion risk maps of 30 m. These maps will be useful in developing better strategies for land planning and management in the environmentally sensitive small hillocks areas.

Vulnerabilidade à erosão quanto aos aspectos solo e vegetação em uma bacia hidrográfica no semiárido

A vulnerabilidade dos solos à erosão, é resultado do balanço entre os processos morfogenéticos e pedogenéticos, conforme a abordagem ecodinâmica, que promovem a formação do solo ou sua perda por erosão, originando unidades de paisagens estáveis, intermediárias ou fortemente instáveis. Neste contexto, este trabalho objetivou analisar a vulnerabilidade à erosão dos solos da Bacia Experimental de Iguatu (BEI), a partir da metodologia de Crepani et al. (2001) segundo os princípios da Ecodinâmica de Tricart (1977), por meio de técnicas de Sensoriamento Remoto e ferramentas de Geoprocessamento, representando a dimensão ambiental do Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico. Para a obtenção das classes de vulnerabilidade, foram avaliados os temas pedologia e vegetação a partir dos mapas disponibilizados na forma digital pela Fundação Cearense de Meteorologia e Recursos Hídricos (FUNCEME), todos na escala de 1:100.000 da folha de Iguatu, (SAD-69 Zona 24S). Os mapas de vulnerabilidade para ambos os temas foram definidos em cinco classes: estável, moderadamente estável, medianamente estável/vulnerável, moderadamente vulnerável e vulnerável. A classe medianamente estável/vulnerável foi a mais representativa para a tema solos, ocupando 10,87 km² de extensão (64,9% da bacia), enquanto o tema vegetação predominam às classes moderadamente vulnerável e vulnerável, ocupando 14,93 km² de extensão (89,21% da bacia). Os resultados mostram-se como uma maneira adequada na tomada de decisão e gestão territorial da bacia, e permitiram o conhecimento da morfodinâmica da bacia e a sua classificação em unidades de paisagem de acordo com o grau de vulnerabilidade natural à perda de solo por erosão, podendo fornecer subsídios ao Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico.

Field variability and vulnerability index to identify regional precision agriculture opportunity

Innovations in precision agriculture (PA) have created opportunities to achieve a greater understanding of within-field variability. However, PA adoption has been hindered by uncertainty about field-specific performance and return on investment. Uncertainty could be better addressed by using innovative analyses that provide insights into variability among fields and across a region. The objectives of this research were to: (1) generate a within-field soil clay-content variability index (VIc), (2) create a regional-scale growing-season precipitation variability index (VIp), and (3) integrate the soil and weather indices with the USDA NRCS soil erosion vulnerability index (SVI) to produce a final index that incorporated both variability and vulnerability (VVI). The interpretation of the outcomes represented by each objective supports unique decisions that land managers may consider for reducing uncertainty about implementing PA. All indices were derived using publically available information for Missouri, USA. The VIc was the ratio between the maximum and minimum clay content within fields. The VIp was calculated as the standard deviation of the total growing-season precipitation from 2006 to 2015. Significant clustering of VIc and VIp were observed along the Missouri River corridor, northeast and northwest Missouri. Fields with high VVI were mostly in the claypan soil region of northeast Missouri, and along a portion of the Missouri River dominated by loess soils on steep slopes. Southeast Missouri displayed the greatest diversity in soil and weather variability, but had low vulnerability. This research could be used as a decision-support tool to aid producers and PA service and product providers in determining where PA opportunities exist.

Spatio-temporal changes in rate of soil loss and erosion vulnerability of selected region in the tropical forests of Borneo during last three decades

An attempt has been made to analyze the spatial-temporal characteristics of soil erosion vulnerability and soil loss from the forested region in the north-eastern Borneo, Sarawak, Malaysia during the last three decades (1991–2015) using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and geographical information systems (GIS). The components of RUSLE such as rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), slope-length and steepness (LS), cover management (C) and conservation practice (P) factors were grouped into two categories by keeping one set as temporally changing and others as static. Among them the R and C factors are calculated for the years 1991, 2001 and 2015 whereas the K and LS factors are considered for the single time frame. Because of the forested nature of the study area, the P factor is kept constant for the whole analysis. The R factor and C factor is shown changes in values and its distribution over the years, which reflected in the final soil loss and erosion vulnerability map as a change in the rate of erosion and spatial domain. The analysis of three time slices has shown that the maximum value of the soil loss per unit area i.e. at erosion hotspots, is relatively similar throughout at around 1636 to 1744 t/ha/y. This is the result of maximum values of R factor and C factor i.e. high rainfall erosivity combined with lack of vegetation cover in those hotspots, which are generally steeply sloping terrain. The reclassification of annual soil loss map into erosion vulnerability zones indicated a major increase in the spatial spread of erosion vulnerability from the year 1991 to 2015 with a significant increase in the high and critical erosion areas from 2.3% (1991) to 31.5% (2015). In 1991, over 84% of the study area was under low erosion vulnerability class but by the year 2015 only 12% was under low erosion vulnerability class. Moreover, a dynamic nature in the erosion pattern was found from the year 1991 to 2015 with more linear areas of land associated with higher rate of soil loss and enhanced erosion vulnerability. The linearity in the spatial pattern is correlated with the development of logging roads and logging activities which has been confirmed by the extraction of exposed areas from satellite images of different years of analysis. The findings of the present study has quantified the changes in vegetation cover from dense, thick tropical forest to open mixed type landscapes which provide less protection against erosion and soil loss during the severe rainfall events which are characteristic of this tropical region.

Estimation of soil loss and identification of erosion risk zones in a forested region in Sarawak, Malaysia, Northern Borneo

Soil loss has been quantified and land area categorized for soil erosion vulnerability in a partially forested subwatershed of the Baram River basin (Sarawak, Malaysia) using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, which considers climatic and terrain variables. The quantification of soil loss was achieved by integrating the parameters related to rainfall (R), soils (K), terrain (LS) and land use practices (C). The resultant maps of soil erosion show soil losses ranging from 0 to 1190 t ha−1 year−1 with a mean of 28 t ha−1 year−1 in the 1029 km2 Sungai Patah subwatershed study area. The subwatershed was mapped using ArcGIS into five classes of soil erosion risk vulnerability. Among the five classes identified, very high and critically vulnerable zones show linear distribution in some areas which together constitute 13% of the total study area. High and medium erosion vulnerable zones cover 30 and 19%, respectively. Low erosion risk zones cover 36% of the total area. Mean soil loss assessed for each LULC (land use/land cover) class indicates that barren land with high slopes contributes comparatively high rates of soil loss (343 t ha−1 year−1). Field surveys in the study region have enabled identification of erosion hot spots, such as logging areas, shifting cultivation areas and road construction, which intensely modify the terrain, and explain the linearity of critical and severe erosion risk features. The output of the present study will help to frame appropriate management strategies to minimize erosion through implementation of alternative methods in logging activities and terrain management programs.

Soil Erosion Vulnerability Mapping and Implication on Vegetation in Parts of Oshun River Basin, Nigeria

Soil Erosion Vulnerability Mapping and Implication on Vegetation in Parts of Oshun River Basin, Nigeria

Evaluation of soil erosion vulnerability in the Zhuxi watershed, Fujian Province, China

Soil erosion by water is a serious environmental problem in southern China, particularly in the Zhuxi watershed in Changting County of the Fujian Province, which is characterized by highly erosive rainfall, severely undulating terrain, porous soil, scarce vegetation, and excessive human activity. The evaluation of soil erosion vulnerability is important for soil resources and sustainable development. Using the Zhuxi watershed as an example of soil erosion problems, this study uses the analytic hierarchy process to evaluate soil erosion vulnerability in a coupled human and natural system to determine the proportions of factors in an index system based on the experience of experts. Using GIS, we confirmed that the factors in the utilized index system were exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to soil erosion. All of these factors were combined to determine the soil erosion vulnerability. The results indicated severe soil erosion vulnerability over large areas. The areas vulnerable to soil erosion accounted for 57.98 % of the watershed; and the areas damaged to a high or very high extent account for over 12.08 % of the watershed. The results also show that the soil erosion vulnerability varies in different locations. For example, soil erosion vulnerability is lower in the eastern part of the study area and higher in the western part. Therefore, an effective approach to reduce soil erosion vulnerability would be to implement measures for regional soil and water conservation and sustainable development.

AVALIAÇÃO DOS FATORES INFLUENTES NA VULNERABILIDADE À EROSÃO DO SOLO POR MEIO DE DECISÃO MULTICRITÉRIO E DE TÉCNICAS DE GEOPROCESSAMENTO NO MUNICÍPIO DE PIRATINI – RS

The land degradation is the loss of their natural , physical and biochemical qualities , caused mostly by erosion , which leads into a socioeconomic and environmental problem. The objective was to assess the vulnerability of soil erosion in Piratini-RS, according to some potentially influence environmental characteristics of this occurrence anthropogenic. For this environmental assessment we used maps of the following themes: land use, soil science, geology and slope. According to the methodology proposed by Xavier-da-Silva (2001), which considers the multicriteria analysis, the scores were assigned from 1 (very low vulnerability) to 10 (highest vulnerability) to the constituent classes of these maps. The results showed that the use of classes above ground and field are the most vulnerable to erosion, as well as the slopes of class 12-20 and 5-12 %. The areas with high vulnerability of erosion represent 72,07 % of the Piratini municipal area, while 26,71 % represent areas of highest vulnerability of erosion and 1,22 % median vulnerability of soil loss.

Soil erosion vulnerability under scenarios of climate land-use changes after the development of a large reservoir in a semi-arid area

Climate and land-use/cover changes (LUCC) influence soil erosion vulnerability in the semi-arid region of Alqueva, threatening the reservoir storage capacity and sustainability of the landscape. Considering the effect of these changes in the future, the purpose of this study was to investigate soil erosion scenarios using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. A multi-agent system combining Markov cellular automata with multi-criteria evaluation was used to investigate LUCC scenarios according to delineated regional strategies. Forecasting scenarios indicated that the intensive agricultural area as well as the sparse and xerophytic vegetation and rainfall-runoff erosivity would increase, consequently causing the soil erosion to rise from 1.78 Mg ha−1 to 3.65 Mg ha−1 by 2100. A backcasting scenario was investigated by considering the application of soil conservation practices that would decrease the soil erosion considerably to an average of 2.27 Mg ha−1. A decision support system can assist stakeholders in defining restrictive practices and developing conservation plans, contributing to control the reservoir's siltation.

English

Soil erosion is of major concern in Abia State, Nigeria. This study adopts a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing as a tool to study and map soil erosion menace in Abia State. For this research, several datasets that represent climate, soil, geology, topographic and anthropogenic factors were used as the basic requirements for environmental modeling of soil loss using Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for 1986 and 2003. The results show that 1082.58 tons/acres were lost in 1986 and 1120.59 tons/acres in 2003 in the study area. Also, a negative correlation was found to exist between soil loss and NDVI (Normalized difference vegetation index) value. Soil erosion vulnerability index map as well as risk prone areas maps was produced. This study shows the integration of GIS with remote sensing as an efficient and effective tool in the study and mapping of soil erosions. Key words: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Soil erosion, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), mapping, Abia State.

Forest Cover Change and Soil Erosion in Toledo's Rio Grande Watershed

Abstract. Toledo, the southernmost district, is the hub of Belize’s Mayan population, descendants of the ancient Mayan civilization. The Toledo District is primarily inhibited by Kekchi and Mopan Mayans whose subsistence needs are met by the Milpa slash-and-burn agricultural system and the extraction of forest resources. The poverty assessment in the country indicates that Toledo is the district with the highest percentage of household an individual indigence of 37.5 % and 49.7 % respectively. Forest cover change in the area can be attributed to rapid population growth among the Maya, together with increase in immigration from neighboring countries, logging, oil exploration and improvement and construction of roads. The forest cover change analysis show that from 2001 to 2011 there was a decrease of Lowland broad-leaved wet forest of 7.53 km sq, Shrubland of 4.66 km sq, and Wetland of 0.08 km sq. Forest cover change has resulted in soil erosion which is causing the deterioration of soils. The land cover types that are contributing the most to total erosion in the Rio Grande watershed are no-forest, lowland broad-leaved wet forest and submontane broad-leaved wet forest. In this study the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was employed in a GIS platform to quantify and assess forest cover change and soil erosion. Soil erosion vulnerability maps in Toledo’s Rio Grande watershed were also created. This study provides scientifically sound information in order to understand and respond effectively to the impacts of soil erosion in the study site.

Evaluating Soil Threats Under Climate Change Scenarios in the Andalusia Region, Southern Spain

AbstractEuropean policies can be relevant to protect soils under climate change scenarios and therefore preserve the wide variety of functions and services provided by the soil. The European Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection will require member states to identify areas under risk from various soil threats and establish procedures to achieve sustainability. Five models Terraza, Cervatana, Sierra, Raizal, and Pantanal included in the Mediterranean Land Evaluation Information System decision support system packages were used to identify areas vulnerable to various soil threats under climate change scenarios in the Andalusia region. While Terraza and Cervatana forecast general land use capability for a broad series of possible agricultural uses, the Sierra model predicts forestry land suitability for the presence/absence of 22 typical Mediterranean forest species. Raizal and Pantanal models predict soil erosion vulnerability, contamination, and other processes. Interpretation of results in different scenarios allows quantifying the effects of climate change in terms of agricultural productivity, forestry land suitability, erosion, and contamination risks. The obtained results allow to identify detailed vulnerable areas and formulate site‐specific management plans for soil protection. Climate change is expected to impact crop growth with a higher impact on summer crops (corn, sunflower, and cotton). The results show a potential opportunity for reforestation (Quercus spp.) in future climate scenarios, while other species such as Castanea sativa will not be suitable in the study area by 2070 and 2100. Soil contamination and erosion show only slight differences between the current and future scenario of climate change. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.