Identifying and Mapping the Spatial Factors That Control Soil Erosion Changes in the Yellow River Basin of China

Autor: Jinwei Guo, Yanbing Qi, Luhao Zhang, Jiale Zheng, Jingyan Sun, Yuanyuan Tang, Xiangyun Yang
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Land, Vol 13, Iss 3, p 344 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2073-445X
DOI: 10.3390/land13030344
Popis: The Yellow River Basin has been considered to have the most serious soil erosion in the world, and identifying and mapping the spatial controlling factors would be of great help in adopting targeting strategies for soil erosion prevention. This study used the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to estimate the spatial and temporal changes in soil erosion from 1985 to 2020 and analyzed the controlling factors. The results indicated that from 1985 to 2020, the average erosion modulus in the Yellow River Basin was 1160.97 t∙km−2∙yr−1, and the erosion modulus in the middle reach was significantly greater than in the lower and upper reaches. Changes in vegetation coverage, rainfall and land use controlled 38.95%, 40.87% and 9.21% of soil erosion changes, respectively. Among them, the area in which soil erosion was decreased due to increased vegetation coverage accounted for 70.77% of the area controlled by vegetation coverage, while the area in which soil erosion was increased due to increased rainfall accounted for 86.62% of the area controlled by rainfall. These results prove the effectiveness of vegetation restoration projects in controlling soil erosion in the Yellow River Basin, but more attention needs to be paid to the impact of rainfall on soil erosion in the future.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals