Soil erosion and its response to the changes of precipitation and vegetation cover on the Loess Plateau

doi:10.1007/s11442-013-1065-z

Abstract

Abstract:

Soil erosion is a major threat to our terrestrial ecosystems and an important global environmental problem. The Loess Plateau in China is one of the regions that suffered more severe soil erosion and undergoing climate warming and drying in the past decades. The vegetation restoration named Grain-to-Green Program has now been operating for more than 10 years. It is necessary to assess the variation of soil erosion and the response of precipitation and vegetation restoration to soil erosion on the Loess Plateau. In the study, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was applied to evaluate annual soil loss caused by water erosion. The results showed as follows. The soil erosion on the Loess Plateau between 2000 and 2010 averaged for 15.2 t hm^-2 a^-1 and was characterized as light for the value less than 25 t hm^-2 a^-1. The severe soil erosion higher than 25 t hm^-2 a^-1 was mainly distributed in the gully and hilly regions in the central, southwestern, and some scattered areas of earth-rocky mountainous areas on the Loess Plateau. The soil erosion on the Loess Plateau showed a deceasing trend in recent decade and reduced more at rates more than 1 t hm^-2 a^-1 in the areas suffering severe soil loss. Benefited from the improved vegetation cover and ecological construction, the soil erosion on the Loess Plateau was significantly declined, especially in the east of Yulin, most parts of Yan'an prefectures in Shaanxi Province, and the west of Luliang and Linfen prefectures in Shanxi Province in the hilly and gully regions. The variation of vegetation cover responding to soil erosion in these areas showed the relatively higher contribution than the precipitation. However, most areas in Qingyang and Dingxi prefectures in Gansu Province and Guyuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were predominantly related to precipitation.

Key words: soil erosion, assessment, precipitation, vegetation cover, Loess Plateau

SUN Wenyi, SHAO Quanqin, LIU Jiyuan. Soil erosion and its response to the changes of precipitation and vegetation cover on the Loess Plateau[J]., 2013, 23(6): 1091-1106.

References

Alatorre L C, Begueria S, Lana-Renault N et al., 2012. Soil erosion and sediment delivery in a mountain catchment under scenarios of land use change using a spatially distributed numerical model. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 16(5): 1321-1334.
Angulo-Martinez M, Begueria S, 2009. Estimating rainfall erosivity from daily precipitation records: A comparison among methods using data from the Ebro Basin (NE Spain). Journal of Hydrology, 379(1): 111-121.
Asselman N E M, Middelkoop H, van Dijk P M, 2003. The impact of changes in climate and land use on soil erosion, transport and deposition of suspended sediment in the River Rhine. Hydrological Processes, 17(16): 3225-3244.
Belyaev V R, Wallbrink P J, Golosov V N et al., 2005. A comparison of methods for evaluating soil redistribution in the severely eroded Stavropol region, southern European Russia. Geomorphology, 65(3): 173-193.
Cai C F, Ding S W, Shi Z H et al., 2000. Study of applying USLE and geographical information system IDRISI to predict soil erosion in small watershed. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 14(2): 19-24. (in Chinese)
Chen L D, Wang J P, Wei W et al., 2010. Effects of landscape restoration on soil water storage and water use in the Loess Plateau Region, China. Forest Ecology and Management, 259(7): 1291-1298.
Cheng L L, Zhao W W, Zhang Y H et al., 2009. Effect of spatial distribution of rainfall erosivity on soil loss at catchment scale. Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering , 25(12): 69-73.(in Chinese)
Dai S B, Yang S L, Li M, 2009. The sharp decrease in suspended sediment supply from China's rivers to the sea: Anthropogenic and natural causes. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 54(1): 135-146.
Feng X, Wang Y, Chen L et al., 2010. Modeling soil erosion and its response to land-use change in hilly catchments of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Geomorphology, 118(3): 239-248.
Fu B J, Liu Y, Lü Y H et al., 2011. Assessing the soil erosion control service of ecosystems change in the Loess Plateau of China. Ecological Complexity, 8(4): 284-293.
Fu B J, Wang Y F, Lu Y H et al., 2009. The effects of land-use combinations on soil erosion: A case study in the Loess Plateau of China. Progress in Physical Geography, 33(6): 793-804.
Gao Q, Kang M, Xu H et al., 2010. Optimization of land use structure and spatial pattern for the semi-arid loess hilly-gully region in China. Catena, 81(3): 196-202.
Hickey R, 2000. Slope angle and slope length solutions for GIS. Cartography, 29(1): 1-8.
Holland P W, Welsch R E, 1977. Robust regression using iteratively reweighted least-squares. Communications in Statistics: Theory and Methods, 6(9): 813-827.
Hou X L, Bai G S, Cao Q Y, 1996. Study on benefits of soil and water conservation of forest and its mechanism in loess hilly region. Research of Soil and Water Conservation, 3(2): 98-103.(in Chinese)
Hudson N W, 1995. Soil Conservation. London: BT Batsford Limited.
Kang S, Zhang L, Song X et al., 2001. Runoff and sediment loss responses to rainfall and land use in two agricultural catchments on the Loess Plateau of China. Hydrological Processes, 15(6): 977-988.
Li Z, Liu W Z, Zhang X C et al., 2009. Impacts of land use change and climate variability on hydrology in an agricultural catchment on the Loess Plateau of China. Journal of Hydrology, 377(1): 35-42.
Li Z, Zheng F L, Liu W Z et al., 2012. Spatially downscaling GCMs outputs to project changes in extreme precipitation and temperature events on the Loess Plateau of China during the 21st century. Global and Planetary Change, 82-83: 65-73.
Liu B Y, Nearing M A, Risse L M, 1994. Slope gradient effects on soil loss for steep slopes. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 37(6): 1835-1840.
Liu D S, 1964. Loess in the Middle Yellow River Drainage Basin. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Liu J Y, Liu M L, Tian H Q et al., 2005. Spatial and temporal patterns of China's cropland during 1990-2000: An analysis based on Landsat TM data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 98(4): 442-456.
Liu L, Liu X H, 2010. Sensitivity analysis of soil erosion in the northern Loess Plateau. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 2: 134-148.
Liu X Q, Zhao J B, Yu X F, 2006. Study on the climatic warming-drying trend in the Loess Plateau and the countermeasures. Arid Zone Research, 23(4): 627-631.
Lu D, Li G, Valladares G S et al., 2004. Mapping soil erosion risk in Rondonia, Brazilian Amazonia: Using RULSE, remote sensing and GIS. Land Degradation and Development, 15(5): 499-512.
McCool D K, Foster G R, Mutchler C K et al., 1989. Revised slope length factor for the universal soil loss equation. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 32(5): 1571-1576.
Men M X, Yu Z R, Xu H, 2008. Study on the spatial pattern of rainfall erosivity based on geostatistics in Hebei Province, China. Frontiers of Agriculture in China, 2(3): 281-289. (in Chinese)
Ministry of Water Resources of PR China, 2008. Standard for Classification and Gradation of Soil Erosion SL 190-2007. Beijing: China Waterpower Press. (in Chinese)
Mohammad A G, Adam M A, 2010. The impact of vegetative cover type on runoff and soil erosion under different land uses. Catena, 81(2): 97-103.
Nunes A N, de Almeida A C, Coelho C O A, 2011. Impacts of land use and cover type on runoff and soil erosion in a marginal area of Portugal. Applied Geography, 31(2): 687-699.
Parysow P, Wang G X, Gertner G et al., 2003. Spatial uncertainty analysis for mapping soil erodibility based on joint sequential simulation. Catena, 53(1): 65-78.
Quan B, Romkens M J M, Li R et al., 2011. Effect of land use and land cover change on soil erosion and the spatio-temporal variation in Liupan Mountain Region, southern Ningxia, China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 5(4): 564-572.
Renard K G, Foster G R, Weesies G A et al., 1997. Predicting soil erosion by water: A guide to conservation planning with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE). USDA. Agriculture Handbook, (Washington) no.703.
Ritsema C J, 2003. Introduction: Soil erosion and participatory land use planning on the Loess Plateau in China. Catena, 54(1): 1-5.
Sharma A, Tiwari K N, Bhadoria P B S, 2011. Effect of land use land cover change on soil erosion potential in an agricultural watershed. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 173(1-4): 789-801.
Singer M J, Warkentin B P, 1996. Soils in an environmental context: An American perspective. Catena, 27(3): 179-189.
Tang K L, 2004. Soil and Water Conservation in China. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Vásquez-Méndez R, Ventura-Ramos E, Oleschko K et al., 2010. Soil erosion and runoff in different vegetation patches from semiarid Central Mexico. Catena, 80(3): 162-169.
Van Remortel R D, Hamilton M E, Hickey R J, 2001. Estimating the LS factor for RUSLE through iterative slope length processing of digital elevation data within Arclnfo grid. Cartography, 30(1): 27-35.
Wang G, Innes J, Yusheng Y et al., 2012. Extent of soil erosion and surface runoff associated with large-scale infrastructure development in Fujian Province, China. Catena, 89(1): 22-30.
Wang H, Yang Z, Saito Y et al., 2007. Stepwise decreases of the Huanghe (Yellow River) sediment load (1950-2005): Impacts of climate change and human activities. Global and Planetary Change, 57(3): 331-354.
Wang H S, Liu G B, 1999. Analysis on vegetation structures and their control on soil erosion. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 13(2): 62-68. (in Chinese)
Wei S G, Dai Y J, Liu B Y et al., 2012. A soil particle-size distribution dataset for regional land and climate modelling in China. Geoderma, 171: 85-91.
Wei W, Chen L D., Fu B J et al., 2010. Water erosion response to rainfall and land use in different drought-level years in a loess hilly area of China. Catena, 81(1): 24-31.
Williams J R, Jones C A, Dyke P T, 1984. A modeling approach to determining the relationship between erosion and soil productivity. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 27(1): 129-144.
Wischmeier W H, Johnson C B, Cross B V, 1971. A soil erodibility nomograph for farmland and construction sites. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 26(5): 189-193.
Xie Y, Liu B Y, Zhang W B, 2000. Study on standard of erosive rainfall. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 14(4): 6-11. (in Chinese)
Xin Z B, Xu J X, Zheng W, 2008. Spatiotemporal variations of vegetation cover on the Chinese Loess Plateau (1981-2006): Impacts of climate changes and human activities. Science in China Series D-Earth Sciences, 51(1): 67-78.
Xin Z B, Yu X X, Li Q Y et al., 2011. Spatiotemporal variation in rainfall erosivity on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the period 1956-2008. Regional Environmental Change, 11(1): 149-159.
Xu J X, 2005. Precipitation-vegetation coupling and its influence on erosion on the Loess Plateau, China. Catena, 64(1): 103-116.
Yang Q Y, Yuan B Y, 1991. Natural Environment of Loess Plateau and Its Evolution. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Yao Y B, Wang Y R, Li Y H et al., 2005. Climate warming and drying and its environmental effects in the Loess Plateau. Resources Science, 27(5): 146-152. (in Chinese)
Zhang C, Xie G, Liu C et al., 2011. Assessment of soil erosion under woodlands using USLE in China. Frontiers of Earth Science, 5(2):150-161.
Zhang W B, 2003. Temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall erosivity in the econtone between agriculture and animal husbandry in northern China. Advances in Natural Science, 13(6): 651-654. (in Chinese)
Zhang W B, Xie Y, Liu B Y, 2002. Rainfall erosivity estimation using daily rainfall amounts. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 22(6): 705-711. (in Chinese)
Zhang X, Zhang L, Zhao J et al., 2008. Responses of streamflow to changes in climate and land use/cover in the Loess Plateau, China. Water Resources Research, 44(7): WR006711.
Zhang X C, Liu W Z, 2005. Simulating potential response of hydrology, soil erosion, and crop productivity to climate change in Changwu tableland region on the Loess Plateau of China. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 131(3): 127-142.
Zheng F, He X, Gao X et al., 2005. Effects of erosion patterns on nutrient loss following deforestation on the Loess Plateau of China. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 108(1): 85-97.
Zhu L Q, Zhu W B, 2012. Research on effects of land use/cover change on soil erosion. Advanced Materials Research, 433:1038-1043.

[1]	HOU Bingfei, JIANG Chao, SUN Osbert Jianxin. Differential changes in precipitation and runoff discharge during 1958-2017 in the headwater region of Yellow River of China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(9): 1401-1418.
[2]	ZHENG Liang, LIU Hai, HUANG Yuefei, YIN Shoujing, JIN Gui. Assessment and analysis of ecosystem services value along the Yangtze River under the background of the Yangtze River protection strategy [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(4): 553-568.
[3]	LIU Wenchao, LIU Jiyuan, KUANG Wenhui. Spatio-temporal characteristics of soil protection efforts of the Grain for Green Project in northern Shaanxi Province [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(3): 401-422.
[4]	LIU Xiaoyan, DANG Suzhen, LIU Changming, DONG Guotao. Effects of rainfall intensity on the sediment concentration in the Loess Plateau, China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(3): 455-467.
[5]	CAI Jianming, MA Enpu, LIN Jing, LIAO Liuwen, HAN Yan. Exploring global food security pattern from the perspective of spatio-temporal evolution [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(2): 179-196.
[6]	CHEN Shaodan, ZHANG Liping, ZHANG Yanjun, GUO Mengyao, LIU Xin. Evaluation of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite precipitation products for drought monitoring over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin, China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(1): 53-67.
[7]	LI Wei, LI Xiaoyan, HUANG Yongmei, WANG Pei, ZHANG Cicheng. Spatial patch structure and adaptive strategy for desert shrub of Reaumuria soongorica in arid ecosystem of the Heihe River Basin [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(9): 1507-1526.
[8]	Wen WU, Yuehui LI, Yuanman HU, Yu CHANG, Zaiping XIONG. Anthropogenic effect on forest landscape pattern and Cervidae habitats in northeastern China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(7): 1098-1112.
[9]	Yurui LI, Yi LI, Pengcan FAN, Jian SUN, Yansui LIU. Land use and landscape change driven by gully land consolidation project: A case study of a typical watershed in the Loess Plateau [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(5): 719-729.
[10]	Xuefeng YUAN, Jichang HAN, Yajing SHAO, Yuheng LI, Yongsheng WANG. Geodetection analysis of the driving forces and mechanisms of erosion in the hilly-gully region of northern Shaanxi Province [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(5): 779-790.
[11]	Yiping CHEN, Junhua WU, Hong WANG, Jifu MA, Cuicui SU, Kaibo WANG, Yi WANG. Evaluating the soil quality of newly created farmland in the hilly and gully region on the Loess Plateau, China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(5): 791-802.
[12]	Huan WANG, Jiangbo GAO, Wenjuan HOU. Quantitative attribution analysis of soil erosion in different geomorphological types in karst areas: Based on the geodetector method [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(2): 271-286.
[13]	TAO Zexing, DAI Junhu, WANG Huanjiong, HUANG Wenjie, GE Quansheng. Spatiotemporal changes in the bud-burst date of herbaceous plants in Inner Mongolia grassland [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(12): 2122-2138.
[14]	LIU Qionghuan, ZHANG Yili, LIU Linshan, LI Lanhui, QI Wei. The spatial local accuracy of land cover datasets over the Qiangtang Plateau, High Asia [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(11): 1841-1858.
[15]	Wenbo ZHU, Xiaodong ZHANG, Jingjing ZHANG, Lianqi ZHU. A comprehensive analysis of phenological changes in forest vegetation of the Funiu Mountains, China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(1): 131-145.