Cropland physical disturbance intensity: plot-scale measurement and its application for soil erosion reduction in mountainous areas

Various kinds of human disturbances on cropland are the main reasons for soil erosion and land degradation. Farming practices in mountainous areas vary greatly among cropland plots because of the heterogeneity of biophysical conditions and differences in farmers’ management behavior. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a composite index of cropland physical disturbance intensity (CLDI) to reflect the plot-scale discrepancy of potential soil erosion in mountainous areas. The study was based on both plot survey and household interview data, collected from six typical catchments in mountainous areas of southwestern China. Four kinds of physical disturbance practices and two kinds of conservation practices during one crop rotation period were synthesized to develop the CLDI index. The rough set theory was referenced to avoid subjectivity during weight allocation. The results show that conventional tillage, deep fertilization, and manual weeding are the main causes of cropland soil erosion, whereas manure application in combination with seasonal fallow reduces soil erosion. Different crop types as well as cropland location factors determine the spatial pattern of CLDI. Crop rotation modes with major crops of tobacco and maize resulted in a maximal CLDI, and cropland plots with a distance radius of 150 meters away from households received the most intensive physical disturbance. These results are critical to help better protect rural environments in mountainous areas. Based on the results, methods to reduce cropland soil erosion are suggested.     

南方山地丘陵土地利用类型的地形影响GIS分析——以江西省为例

分布广泛的山地丘陵,地形复杂多样,生态环境脆弱,不合理的土地利用方式会造成生态环境的破坏,导致严重的水土流失。分析山地丘陵区土地利用的地形控制机制,对于山地丘陵区土地利用开发与水土保持等生态保护之间权衡提供科学依据而具有重要现实意义。因此,本文以南方山地丘陵分布较广泛的江西省为例,在SRTM数字高程模型(DEM)的支持下,利用中国资源环境数据中心基于Landsat遥感解译的2000年土地利用数据,分析了江西省土地利用结构与高程、坡度和坡向等地形因子的关系。结果表明地形因子是影响江西省土地利用方式的一个重要因素,具体表现在:(1)随着高程和坡度的增加,耕地面积及占土地总面积的比例都呈下降趋势,南坡耕地面积和比例都大于北坡的耕地面积和比例;(2)在低海拔区,林地面积占土地总面积比例随着海拔高程的增加而增加,当海拔高于400米时,基本稳定;(3)居民点和工矿用地受高程和坡度的影响较大,受坡向影响较小;(4)草地的面积随着海拔的增加呈下降趋势,但其面积比随着高程增加呈缓慢增加,受坡度和坡向的影响较小。     

Soil erosion control degree of the project of converting farmland to forest in mountainous areas at China��s Southwest border: A case study in Mangshi, Yunnan Province

There have been few in-depth quantitative studies on soil erosion control and the ecological effects of land use changes. Soil erosion is the first eco-environmental problem particularly in mountainous areas. A major problem in the conversion of farmland to forest is to control soil erosion and improve ecological environment and thus to improve land use sustainability. We report results of calculation and analysis on soil erosion from converted farmland parcels in city of Mangshi (near the SW frontier of China) and the surrounding areas before and after the nine-year (2000–2009) project of converting farmland to forest. There was increased water conservation effect, as a result of decreased soil erosion. The average erosion modulus of the farmland returning to eco-friendly uses decreased by 5,535.59 t/km²·a and the control degree of soil erosion modulus reached 71.00%. The increased soil erosion after the returning in the typical sample area “did not drop, but increased” as the terraced fields decreased but sloping farmland increased and yet woodland decreased.     

Spatial distribution of land cover and vegetation activity along topographic gradient in an arid river valley, SW China

Anthropogenic activities have become more and more important in characterizing the landscape, but their impacts are still restricted by natural environments. This paper discusses the interactions of anthropogenic activity, vegetation activity and topography through describing the spatial distribution of land cover and vegetation activity （represented by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI） along topographic gradient in a mountainous area of southwestern China. Our results indicate that the existing landscape pattern is controlled by anthropogenic activities as well as topographic factors. Intensive anthropogenic activities mainly occur in areas with relatively low elevation, gentle and concave slopes, as these areas are easy and convenient to attain for human. Because of the destruction by human, some land cover types （mainly grassland and shrub） are only found in relatively harsher environments. This study also finds that topographic wetness index （W） used in other places only reflects runoff generation capacity, but not indicate the real spatial pattern of soil water content in this area. The relationships between NDVI and W, and NDVI and length slope factor （LSF） show that runoff and erosion have complex effects on vegetation activity. Greater values of W and LSF will lead to stronger capacity to produce runoff and transport sediment, and thereby increase soil water content and soil deposition, whereas beyond a certain threshold runoff and erosion are so strong that they would destruct vegetation growth. This study provides information needed to successfully restore native vegetation, improve land management, and promote sustainable development in mountainous areas, especially for developing regions.     

贵州省喀斯特地区泥石流灾害易发性评价

贵州省独特的喀斯特山地环境对地质灾害的孕育有其特有的作用机理。本文初选了10个相关因子进行GIS的方差分析及相关性分析,以筛选喀斯特山区泥石流灾害的主要影响因子及灾害易发性评价。结果表明,研究区内土壤侵蚀因子对泥石流灾害的贡献作用最为显著,断层的影响作用不明显。土壤侵蚀、坡度、坡向、岩石性质、土地利用方式、归一化植被指数（NDVI）、到沟谷的距离及>25 mm日数8个影响因子,具有良好的独立性和代表性,是研究区内泥石流易发性评价的最佳指标;泥石流主要分布在贵州西部云贵高原边境、北部大娄山、东北雾灵山及苗岭等地带,占全省面积的29.51%,贵州中部及东南部泥石流易发程度较低;极高易发区泥石流的分布密度是极低易发区的19倍,其主要的环境特征表现为坡度大、植被覆盖率较低,旱地与工矿用地分布多,土壤侵蚀严重;加强旱地、工矿用地及低植被覆盖区的合理利用及管理,是减少泥石流灾害发生的有效途径。     

Soil degradation and food security coupled with global climate change in northeastern China

The northeastern China is an important commodity grain region in China,as well as a notable corn belt and major soybean producing area.It thus plays a significant role in the national food security system.However,large-scale land reclamation and non-optimum farming practices give rise to soil degradation in the region.This study analyzed the food security issues coupled with global climate change in the northeastern China during 1980–2000,which is the period of modern agriculture.The results of statistical data show that the arable land area shrank markedly in 1992,and then increased slowly,while food production generally continually increased.The stable grain yield was due to the increase of applied fertilizer and irrigated areas.Soil degradation in the northeastern China includes severe soil erosion,reduced soil nutrients,a thinner black soil layer,and deterioration of soil physical properties.The sustainable development of the northeastern China is influenced by natural-artificial binary disturbance factors which consist of meteorological conditions,climate changes,and terrain factors as well as soil physical and chemical properties.Interactions between the increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation in the region led to reduced accumulation of soil organic matter,which results in poor soil fertility.Human-induced factors,such as large-scale land reclamation and non-optimum farming practices,unsuitable cultivation systems,dredging,road building,illegal land occupation,and extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides,have led to increasingly severe soil erosion and destruction.Solutions to several problems of soil degradation in this region requiring urgent settlement are proposed.A need for clear and systematic recognition and recording of land use changes,land degradation,food production and climate change conditions is suggested,which would provide a reference for food security studies in the northeastern China.     

Impacts of land use change on landscape patterns in mountain human settlement: The case study of Hantai District(Shaanxi,China)

Mountain area is an important geographical unit of land,and its ecology is sensitive and fragile.Over the past few decades,human activities have caused dramatic changes in land use in mountainous areas,which caused changes in landscape patterns and impacts on the ecological environment.It is unknown how the mechanism of land use affects the landscape pattern at different scales.The Hantai District,a typical human settlement in the mountain area in Shaanxi,China,was chosen as the study area.Based on the remote sensing images,the mathematical models and landscape indexes were adopted to evaluate the impact of land use change from 1998 to 2017 on the landscape pattern at different scales,and its main driving forces were analyzed.The results showed that the urbanized land expanded largest from 15.39%to 24.30%,and cultivated land experienced the largest decline from 43.54%to 35.35%.Changes in land use have made the patch morphology of most land types developed from a natural random to a sawtooth shape,and its spatial pattern evolved from a ruleset to a fragmented expansion.This reflects the continuous strengthening of human intervention in the process of regional development.Under the jurisdiction of Hantai District,the biggest change in landscape pattern is in Hanzhong City and Qili Town.The improved economy and increasing population and urbanization rate were the main factors that cause these changes.This research could provide necessary information for understanding the evolution mechanism of land resources in mountainous human settlements for mountainous areas with significant geomorphic differentiation.     

A soil quality index for evaluation of degradation under land use and soil erosion categories in a small mountainous catchment,Iran

Soil erosion and land use type have long been viewed as being particularly important drivers of soil degradation. The objectives of this study,therefore, were to select a new soil quality index(SQI)which varies significantly with land use/soil erosion,and to evaluate the new SQI using expert opinion. In total, 18 soil physical, chemical, and biochemical properties(indicators) were measured on 56 soil samples collected from four land use/soil erosion categories(rangeland/surface erosion, rangeland/subsurface erosion, cultivated land/surface erosion and dry-farming land/surface erosion). Principal component and classification analysis(PCCA)identified five PCs that explained 77.7% of the variation in soil properties with the biochemical PC varying significantly with land use/soil erosion.General discriminant analysis(GDA) selected urease and clay as the most sensitive properties distinguishing the land use/soil erosion categories.The GDA canonical scores for the new SQI were significantly correlated with expert opinion soil surface summed scores(for soil movement, surface litter, pedestalling, rills and flow pattern) derivedusing the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management(BLM) method. A forward stepwise general regression model revealed that the new SQI values were explained by soil movement,surface litter, and the summed values of the soil surface factors. Overall, this study confirmed that soil quality in the study area in Iran is controlled by land use and corresponding soil erosion.     

Land use scenario simulation of mountainous districts based on Dinamica EGO model

Mountainous area makes up 22% of global land, and rational land use in this area is important for sustainable development. Mentougou district has been positioned as an ecological conservation development zone of Beijing and significant land use changes have taken place since 2004. With the combination of GIS and Dinamica EGO(Environment for Geoprocessing Objects) model, the quantitative structure and spatial distribution of land use in Mentougou from 2006 to 2014 are analyzed in this paper. Considering topography has influence on the action mode of driving factors, the research area is divided into two parts based on elevation, mountainous area above 300 m, plain and shallow mountainous area below 300 m. Based on cellular automata theory, the probability of land use change is calculated by Weights of Evidence method and the spatial distribution of land use is simulated by means of two complementary spatial transition functions: Expander and Patcher. Land use pattern of Menougou in 2030 for three kinds of scenarios: trend development, rapid development and ecological protection are simulated. The comparison shows that the trend development scenario is more reasonable based on social, economic and environmental considerations and other scenarios provide a reference for improving irrational land use.     

基于Dyna-CLUE改进模型和SD模型耦合的山区城镇用地情景模拟研究——以岷江上游地区为例

山区城镇扩张受山区地形和山地灾害等因素限制,而常用的土地利用模型难以有效表达这一特征。本文通过对Dyna-CLUE（Dynamic Conversion of Land Use and its Effects Model）模型进行改进并结合系统动力学（System Dynamic,SD）模型,充分发挥这2个模型在微观土地分配,及宏观情景模拟上的优势,很好地表达了山区地形和山地灾害等因素对山区城镇扩张的限制作用,为山区城镇扩张情景模拟提供了一个有效的方法。以岷江上游地区为例,根据研究区历史统计数据构建山区城镇用地SD模型,模拟低速发展、惯性发展和高速发展3种不同发展情景下城镇用地的需求,结合Dyna-CLUE改进模型,预测了对应情景下2011-2030年的城镇用地范围,并探究其对其他土地利用类型的影响。结果表明,发展速度越快,城镇主体越快达到地理限制区域的上限,并开始沿山间平地向两端扩张。耕地受山区城镇扩张的影响要远远超出其他土地利用类型,离城镇越近受影响越大。随着城镇扩张的加剧,其对自然环境的影响也逐渐增大。模型模拟结果能为山区城镇用地规划、评估由城镇扩张造成的生态环境问题和制定相应的对策提供有效的技术支撑。     

A Participatory GIS Approach to Identify Critical Land Degradation Areas and Prioritize Soil Conservation for Mountainous Olive Groves （Case Study）

Climate change scenarios predict an increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall events in some areas. This will increase runoff and soil erosion, and reduce agricultural productivity, particularly on vulnerable mountainous agricultural lands that is already exhibiting high rates of soil erosion. Haphazard implementation of soil and water conservation （SWC） interventions on scattered fields is inefficient in reducing soil erosion. The objective of this study was to identify areas at high risk of erosion to aid the design and implementation of sustainable SWC using GIS analysis and farmers＇ participation approach. A 25 m digital elevation model （DEM） was used to derive layers of flow accumulation, slope steepness and land curvature, which were used to derive an erosion-risk （priority） map for the whole watershed. Boundaries of farmers＇ fields were mapped and verified by the community and each field was classified into high, moderate or low erosion risk. Fields with low flow accumulation （top of hill） and/or steep slope and/or convex slope were assigned high erosion risk and therefore high implementation priority. The study showed that more than 54% of the fields were classified into high erosion risk areas. Accordingly, a community-watershed plan was established, revised and approved by the community.Incentive loans to implement SWC measures were distributed to 100 farmers based on the priorities of their fields. Judged by local farmers and using 16 randomly selected fields, 90% of the targeted areas were correctly identified using the erosion risk map. After two years, the conservation measures had led to marked improvement of soil conservation. The approach is simple and easy to comprehend by the community and provides scientific basis to prioritize the implementation of SWC and to target the most degraded areas, which amplify the impact of these in reducing the vulnerability to land degradation.     

川中紫色丘陵区径流泥沙SWAT模型的模拟应用分析

针对川中丘陵区紫色土坡耕地严重水土流失,选取典型代表李子溪流域为研究区,构建了其SWAT的模型数据库,包括地形、土壤、气象和土地利用数据库。并利用赵家祠水文站1970-1979年的实测径流和泥沙资料,对该流域的SWAT模型参数进行率定再采用1980-1986年的实测资料,对模型的适用性进行验证,同时用相对误差Re和Nash确定性系数Ens评价模拟效果。结果显示,径流和泥沙模拟相对误差均在±15%范围以内,Nash确定性系数均大于等于0.70,说明SWAT模型对李子溪流域年、月径流和年泥沙量的模拟精度较高。同时模拟值与实测值和降雨量的变化趋于一致。可见,用SWAT模型模拟和预测雨量较为丰沛、土壤侵蚀较严重的紫色丘陵地区的产流产沙是实用、可行的。     

THE EFFECT OF LAND USE CHANGES ON SOIL CONDITIONS IN ARID REGION

Biography:CHEN Fu(1974－ ), male,a native of Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province, doctoral candidate.His research interests include land use management.1 INTRODUCTION Land use change may influence a variety of natural and ecological processes, including soil nutrient, soil moisture, soil erosion, land productivity (FU et al.， 1999), biodiversity, cycle of biographical geochemistry, and so on (VITOUSEK, 1994). So, it is very important that the studies of land use changes understand re…     

Soil erosion and its basic characteristics at karst rocky-desertified land consolidation area: A case study at Muzhe Village of Xichou County in Southeast Yunnan,China

Xichou County of Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in southeast Yunnan is one of the karst mountainous areas in southwest China showing typical rock desertification. During this study, we set up three soil erosion contrast test spots at Muzhe Village, Benggu Township, Xichou County, which was the birthplace of the Xichou rock-desertified land consolidation mode. The three spots included the terrace land spot (already consolidated land), sloping land spot (unconsolidated sloping land under rock desertification), and standard runoff spot (bare land spot). In 2007, a whole-year complete observation was conducted during the rainy season and "rainfall-erosion" data were obtained for 32 times. Our analysis showed that during the entire observation period, the number of the rainfalls that led to soil erosion accounted for 34.04% of the number of all rainfalls and the amount of the rainfalls that led to soil erosion accounted for 84.17% of the total amount of all rainfalls. The average erosive rainfall standard in the three test spots was 11.0 mm, slightly higher than the 10 mm standard that has been adopted all over China, but lower than the 12.7 mm standard of the US and the 13.0 mm standard of Japan. According to single-factor analysis, the soil loss in the sloping land spot (L2) and that in the bare land spot (L3) are correlated to certain extent to many other factors, including the single precipitation (P), rainfall intensity during the maximum ten minutes (I10), rainfall intensity during the maximum 20 minutes (I20), rainfall intensity during the maximum 30 minutes (I30), rainfall intensity during the maximum 40 minutes (I40), and rainfall intensity during the maximum 60 minutes (I60). Among these factors, they are of the highest relativity with I60. According to double-factor analysis, both L2 and L3 are of good relativity with P and I60. According to multi-factor analysis, L2 and L3 are also of good relativity with seven rainfall indexes, namely, P, Ia (average rainfall intensity), I10, I20, I30, I40, and I60, with their related coefficient R reaching 0.906 and 0.914, respectively. The annual soil losses in the three test spots are widely different: 1030.70 t/km2·a in the terrace land spot, which indicates a low-level erosion; 12913.22 t/km2·a in the sloping land spot (unconsolidated spot), some 12.5 times than that in the terrace land spot, which indicates an ultra-high-level erosion; and 19511.67 t/km2·a in the bare land spot, some 18.9 times than that in terrace land spot, indicating an acute erosion. These figures fully show that the Xichou rock-desertified land consolidation mode plays a significant role in soil conservation.     

六盘水市土壤侵蚀时空特征及影响因素分析

六盘水市是我国生态地位极其重要,水土流失又较为严重的城市。近些年,六盘水市实施了一系列生态工程,为了定量分析六盘水市土壤侵蚀状况及其影响因素,本文基于RUSLE模型,利用降雨数据、遥感影像数据、土地利用数据等,对贵州省六盘水市1990-2015年土壤侵蚀模数和土壤侵蚀量进行定量模拟,分析其时空动态变化,利用地理探测器定量分析影响因素,并进行空间相关性分析,结果表明： ① 六盘水市土壤侵蚀以微度和中度侵蚀为主。土壤侵蚀严重地区主要分布在北盘江流域与南盘江流域交界处以及喀斯特山地地区,煤矿开采使植被覆盖等抑制土壤侵蚀因子减少作用,使局部地区土壤侵蚀程度加剧。② 1990-2010年平均土壤侵蚀模数整体为下降趋势,2010-2015年为上升趋势。其中2000年平均土壤侵蚀模数最大,2010年平均土壤侵蚀模数最小。该变化由降雨可蚀性因子和植被覆盖度因子综合影响所致。③ 植被覆盖度因子和多年平均降雨量因子是影响区域土壤侵蚀空间分布的重要因素。未利用土地、植被覆盖度小于0.3、坡度在25°以上和降雨量在1543~1593 mm之间的地区为高风险侵蚀区域。④ 植被覆盖度与土壤侵蚀在空间上全部呈负相关性,降雨因子与土壤侵蚀在空间上存在负相关性和正相关性。⑤ 土壤侵蚀改善区域大多分布在生态工程区域内,生态工程建设能够改善土壤侵蚀情况,不同生态工程保护侧重点不同导致土壤侵蚀改善程度不同。退耕还林还草工程对六盘水市土壤侵蚀的改善具有重要意义,六盘水市更宜退耕还林。     

城镇-农业-生态空间划定的多情景模拟

城镇-农业-生态空间划定(简称"三区"划定)是国土空间规划的核心内容,对于科学合理地规划、利用有限的国土资源具有重要的意义。已有研究主要根据区域内土地利用与社会经济发展现状构建指标体系进行"三区"划定,较少将未来土地利用变化纳入"三区"划定过程中,使得划定结果在指导实践过程中缺乏前瞻性。针对这一问题,本文提出一种基于土地利用情景模拟,结合指标体系评价与决策树特征挖掘的"三区"划定方法,并以武汉市2015年土地利用现状为基础,在土地利用变化情景模拟的基础上进行"三区"划定。通过对比,验证了本文提出方法的合理性。研究发现:①不同情景下的"三区"空间在规模、空间分布上具有明显差异,将未来土地利用变化纳入"三区"划定过程中确有必要;②不同土地利用情景下"三区"空间的差异主要出现在三类空间的交界区域,这些区域是国土空间规划应该关注的重点区域。     

Soil Erosion under Different Land Use Types and Zones of Jinsha River Basin in Yunnan Province, China

Severe soil erosion in the middle and upper reaches of Yangtze River has been regarded as a major environmental problem. The on-site impact of soil erosion on agricultural production and the off-site impact on floods and sedimentation in Yangtze Rive are well known. A quantitative assessment of soil erosion intensity is still scanty for developing appropriate soil erosion control measures for different land use types and zohes in this region. This article constructs a localized USLE and estimates the average soil loss in the Jinsha River Region in Yunnan Province, one of the priority areas for soil erosion control in the middle and upper reaches of Yangtze River. The estimation is done under different land uses and zones in this basin. The estimation shows that while soil erosion in the cultivated land is the most severe, 36～40% of the garden and forest land suffers from soil erosion of various degrees due to lack of ground cover and other factors. Soil erosion in the pasture is modest when the ground cover is well maintained. It also confirmed that terracing can reduce soil erosion intensity significantly on the cultivated land. Research findings suggest that sufficient attention must be paid to regeneration of the ground cover in reforestation programs. In addition to mass reforestation efforts, restoration of grassland and terracing of the cultivated land should also play an important role in erosion control.     

Uncertainty Assessment of Soil Erosion Model Using Particle Filtering

Recent advances in computer with geographic information system(GIS) technologies have allowed modelers to develop physics-based models for modeling soil erosion processes in time and space.However, it has been widely recognized that the effect of uncertainties on model predictions may be more significant when modelers apply such models for their own modeling purposes.Sources of uncertainty involved in modeling include data, model structural, and parameter uncertainty.To deal with the uncertain parameters of a catchment-scale soil erosion model(CSEM) and assess simulation uncertainties in soil erosion, particle filtering modeling(PF) is introduced in the CSEM.The proposed method, CSEM-PF, estimates parameters of non-linear and non-Gaussian systems, such as a physics-based soil erosion model by assimilating observation data such as discharge and sediment discharge sequences at outlets.PF provides timevarying feasible parameter sets as well as uncertainty bounds of outputs while traditional automatic calibration techniques result in a time-invariant global optimal parameter set.CSEM-PF was applied to a small mountainous catchment of the Yongdamdam in Korea for soil erosion modeling and uncertainty assessment for three historical typhoon events.Finally, the most optimal parameter sets and uncertainty bounds of simulation of both discharge and sediment discharge at each time step of the study events are provided.     

Integrating multisource RS data and GIS techniques to assist the evaluation of resource-environment carrying capacity in karst mountainous area

The karst mountainous area is an ecologically fragile region with prominent humanland contradictions. The resource-environment carrying capacity(RECC) of this region needs to be further clarified. The development of remote sensing(RS) and geographic information system(GIS) provides data sources and processing platform for RECC monitoring. This study analyzed and established the evaluation index system of RECC by considering particularity in the karst mountainous area of Southwest China; processed multisource RS data(Sentinel-2, Aster-DEM and Landsat-8) to extract the spatial distributions of nine key indexes by GIS techniques(information classification, overlay analysis and raster calculation); proposed the methods of index integration and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of the RECC by GIS; and took a typical area, Guangnan County in Yunnan Province of China, as an experimental area to explore the effectiveness of the indexes and methods. The results showed that:(1) The important indexes affecting the RECC of karst mountainous area are water resources, tourism resources, position resources, geographical environment and soil erosion environment.(2) Data on cultivated land, construction land, minerals, transportation, water conservancy, ecosystem services, topography, soil erosion and rocky desertification can be obtained from RS data. GIS techniques integrate the information into the RECC results. The data extraction and processing methods are feasible on evaluating RECC.(3) The RECC of Guangnan County was in the mid-carrying level in 2018. The midcarrying and low-carrying levels were the main types, accounting for more than 80.00% of the total study area. The areas with high carrying capacity were mainly distributed in the northern regions of the northwest-southeast line of the county, and other areas have a low carrying capacity comparatively. The coordination between regional resource-environment status and socioeconomic development is the key to improve RECC. This study explores the evaluation index system of RECC in karst mountainous area and the application of multisource RS data and GIS techniques in the comprehensive evaluation. The methods can be applied in related fields to provide suggestions for data/information extraction and integration, and sustainable development.     

Landform instability and land-use dynamics in tropical high mountains, Central Mexico

This investigation is an analysis of the influence of landform instability on the distribution of land-use dynamics in a hydrographical basin, located in the Mexican Volcanic Belt mountain range (central Mexico), currently affected by substantial changes in land use and deforestation. A landform map was produced, in addition to seven attribute maps - altimetry, drainage density, slope, relief energy, potential erosion, geology and tectonics - which were considered as factors for determining landform instability through Multi-criteria Evaluation Analysis. Likewise, the direction and rhythm of land-use dynamics were analyzed in four dates - between 1976 and 2000 - and cross tabulations were made between them, in order to analyze the trends and processes of land-use dynamics. Afterwards, the databases obtained were cross tabulated with the landform variables to derive areas, percentages and correlation indices. In the study area, high-instability landforms are associated with most ancient volcanic and sedimentary landforms, where high altitude, drainage density, slope and potential to develop gravitational and fluvial processes are the major factors favouring a land-use pattern, dominated by the conservation of extensive forest land, abandonment of human land use and regeneration of disturbed areas. In contrast, low-instability landforms correspond to alluvial plains and lava hills covered by pyroclasts, where low potential erosion to develop fluvial processes, added to water and soil availability and accessibility, have favoured a land-use pattern dominated by the expansion of agroforestry plantations and human settlements, showing a marked trend towards either intensification or permanence of the current land use and with little abandonment and regeneration.