Difference in organic carbon contents and distributions in particle-size fractions between soil and sediment on the Southern Loess Plateau,China

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of long-term cultivation and water erosion on the soil organic carbon （OC） in particle-size fractions. The study site is located at Nihegou Watershed in the Southern Loess Plateau, China. The soil at this site is loess with loose and silty structure, and contains macropores. The results showed that the OC concentrations in sediments and in the particle-size fractions of sediments were higher than those in soils and in the particle-size fractions of soils. The OC concentration was highest in the clay particles and was lowest in the sand particles. Clay particles possessed higher OC enrichment ability than silt and sand particles. The proportions of OC in the silt fractions of soil and sediment were the highest （mean value of 53.87% and 58.48%, respectively）, and the total proportion of OC in the clay and silt fractions accounted for 96% and 98% of the total OC in the soil and sediment, respectively. The loss of OC was highest in silt particles, with an average value of 0.16 Mg ha^-1 y^-1, and was lowest in the sand （0.003 Mg ha^-1 y^-l）. This result suggests that the fine particle-size fraction in the removed sediment may be an important indicator to assess soil OC losses.     

Impacts of land cover changes on runoff and sediment in the Cedar Creek Watershed,St. Joseph River,Indiana, United States

The relation between runoff and sediment and land cover is investigated in the Cedar Creek Watershed （CCW）, located in Northeastern Indiana, United States. The major land cover types in this watershed are cultivated land, woodland and pasture /Conservation Reserve Program （CRP）, which account for approximate 90 % of the total area in the region. Moreover, land use was changed tremendously from aooo to 9004, even without regarding the effect of the crop rotation system （corn ＆ soybean）. At least 49 % of land cover types were changed into other types in this period. The land cover types, ranking by changing area from high to low series, are rye, soybean, corn, woodland and pasture/CRP. The CCW is divided into 21 subwatersheds, and soil and water loss in each sub-watershed is computed by using Soil and Water Assessment Tool （SWAT）. The results indicate that the variations in runoff and sediment have positive relation to the area of crops （especially corn and soybean）; sediment is more sensitive to land cover changes than runoff; more heavy rainfall does not always mean more runoff because the combination of different land cover types always modify runoff coefficient; and rye, soybean and corn are the key land cover types, which affected the variation in runoff and sediment in the CCW.     

The effects of land uses on purplish soil erosion in hilly area of Sichuan Province,China

1 Introduction Food grain productivity of dry land per capitahas declined significantly during the past fewdecades (Parr et al. 1990). Bowman et al. (1990)and Blaikie (1985) indicated that the greatest lossin productivity comes from soil loss, withsecondary effects from loss of nutrients due toreduced organic matter and increased soil bulkdensity. Soil erosion has major ecological andeconomic consequences in densely populatedChina, particularly, in a large agriculture province,Sichuan…     

Dynamic analysis of mainstream area and vegetation coverage degree of Songhua River based on RS and GIS techniques

Based on remote sensing technique,using 1990’s Landsat TM data and 2000’s Landsat ETM data,the authors conducts the comparative study of mainstream area of Songhua River by means of human-computer inter-action method.The results show that the area of Songhua River mainstream was 738 102 km 2 in 1990,and was 810.451 km 2 in 2000.From 1990 to 2000,the increased area of river mainstream is up to 72.349 km2 due to soil erosion and water loss.Meanwhile,the dynamic changes of surrounding vegetation cover are also studied.It is estimated that the trend of surrounding soil erosion and water loss of Songhua River mainstream becomes worse in Jilin Province.