Effects of land use changes on soil erosion in a fast developing area

Land use changes extensively affect soil erosion, which is a great environmental concern. To evaluate the effect of land use change on soil erosion in fast economic developing areas, we studied land use changes of Guangdong, China, from 2002 to 2009 using remote sensing and estimated soil erosion using the Universal Soil Loss Equation. We calculated the areas and percentage of each land use type under different erosion intensity and analyzed soil erosion changes caused by transitions of land use types. In addition, the impact of land use change on soil erosion in different river catchments was studied. Our results show that forest and wasteland land conversions induce substantial soil erosion, while transition from wasteland to forest retards soil loss. This suggests that vegetation cover changes significantly influence soil erosion. Any conversion to wasteland causes soil erosion, whereas expansion of forests and orchards mitigates it. The most significant increase in soil erosion from 2002 to 2009 was found in the Beijiang catchment corresponding to the transition from forest/orchard to built-up and wasteland. Soil erosion in the Xijiang catchment accelerated in this period due to the enormous reduction in orchard land. In Hanjiang catchment, erosion was alleviated and vegetation coverage greatly expanded owing to considerable transitions from wasteland and cropland to orchards. Field investigations validated our estimations and proved the applicability of this method. Measures including protecting vegetation, strict control of mining as well as reasonable urban planning should be taken to prevent successive soil erosion.     

Remote sensing- and GIS-based runoff modeling with the effect of land-use changes (a case study of Cochin corporation)

A study was conducted to estimate the runoff in urbanized zone using Soil Conservation Services Curve Number (SCS-CN) method through remote sensing and GIS techniques. In this study, the region was identified as Cochin Corporation (Kerala State, India) with an aerial extent of 96.44 km². The spatial and non-spatial data were collected from different sources, and the thematic layers of soil hydrologic group and land-use maps were prepared and overlaid with one other. The overlaid output results were assigned by curve numbers with respect to soil and land-use categories, and the CN map was prepared with the help of Visual Basic (VB) language in ArcGIS platform. Through supervised classifications, 13 different land-use classes were identified from Quickbird data for the year of 2005 and 2010. The most prominent land-use classes were water bodies, residential, mixed crops, commercial and industrial, and 3 types of soil hydrologic groups were identified namely A, B, and C categories. The B group is most prominent occupying 60 km² of the study area. The CN map shows the ranges that 92–100 is the major CN area with high runoff potential zone of the study region. At the final stage, the runoff was estimated by the maximum successive rainfall received in this study area in two different years—2005 and 2010 along with their land-use pattern. The runoff model is applied for temporal variation in land-use change, and impact of runoff was studied. The study area showed significant changes in land-use pattern between 2005 and 2010 particularly in the land-use change from agricultural into industrial, commercial, and residential (high density). The area covered by the highest runoff depth with the range of 92–100 CN values increased from 43.87 to 45.32 km² from 2005 to 2010. The volume of runoff was increased from 135.56 to 141.49 Mm³ from 2005 to 2010 due to the land-use change pattern.     

石漠化景观格局分布特征及其影响因素分析——以贵州省盘县为例

以贵州省盘县2004年石漠化现状分布为基础,探讨石漠化斑块的空间组合格局类型及其影响因素。结果表明,该区石漠化景观呈现出极强度石漠化斑块集中分布型、强度石漠化与无石漠化斑块混合分布型、潜在石漠化与无石漠化为主分布型、轻中度石漠化聚集分布型和石漠化斑块相间分布型5种空间组合分布格局。人为干扰、自然因素是造成该区石漠化空间格局存在明显差异的主要原因。从全县来看,石漠化主要分布在坡度10°～ 17. 5°的地带,其次是17. 5°～ 35°的区域。从发生石漠化的土地类型来看,轻度石漠化主要分布于灌丛和坡耕地,中度石漠化主要分布于中覆盖草地和坡耕地,强度和极强度石漠化主要分布于中覆盖草地和来利用地。碳酸盐岩的分布、地形地貌和亚热带山地气候差异形成了不同的景观类型,而有限的土地资源和土地利用方式是控制喀斯特石漠化的主导因子。通过土地利用规模调整和优化,因地适宜实施退耕还林还草等,将有望实现强度、极强度石漠化景观逐渐向无石漠化景观的转变。      

国土空间规划背景下地质文化村规划体系初探

国土空间规划是各类国土空间开发保护建设活动的基本依据。本文基于我国国土空间规划提出背景及“五级三类四体系”框架,提出地质文化村是城镇开发边界以外的特色村庄,地质文化村规划属于国土空间规划中的城镇开发边界外村庄详细规划,是“多规合一”的实用性村庄规划,是具有地质特色的村庄建设规划。规划体系应包括以保护为导向的地质生态体系规划、以功能为导向的村庄建设体系规划、以效益为导向的融合产业体系规划、以持续为导向的运管保障体系规划等内容。为了促进地质文化村规划体系科学编制与实施,提出未来应严格落实国土空间规划,坚持“多规合一”;强化规划体系重要性,编制规划体系技术标准;构建多元主体参与规划机制,提高规划体系编制水平;监测规划实施情况,定期开展评估。     

Environmental impacts by input of substances in landscapes of the District (Bezirk) of Leipzig,Germany

Problems of landscape and resource protection resulting from the intensification of land-use can be mastered only by intersectoral planning and a land management considering (landscape-)ecological principles right from the beginning. In the district of Leipzig ecological studies in the '80ies have focussed on:

1. Determination of the regional pattern of atmospheric immissions;
2. Registration of heavy metals in soil and vegetation;
3. Soil compaction, soil erosion;
4. Study of stress indicators in the aeration zone and in the top-most aquifer in order to examine barrier effects in the percolation process.

First results are discussed.     

近15a乌鲁木齐市城市用地扩展动态及其空间特征研究

以乌鲁木齐市为例,在遥感和GIS技术的支持下,对干旱区城市土地利用结构、空间格局动态变化与城市扩展的空间特征进行定量分析.采用1987年、2002年两期陆地卫星影像为基础数据源,提取了研究时段内乌鲁木齐城市土地利用变化信息;结合景观生态学原理和方法,对研究区城市景观的动态变化进行定量分析.并引入建成区空间密度作为定量指标,分析总结了乌鲁木齐市扩展变化的空间特征.结果表明,1987-2002年间乌鲁木齐城市土地利用状况发生了较大的变化:城市建成区和绿地面积增长,水体面积减少;景观斑块分离度增强,边界构成曲折化,整体格局趋于复杂;在空间上,城市扩展主要沿西、西北及东北3个主要方向进行,并形成了建成区密度由内而外递减的空间分异特征.     

古尔班通古特沙漠与绿洲交错带土地利用变化对土壤特性的影响

对比研究了古尔班通古特沙漠与绿洲交错带8种土地利用类型的土壤特性变化. 结果表明: 不同土地利用类型的土壤粉砂含量差异性显著(P<0.05). 人类活动干扰的时间越长、 强度越大, 粉砂和极细砂含量越高, 而细砂反之. 在人类活动干扰前期(≤5 a), 土壤养分与干扰时间成反比, 而后(＞5 a)与时间成正比. 不同土地利用类型的土壤养分分为4个等级: 1级为盐碱地, 为最高等级; 2级为生态防护林地、 荒草地和天然灌木林地; 3级为10 a农田地、 5 a菜园地和3 a农田地; 4级为5 a农田地, 为最低等级. 人类活动使得土壤盐分由原来的(盐碱土)上层高、 下层低转为上层低、 下层高. 而且盐分与干扰时间成反比. 土地利用变化的过程中, 土壤盐分与Cl^-、 SO₄^2-、 Ca²⁺、 Mg²⁺、 K⁺和Na⁺离子均成正比, 而与HCO₃^-离子成反比. 5 a农田地土壤退化指数(-30.58%)最高, 是其他土地利用类型的1.5~3.9倍.     

Land-use change and its ecological responses: a pilot study of typical agro-pastoral region in the Heihe River,northwest China

Although rapid land-use change has taken place in many arid and semi-arid regions of northwestern China, relatively less attention has been paid to studying the characteristics of land use change, as well as the ecological responses of land use change in these regions, especially in fragile agro-pastoral regions. This paper analyzes the land use change and its ecological responses during 1985–2005 based on the landscape metrics change and transition matrix of land use types by the combined use of satellite remote sensing and geographical information systems in Shandan County, a typical agro-pastoral region in the middle and upper reaches of Heihe River, northwest China. The results indicate significant changes in land use have occurred and the landscape has become more continuous, clumped and more homogeneous within the examined area. Land use change was mainly characterized by remarkable expansion of barred land and water area, slight increase of cropland and urbanized land, and evident shrinkage of grassland and woodland. The study also demonstrates that the land cover suffered severe degeneration and the ecological environment tended to deteriorate over the study period, mainly as follows: grassland degradation, land desertification and ecosystem services decline.     

Peri-urbanization landuse dynamics: an analysis of evolving patterns and their impacts on Gabane Village,Botswana

This case study investigates peri-urban land-use conflicts and changes, in a typical African setting, for a village located on the outskirts of the capital city of Gaborone-Botswana, in order to explore policy implications for sustainable core-region development. The year 1982 provided the baseline situation that was compared with other dates, namely: 1996; 2006 and 2012 in order to analyze land-use conflicts, competition, and succession. The study tracked the landuse changes using: Geographic Information System (GIS), with 1:50 000 air photos taken in 1982; Landsat images from 1996 and 2006 as well as 2012 Google images of medium resolution. The investigation also relied on a social survey, historical landscape reconstruction approaches, field interviews and direct observations. An analysis of 1982 aerial photographs revealed that Gabane Village had experienced little urban influence from the city of Gaborone at that time. Subsequently, stakeholders with different socio-economic demand emerged. This caused extensive land-use changes over the study period. The residents of Gabane nonetheless employed diverse adaptive strategies to sustain their livelihoods. An analysis of the proposed 2001-2025 Development Plan for Gabane Village, identifies possible future land-use changes and conflicts and proposes tentative policy solutions for the emerging sustainable development challenges.     

Selenium distribution in the local environment of selected villages of the Keshan Disease belt,Zhangjiakou District,Hebei Province,People's Republic of China

The distribution of Se in cultivated topsoils, grains, human hair and drinking water has been studied in 15 villages from a Keshan disease area of the People's Republic of China, villages being classified into 3 groups according to the Keshan disease incidence in the local population. In grain, hair and water the total Se follows expected trends; i.e. the highest concentrations are found in the villages where there is no incidence of Keshan disease. However, the soils from the high-incidence Keshan disease villages have the highest total Se content, an apparent contradiction, as Keshan disease is a response to a Se deficient environment. Soil analyses suggest that the organic content of the soils is a major factor in controlling the availability of Se and it is the high-incidence Keshan disease villages that have the most organic-rich soils. Although higher in total Se, the organic-rich soils have little bioavailable Se resulting in a Se deficient food chain. Soil pH is also seen to be a related factor in restricting the availability of Se and all the grain samples collected on soils with a pH <7.6 had a total Se content of less than 10% of the total soil Se. In an environment that can be classified as Se deficient small changes in the soil organic content and pH can have a critical affect on the Keshan disease status of a village.     

Effects of land use on spatial patterns of soil properties in a rocky mountain area of Northern China

In the rocky mountain area of North China, soil fertility has decreased with severe soil and water losses under various land uses. Land use has been proven to affect soil fertility spatial distribution patterns at larger scales. However, less information is available about these effects in field scale plots. Soil samples were collected at 2-m intervals by grid sampling from an area (18?×?18 m) within three land use types (poplar woodland, rotation cropland with peanut and sweet potato, and peach orchard). Soil properties including soil particle composition, soil organic matter, total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃ ^?-N), total phosphorus (TP), and available phosphorus (AP) were measured for each sample. The spatial variability and spatial pattern of the soil properties were assessed for the three contrasting land use types. NH₄ ⁺-N, NO₃ ^?-N, and AP in the peach orchard and NO₃ ^?-N in the poplar woodland exhibited strong variation (coefficient of variance >100 %). Other properties showed moderate variations. With annual plowing and fertilization, soil properties in the rotation cropland had less variability and greater spatial autocorrelated ranges. The spatial dependences of sand content, TN, NO₃ ^?-N, and SWC in both the peach orchard and the rotation cropland were weaker than those in the poplar woodland, but the spatial dependences of TP and AP in the peach orchard were stronger than those in either the rotation cropland or the poplar woodland. Human activities such as plowing, fertilization, and harvesting had obvious effects on the spatial variability and spatial pattern of soil properties.     

黔中典型喀斯特地区土壤水分时空特性分析

土壤水分是岩溶山区植被恢复和生态环境建设的关键性限制因素.利用黔中喀斯特普定石漠化研究基地的采样分析数据,用回归模型分析了不同利用类型(坡面、洼地)0～50cm土壤水分的动态变化规律;探讨了土壤水分空间变化的影响因子.结果表明,坡面和洼地土壤水分呈现弱变异特征,其中坡面土壤水分变异程度相对较大,变程分别是30.4～24.5和30.4～26.2.在剖面上,两者的垂直变异趋势大致相反,坡面土壤水分变异系数随土层的加深而增大;而洼地由于受外界自然条件的干扰相对较小,变异系数随着土层深度的增加而减小,而且其中的不同土地利用类型都是在40～50cm处达到最小.研究显示,植被覆盖度提高后土壤总体上朝着有利于水分保蓄和植被恢复的方向转变.      

Environmental impacts caused by phosphate mining and ecological restoration: a case history in Kunming,China

This paper presents the environmental impacts caused by surface mining and the ecological rehabilitation of Haikou phosphate deposits, Kunming, China. Surface mining entails the removal of the overburden to expose bare rock surfaces, not only causing destruction of pre-existing vegetation, but also occupying large areas of land for dumping the spoil. Severe environmental impacts are caused, e.g. rock desertification, poor forest stand structure, loss of biodiversity, aesthetic depreciation of the landscape, and the potential hazard of landslide and ground erosion. Ecological restoration has been conducted in a demonstration area since 1989 by means of control of geological hazards and revegetation of the disturbed areas. On-site dumping of waste rock for restoration of the abandoned mine area was adopted, providing a new mode of mining reclamation with high economic, environmental, and social value. Countermeasures for prevention and control of landslides included cut and fill technology, drainage, safety netting protection, retaining wall construction, and vegetation cover. By recruiting native plant species to the mine site and planting a forest imitating a natural mixed forest, the mine area was successfully revegetated.     

Spatial variability of soil available phosphorus in a typical watershed in the source area of the middle Dan River,China

Phosphorus is an essential and common limiting element for plants. Phosphorus losses from agricultural production systems are known to contribute to accelerated eutrophication of natural waters. In this study, soil available phosphorus (SAP) content and SAP density were estimated based on a soil survey of a small watershed in the Dan River, China, and the spatial heterogeneity of SAP distribution and the impacts of land-use types, elevation, slope and aspect on SAP were assessed. Field sampling was carried out based on a 100 m × 100 m grid system overlaid on the topographic map of the study area, and samples were collected in three soil layers to a depth of 40 cm. A total of 190 sites were sampled, and 539 soil samples were collected. The results showed that classical kriging could successfully interpolate SAP content in the watershed. SAP content showed a downward trend with the increase in soil depth and the extent of SAP variability in the three soil layer is moderate. There were significant differences among the three soil layers (P < 0.01). The land use had a great impact on the SAP content. ANOVA indicated that the spatial variation of SAP contents under different land-use types was significant (P < 0.01). The SAP density of different land-use types followed the order of cropland > forestland > grassland. The mean SAP density of cropland, forestland and grassland at a depth of 0–40 cm was 4.28, 3.74 and 2.81 g/m², respectively. SAP and topographic factors showed that SAP content increased with decreasing altitude and slope gradient. The soil bulk density played a very important role in the assessment of SAP density. In conclusion, the soils in the source area of the middle Dan River would reduce SAP with conversions from cropland to forest or grassland.     

Soil Loss Estimation based on RUSLE along the Central Hunter Valley Region,NSW, Australia

Soil erosion by water has been a major problem since man introduced agriculture in the landscape. Soil erosion is a common hazard which is steadily increasing as a result of human activities in many parts of the world. Hunter Valley of NSW is located in subtropical eastern Australia. The region is known for its diversity in landscape that includes wide floodplains, extensive estuarine wetlands, undulating country, escarpments and rugged sandstone gorges. The region is also well known for wine production. The Hunter Valley has a long history of soil erosion following the European settlement 150 years ago. Currently there have been renewed human activities in the south central part of the region for coal mining, leading to clearance of vegetation and disturbance of soil. The present study addresses the issue of soil erosion in a part of Hunter Region by employing the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE, Renard et al., 1977) model. The results indicate that the average annual soil loss from the area is 0.7 kg/m²/year, which is well beyond the tolerance limit of the soil. Statistical relationships between soil loss and each parameter of the RUSLE equation were obtained and it was found that C factor has significant influence on the average soil loss in the area. An overall picture that emerges out of the study is that the region is continuing to suffer as a result of disturbance in natural environment from the historical times till present.     

Estimation of soil losses by USLE model using GIS at Mashhad plain, Northeast of Iran

The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is an erosion estimation model to assess the soil losses that would generally result from splash, sheet, and rill erosion. At the present study, spatial distribution of different erosion prone areas were identified by USLE model to determine the average annual soil losses at Mashhad plain, northeast of Iran. Soil losses were estimated on a 100?×?100 m cell basis resolution by overlaying the five digital parameter layers (R, K, LS, C, P). To determine the critical soil loss regions at the plain, cell-based USLE parameters were multiplied by Arc-GIS ver.9.3. The estimated annual soil losses values were subsequently grouped into five classes ranging from 0 to 0.25 t/h/year around the trough line of the plain at Kashaf-rud River to 2–10 t/ha/year at the hills and pediment plains. Our results indicated a good correlation between land units of hills and pediment plains with the values of soil losses at the study area (R ² ?=?0.72), also the statistical analysis exhibited a high correlation between land use/cover of dry farming and soil losses (R ² ?=?0.78).     

Field-scale spatial distribution characteristics of soil nutrients in a newly reclaimed sandy cropland in the Hexi Corridor of Northwest China

Conversion of native desert to irrigation cropland often results in the changes of soil processes and properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes of soil nutrients and their spatial distribution characteristics of a newly reclaimed cropland at the initial stage of the conversion using statistical and geo-statistical methods. Soil samples were collected at regular intervals from a cropland of 0.24 ha, and their nutrient indicators determined. The mean contents of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), and pH value in this newly reclaimed sandy cropland were averaged at 4.45 g kg^?1, 0.49 g kg^?1, 19.99 mg kg^?1, 21.08 mg kg^?1, 121.60 mg kg^?1, and 8.98, respectively. The ranges were less than 20 m for the semivariogram of SOC, TN, and pH, but exceeded 20 m for AN, AP, and AK. The ratios of nugget-to-sill were less than 10 % for the semivariogram of SOC, TN, and pH, but exceeded 25 % for AN, AP, and AK. There were similar distribution characteristics for SOC, AN, and pH, with different sizes of patches present; such distribution patterns were related to the regular planting of orchard and the interval application of manures. There were big-sized patches in the distributions of AN, AP, and AK. Topography was the main factor causing the spatial heterogeneity of available N, P, K, and the 4 years (2001–2004) of cropping affected the distribution patterns of these nutrient variables. The conversion of native desert to irrigation cropland caused significant increases in soil nutrients, but their spatial distributions had large variations. This study identified the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of each soil nutrient variable, including the environment factors and anthropogenic management practices. There is a great potential to improve the productivity and soil fertility for the newly reclaimed sandy cropland, only if the appropriate and sustainable soil management practices are adopted.     

Catchment scale spatial variability of soil salt content in agricultural oasis,Northwest China

Soil salinization is a serious environmental problem in the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, estimating spatial variability of soil salinity plays an important role in environmental sciences. Aiming at the problem of soil salinization inside an oasis, a case study was carried out at the Sangong River catchment in Xinjiang province, northwest China. Methods of classical statistics, geostatistics, remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) were applied to estimate the spatial variability of soil salt content in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and its relationship with landscape structure at catchment scale. The objective of this study was to provide a scientific basis to understand the heterogeneous of spatial distribution of soil salt content at a large scale. The results revealed that (1) elevation of landform was a key factor for soil salt content’s spatial variability, and soil salt content had a strong spatial autocorrelation, which was mainly induced by structural factors. (2) Mapping of soil salt content by Kriging and comparing it with landscape maps showed that area of soil salinization in old oasis was smaller than that in new oasis, and degree of soil salinization in old oasis was also lower than that in the new one. Among all landscapes, cropland was mostly affected by salinity, with 38.8% of the cropland in new oasis moderately affected by soil salinity, and 8.54% in old oasis.     

Quantify the landscape effect and environmental sustainability of rural region planning at town scale near metropolis

The urban fringe, which can be seen as a special form of regional ecosystem with a spatial transition from urban to rural areas, has strong heterogeneity and is a typical ecologically sensitive area. The expansion of cities and the landscape effect of the changes have attracted wide attention. The primary aim of this study is to obtain an understanding of the spatial patterns of landscape conversion and the corresponding environmental sustainability. With the help of GIS and Fragstats software, the changes of landscape patterns before and after town planning were compared in An-Ding town of Beijing, of which the sustainability was also revealed based on the ecological footprint using social and economic statistic data. The results showed that the landscape pattern changed greatly during its conversion from several villages to a small town and the landscape fragmentation increased due to road construction. Meanwhile, human disturbance increased with the constructed land extension. For the gap between the ecological footprint and the biological capacity, An-Ding town ran an ecological deficit at that period, which means it was unsustainable. However, the environmental sustainability decreased after planning due to the degraded green land and forest. The results suggested that ecological management should be strengthened during the town planning period.     

Prediction reliability,quantitative differences and spatial variations of erosion models for long-range petroleum and gas infrastructure

The main goal of this study was to assess the prediction reliability, the quantitative differences and the spatial variations of the Morgan––Morgan–Finney (MMF) and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) erosion prediction models along the 442-km-long and 44-m-wide Right-of-Way of Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil and South Caucasus gas pipelines. USLE performed better than MMF erosion model by the accurate prediction of 61% of erosion occurrences. Paired-samples T-test with p-value less than 0.05 and bivariate correlation with the Pearson's correlation coefficient equal to 0.23 showed that the predictions of these two models were significantly different. MMF model revealed more clustered patterns of predicted critical erosion classes with a soil loss of more than 10 ton/ha/year in particular ranges of pipelines rather than USLE model with the widespread spatial distribution. The average coefficients of variation of predicted soil loss rates by these models and the number of accurately predicted erosion occurrences within the geomorphometric elements of terrain, vegetation cover and landuse categories were larger in the USLE model. This supported the hypothesis that larger spatial variations of erosion prediction models can contribute to the better soil loss prediction performance and reliability of erosion prediction models.