Intersecting views of gully erosion in South Africa

Gully erosion is an environmental problem recognized as one of the worst land degradation processes worldwide. Insight into regional gully perturbations is required to combat the serious on- and off-site impacts of gullying on a catchment management scale. In response, we intersect different perspectives on gully erosion-specific views in South Africa (SA), a country that exhibits various physiographic properties and spans 1.22 million km². While the debate surrounding gully origin continues, there is consensus that anthropogenic activities are a major contemporary driver. The anthropogenic impact caused gullying to transcend climatic, geomorphic, and land-use boundaries, although it becomes more prominent in central to eastern SA. Soil erodibility plays a crucial role in what extent of gully erosion severity is attained from human impact, contributing to the east–west imbalance of erosion in SA. Soil erosion rates from gullying and badlands are limited but suggest that it ranges between 30 and 123 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the more prominent areas. These soil loss rates are comparable to global rates where gullying is concerned; moreover, they are up to four orders of magnitude higher than the estimated baseline erosion rate. On a national scale, the complexity of gullying is evident from the different temporal timings of (re)activation or stabilizing and different evolution rates. Continued efforts are required to understand the intricate interplay of human activities, climate, and preconditions determining soil erodibility. In SA, more medium- to long-term studies are required to understand better how changing control factors affect gully evolution. More research is needed to implement and appraise mitigation measures, especially using indigenous knowledge. Establishing (semi)-automated mapping procedures would aid in gully monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of implemented mitigation measures. More urgently, the expected changes in climate and land-use necessitate further research on how environmental change affects short-term gully erosion dynamics.     

Dynamic evolution and the mechanism of modern gully agriculture regional function in the Loess Plateau

The agricultural regional type and function are the key theoretical issues in agricultural geography research. Gully agriculture in the Loess Plateau is a new regional type of agricultural system with the coupling development of the modern gully human-earth relationship. The study of its functional changes is of great practical significance for food security,rural revitalization and sustainable development of regional agriculture in the region of interest. This paper analyses the multifunctional...     

Impact of hillslope vegetation restoration on gully erosion induced sediment yield

As a result of serious soil erosion on the Loess Pla-teau of China, about 1.6 billion tons of silt discharge into the downstream and 0.4 billion tons deposit on the riverbed every year, causing serious threat to the life and property of the local people on both banks of the lower Yellow River[1]. Since the 1950s, the Chinese government has initiated the work on soil and water conservation and environmental management on the Loess Plateau and formulated the guiding principle of hillslope and …     

低频泥石流特征及其预测初步探讨

同高频泥石流相比,低频泥石流更具有潜在危害性。近年来,低频泥石流的暴发给我国山区人们的生命财产安全、经济发展和社会进步以及山区生态环境带来了极大的影响。本文通过对低频泥石流沟实地考察以及对近年来我国暴发的约30例典型低频泥石流资料进行搜集整理,从其隐蔽性、活动性、规模和破坏性以及灾情等方面探讨了低频泥石流的特征;以茶园沟为例,采用灰色灾变预测方法,建立灰色灾变预测模型对其进行预测,经检验预测结果与实际发生年份一致,并且预测出2042年或2043年前后以及2095年或2096年前后茶园沟发生大规模泥石流的可能性较大;最后,针对低频泥石流的特征,提出了相应的防治建议。     

浅层滑坡诱发沟谷泥石流的地形和降雨条件

2011年贵州省望谟县打易镇的大范围浅层滑坡诱发的沟谷泥石流提供了研究这类泥石流地形和降雨条件的机会。在地质条件一致和小区域内的降雨条件基本一致的情况下,地形条件就是这些泥石流暴发与否的唯一决定因素。对比一些重要的地形因素与泥石流暴发的关系,得出了由流域面积、沟床纵比降和25°~45°山坡坡度面积比组成的泥石流综合地形因子T。在地形因子T的基础上,研究获得了由前期降雨量、1 h降雨强度、年平均降雨量等组成的降雨因子R。由地形因子T和降雨因子R获得的临界条件P可以判断该区域的泥石流暴发。由于研究工作部分基于泥石流的形成机理,研究成果还可用于其他区域的泥石流形成预测,为泥石流的预测预报提供了一个较好的方法。     

岩溶脆弱生态区农业可持续发展模式创新构想——岩溶流水养鱼生态沟驱动模式

以贵州省为例,借鉴传统农业开发模式,充分挖掘岩溶区资源优势,通过改造传统养鱼业,提升产品质量,将生态农业开发、特色冷水鱼养殖、生态环境保护与旅游业“串并”结合,实现融合互动,提出岩溶区农业可持续发展新模式——岩溶流水养鱼生态沟驱动模式.进而阐述其概念和内涵,在此基础上,从资源依托性、经济价值、生态效应、交通和市场角度,分析该模式在岩溶区实施的可行性.研究表明:岩溶流水养鱼生态沟驱动模式是有别于岩溶区传统农业发展模式的创新模式,在岩溶区具有推广的可行性以及生态和经济价值,是充分利用当地资源,使农业增产,农民     

Extraction and analysis of gully head of Loess Plateau in China based on digital elevation model

In China′s Loess Plateau area, gully head is the most active zone of a drainage system in gully areas. The differentiation of loess gully head follows geospatial patterns and reflects the process of the loess landform development and evolution of its drainage system to some extent. In this study, the geomorphic meaning, basic characteristics, morphological structure and the basic types of loess gully heads were systematically analysed. Then, the loess gully head′s conceptual model was established, and an extraction method based on Digital Elevation Model(DEM) for loess gully head features and elements was proposed. Through analysing the achieved statistics of loess gully head features, loess gully heads have apparently similar and different characteristics depending on the different loess landforms where they are found. The loess head characteristics reflect their growth period and evolution tendency to a certain degree, and they indirectly represent evolutionary mechanisms. In addition, the loess gully developmental stages and the evolutionary processes can be deduced by using loess gully head characteristics. This study is of great significance for development and improvement of the theoretical system for describing loess gully landforms.     

黄土丘陵区廊道研究初探

以景观生态系统理论为指导,对黄土丘陵区进行了地貌景观结构分析,确定了其“廊道、斑块、基质”的景观模式,认为黄土堆积物可被看作为黄土丘陵区的基质;墚、塬、峁、台地和残塬等为被侵蚀的一种残存斑块;沟谷、河谷和道路是主要的廊道。提出了沟谷廊道的概念,初步分析了沟谷廊道在黄土丘陵区的特点:三道合一、分布自相似性、延伸速度快、水土流失的通道以及道路廊道狭窄。从景观生态理论与沟谷廊道治理目标相结合的观点出发,提出了优化整治的原则与治理措施,认为黄土丘陵区沟谷廊道的研究在生态环境治理和社会经济发展方面具有重要的研究价值。     

复杂网络理论在黄土高原沟谷地貌特征研究中的应用

沟谷侵蚀是塑造黄土地表侵蚀形态的主要动力,沟谷的发育过程深刻地影响着黄土地貌的发育及演化.本文在黄土高原选择6个典型地貌样区,以样区的数字高程模型为基本数据源提取沟谷系统.将沟谷系统中的沟谷节点、沟谷源点和流域出水口点作为网络节点,网络节点之间的空间拓扑关系为边,高程差为权值,构建黄土高原沟谷加权复杂网络模型.对黄土沟...     

Gully boundary extraction based on multidirectional hill‐shading from high‐resolution DEMs

The gully boundary, which distinguishes gully from non‐gully areas, is a significant geomorphologic feature for research on gully development and gully erosion. This study presents a new method based on multidirectional hill‐shading maps, which identify the gully (i.e., shadow area) from inter‐gully (i.e., non‐shadow area). These shadows obtained from various illumination azimuths are merged; consequently, the border of the shadows, which is the gully boundary line, can be achieved. In this process, two key parameters, namely, altitude and azimuth of light, affect the accuracy of gully boundary extraction. The experiments in Yaojiawan area of China show that the method of average median slope of all sampling profiles across the gully boundary is effective and practical for light altitude selection. Moreover, the six azimuths are sufficient for gully boundary extraction in a loess hilly area. The application in the Madigou area indicates the replicability and rationality of this method. A comparison with the positive‐negative terrain and slope variation method confirms a higher accuracy of gully boundary extraction by the proposed method in terms of visual interpretation, length, and contour‐matching difference with reference to manually digitalized results. Accuracy assessment indicates that the proposed method is applicable for gully boundary extraction based on high‐resolution DEMs.