Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dspace.utpl.edu.ec/jspui/handle/123456789/19198
Title: Spatial Estimatión Of Soil Erosion Risk By land-Cover Change In The Andes Of Southern Ecuador
Authors: Ochoa Cueva, P.
Fries Fries, A.
Keywords: soil erosion
RUSLE
land-cover change
future scenarios
C-factor
Ecuadorian Andes
metadata.dc.date.available: 2017-06-16T22:03:07Z
Publisher: Land Degradation and Development
Abstract: Ecuador has the highest deforestation rate in South America, causing large-scale soil erosion. Inter-Andean watersheds are especially affected by a rapid increase of the population leading to the conversion of large areas of montane forest into pasture and cropland. In this study, we estimate soil erosion risk in a small mixed land-use watershed in the southern Andes of Ecuador. Soil loss was estimated at a spatial resolution of 30?m, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) where the RUSLE factors were estimated on the basis of limited public available data. Land-cover maps for 1976, 2008 and 2040 were created assuming increasing deforestation rates over the ensuing decades. Greater erosion rates are estimated for succession areas with agricultural cropland and pasture with maximum values of 936?Mg?ha?1?y?1, where slopes and precipitation amounts are the greatest. Under natural forest vegetation, the estimated soil erosion rates are negligible (1�5 to 40?Mg?ha?1?y?1) even at steep slopes and higher elevations where rainfall amounts and intensities are generally higher. When the entire watershed has undergone substantial deforestation in 2040, erosion values may reach 2,021?Mg?ha?1?y?1. Vegetation cover is the most important factor for potential soil erosion. Secondary factors are related to rainfall (R-factor) and topography (LS factors). Although the spatial predictions of potential soil erosion have only limited meaning for erosion risk, this method provides an important screening tool for land management and assessment of land-cover change. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
metadata.dc.identifier.other: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2219
URI: http://dspace.utpl.edu.ec/handle/123456789/19198
ISBN: 1099-145X
Other Identifiers: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2219
Other Identifiers: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2219
metadata.dc.language: Inglés
metadata.dc.type: Article
Appears in Collections:Artículos de revistas Científicas



Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.