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Land degradation assessment by geo-spatially modeling different soil erodibility equations in a semi-arid catchment

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Abstract

Land degradation by soil erosion is one of the most serious problems and environmental issues in many ecosystems of arid and semi-arid regions. Especially, the disturbed areas have greater soil detachability and transportability capacity. Evaluation of land degradation in terms of soil erodibility, by using geostatistical modeling, is vital to protect and reclaim susceptible areas. Soil erodibility, described as the ability of soils to resist erosion, can be measured either directly under natural or simulated rainfall conditions, or indirectly estimated by empirical regression models. This study compares three empirical equations used to determine the soil erodibility factor of revised universal soil loss equation prediction technology based on their geospatial performances in the semi-arid catchment of the Saraykoy II Irrigation Dam located in Cankiri, Turkey. A total of 311 geo-referenced soil samples were collected with irregular intervals from the top soil layer (0–10 cm). Geostatistical analysis was performed with the point values of each equation to determine its spatial pattern. Results showed that equations that used soil organic matter in combination with the soil particle size better agreed with the variations in land use and topography of the catchment than the one using only the particle size distribution. It is recommended that the equations which dynamically integrate soil intrinsic properties with land use, topography, and its influences on the local microclimates, could be successfully used to geospatially determine sites highly susceptible to water erosion, and therefore, to select the agricultural and bio-engineering control measures needed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, Diskapi, 06110, Ankara, Turkey

    Selen Deviren Saygın, F. Ebru Yilman & Gunay Erpul

  2. Department of Soil Science, Seyrani Faculty of Agriculture, Erciyes University, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey

    Mustafa Basaran

  3. Department of Landscape Architecture, Forestry Faculty, Cankiri Karatekin University, Yenimahalle, 18200, Cankiri, Turkey

    Ali Ugur Ozcan & Ozgur Burhan Timur

  4. Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Cankiri Karatekin University, Fatih, 18100, Cankiri, Turkey

    Melda Dolarslan

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  1. Selen Deviren Saygın
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  2. Mustafa Basaran
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  3. Ali Ugur Ozcan
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  4. Melda Dolarslan
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  6. F. Ebru Yilman
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  7. Gunay Erpul
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Correspondence to Gunay Erpul.

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Saygın, S.D., Basaran, M., Ozcan, A.U. et al. Land degradation assessment by geo-spatially modeling different soil erodibility equations in a semi-arid catchment. Environ Monit Assess 180, 201–215 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1782-z

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