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Land Degradation Assessment in the Dry Areas of Tunisia Case Study: Wadi Koutine Watershed

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Recent Advances in Environmental Science from the Euro-Mediterranean and Surrounding Regions (2nd Edition) (EMCEI 2019)

Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Engineering ((ENVSCIENCE))

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Abstract

Soil erosion processes remain the principal environmental issue in the arid regions, such as the southern part of Tunisia. Erosion is a real threat not only for soil conservation but also for the sustainability of water harvesting techniques (cisterns, check dams). The quantification of soil loss in Koutine watershed depends on many factors such as human activities, climate variability, topography (slope), and soil resources. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of topography (slope), short-term exceptional rainstorm intensity, and soil texture on erosion at field scale (less than 1 ha). The data used are from field measurements and a survey of sedimentation in 25 cisterns (6 Fesguia and 19 Majel) and erosion simulation in 37 individual sites. Data were collected over a four (04) year period from 2015 to 2018. By combining the two sources of data, we aim to improve the understanding of the erosion processes and to delineate important links between field rainfall (less than 200 mm), topography and soil characteristics, and sediments deposited in the small sediment settlement basins. The results are based on local and spatially distributed observations. The standard deviation values of soil loss/sediment yield (SY) was about 6%.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Régions, Arides IRA de Médenine, Medinine, Tunisia

    Mongi Ben Zaied, Mohamed Ouessar, Messaoud Guied & Hedi Kerdi

Authors
  1. Mongi Ben Zaied
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  2. Mohamed Ouessar
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  3. Messaoud Guied
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  4. Hedi Kerdi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mongi Ben Zaied .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. High Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Mohamed Ksibi

  2. Appliquées et Technologies, Institut Supérieur des Sciences, Gabès, Tunisia

    Achraf Ghorbal

  3. University of Calabria, Rende, Cosenza, Italy

    Sudip Chakraborty

  4. School of Engineering (ISEP), Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Helder I. Chaminé

  5. Università degli Studi di Roma, Roma, Roma, Italy

    Maurizio Barbieri

  6. University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Giulia Guerriero

  7. High Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Olfa Hentati

  8. Faculty of Engineering, Water and Water Structure Engineering Department, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim Negm

  9. University of Geneva, Genève, Geneve, Switzerland

    Anthony Lehmann

  10. ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Flörsheim am Main, Hessen, Germany

    Jörg Römbke

  11. Centre for Environmental+Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Armando Costa Duarte

  12. Department of Geography, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Gießen, Hessen, Germany

    Elena Xoplaki

  13. Springer Nature, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Nabil Khélifi

  14. Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Gembloux, Belgium

    Gilles Colinet

  15. University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    João Miguel Dias

  16. Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Imed Gargouri

  17. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université de Paris, Paris, France

    Eric D. Van Hullebusch

  18. FOTOAIR-CIEMAT, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Benigno Sánchez Cabrero

  19. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Settimio Ferlisi

  20. College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Chedly Tizaoui

  21. Sfax National School of Engineering, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Amjad Kallel

  22. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sami Rtimi

  23. Department of Mining Engineering, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey

    Sandeep Panda

  24. Université Clermont Auvergne, Polytech, Aubière, France

    Philippe Michaud

  25. Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Jaya Narayana Sahu

  26. High School of Science and Technology, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia

    Mongi Seffen

  27. SEED DICIV, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Vincenzo Naddeo

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Ben Zaied, M., Ouessar, M., Guied, M., Kerdi, H. (2021). Land Degradation Assessment in the Dry Areas of Tunisia Case Study: Wadi Koutine Watershed. In: Ksibi, M., et al. Recent Advances in Environmental Science from the Euro-Mediterranean and Surrounding Regions (2nd Edition). EMCEI 2019. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51210-1_198

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