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Dynamic identification of soil erosion risk in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin in China from 1978 to 2010

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Abstract

Soil erosion has become a significant environmental problem that threatens ecosystems globally. The risks posed by soil erosion, the trends in the spatial distribution in soil erosion, and the status, intensity, and conservation priority level in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin were identified from 1978 to 2010. This study employed a multi-criteria evaluation method integrated with GIS and multi-source remote sensing data including land use, slope gradient and vegetation fractional coverage (VFC). The erosion status in the study region improved from 1978 to 2010; areas of extremely severe, more severe, and severe soil erosion decreased from 0.05%, 0.94%, and 11.25% in 1978 to 0.04%, 0.81%, and 10.28% in 1998, respectively, and to 0.03%, 0.59%, and 6.87% in 2010, respectively. Compared to the period from 1978 to 1998, the area classed as improvement grade erosion increased by about 47,210.18 km2 from 1998 to 2010, while the area classed as deterioration grade erosion decreased by about 17,738.29 km2. Almost all severe erosion regions fall in the 1st and 2nd conservation priority levels, which areas accounted for 3.86% and 1.11% of the study area in the two periods, respectively. This study identified regions where soil erosion control is required and the results provide a reference for policymakers to implement soil conservation measures in the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Haigen Zhao, Yuyu Tang & Shengtian Yang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Haigen Zhao & Shengtian Yang

  3. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Haigen Zhao

  4. Beijing Water Science and Technology Institute, Beijing, 100048, China

    Haigen Zhao

Authors
  1. Haigen Zhao
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  2. Yuyu Tang
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Correspondence to Shengtian Yang.

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Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41701517; National Key Project for R&D, No.2016YFC0402403, No.2016YFC0402409

Author: Zhao Haigen (1983–), PhD, specialized in hydrological simulation and remote sensing.

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Zhao, H., Tang, Y. & Yang, S. Dynamic identification of soil erosion risk in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin in China from 1978 to 2010. J. Geogr. Sci. 28, 175–192 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-018-1466-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-018-1466-0

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