Abstract
Quantifying the spatial and temporal characteristics of soil erosion intensity is one of the key issues that are urgent need to be studied for the implementation of local ecological conservation strategies, especially in the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir area (TGRA) after the construction of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China. This paper selected the Daning River watershed and Meixi River watershed on the foothills of the Daba Mountains as the study area. Based on the remote sensing images in the year 1988, 2000, 2010, and 2020, and by using GIS and RS technique combined with field survey, the soil erosion type maps were acquired by the three-factor method, and the spatial variability of soil erosion evolution in different elevations and slope gradients from 1988 to 2020 was analyzed through the comprehensive index of soil erosion intensity. Results indicated that the soil erosion in both watersheds improved significantly and its intensity transformed from high to the low level, with soil erosion in both watersheds mainly concentrated in the 800~1,200 m elevation zone and the 25°~35° slope belts. The spatial and temporal evolution of soil erosion has a significant variability due to the differences in soil texture, human activities and regional policies between the two watersheds. In the 800~1,200m elevation zone, soil erosion variation in each slope zone of watersheds during the study period was obvious and occurred mainly in the 25°~35° slope zone. In the 25°~35° slope zone, soil erosion in the Daning River watershed primarily concentrates in the 600~1,400m elevation zone, and the 800~1,200m elevation zone in the Meixi River watershed. Differentiated management should be implemented in the process of soil erosion management considering conditions such as elevation and slope. Our findings will provide a reference for soil erosion management in watersheds with the same background.
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Acknowledgements
The study was supported under the funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41261045, No. 41661020), the Chongqing Research Program of Basic Research and Frontier Technology (No. cstc2015jcyjBX0128, No.cstc2018jcyjAX0539), the Chongqing Normal University Graduate Student Research Innovation Project (No. YKC16007), and the Chongqing Graduate Student Research Innovation Project (No. CYS17177).
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Li, R., Li, Y. Spatio-temporal change of soil erosion intensity on the foothills of the Daba Mountains from 1988 to 2020—a case study from the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, China. Arab J Geosci 14, 1561 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07921-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07921-7