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The changing relationship between spatial pattern of soil erosion risk and its influencing factors in Yimeng mountainous area, China 1986–2005

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Abstract

The relationship between soil erosion distribution and its influencing factors is critical for soil erosion modeling and soil conservation planning. Based on subbasins, this study quantitatively analyzed the variation of relationships between spatial pattern of soil erosion risk and its main influencing factors such as slope, rainfall, vegetation cover, and land use in Yimeng mountainous area from 1986 to 2005. The results showed that, on the hilly and mountainous region, the increase of vegetation cover and optimized land use structure resulted in an evident decline of erosion risk over the period of approximately 20 years, especially in the second half of the period. The number of subbasins with soil erosion risk index value over 2 decreased from 49 in 1995 to 29 in 2005 due to the Grain for Green Program implemented in this area. As the increase of spatial heterogeneity of rainfall erosivity in 2005, rainfall with a low contribution rate (about 5.4%) became one of the significant factors affecting the spatial pattern of erosion risk. With the impact of human activities on the erosion, the contribution rate (CR) of slope on the erosion pattern fell from 92.8 to 79.7%. The CR of vegetation cover diminished from 7.2% in 1986, while that of land use structure gradually enhanced to 14.9% in 2005. This study indicated that with the restoration of vegetation cover; the impact of land use pattern on soil erosion distribution had become increasingly important, suggesting that more attention should be paid to the role of adjustment and optimization of land use structure in soil erosion control in this area.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University from Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. NCET-08-0877), a Grant from the Foundation for Study Encouragement to Middle-aged and Young Scientist of Shandong Province, China (Grant No. 2007BS08025), and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (Grant No. Y2008E23). The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that greatly improved the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Key Laboratory of Soil Conservation and Environmental Protection, School of Chemistry and Resources Environment, Linyi University, Linyi, 276005, China

    Qian Ma, Xingxiu Yu & Qianjin Liu

  2. College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Guoan Lü

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  1. Qian Ma
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  2. Xingxiu Yu
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  3. Guoan Lü
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  4. Qianjin Liu
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Correspondence to Xingxiu Yu.

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Ma, Q., Yu, X., Lü, G. et al. The changing relationship between spatial pattern of soil erosion risk and its influencing factors in Yimeng mountainous area, China 1986–2005. Environ Earth Sci 66, 1535–1546 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1393-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1393-1

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