Scholarlink

<p>Water-induced soil erosion remains a major constraint to sustainable land management (SLM) and long-term agricultural productivity, especially in landscapes experiencing rapid land use and land cover (LULC) changes. This study assesses the spatiotemporal dynamics of LULC changes and its impacts on soil erosion in the Bilate River Catchment (BRC) of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Lakes Basin (RVLB) using integrated remote sensing and geospatial soil erosion modelling for the years 1990, 2003, and 2019. Multispectral Landsat images (30&#xa0;m), edaphic data, fluviometric records, and a 30&#xa0;m DEM were processed using supervised classification with the Maximum Likelihood Algorithm in ERDAS Imagine 2015. Classification accuracy was high, with overall accuracies of 86.72%, 91.41%, and 92.19%, and Kappa coefficients of 0.8290, 0.8902, and 0.8998, respectively. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), implemented in ArcGIS 10.7.1, estimated mean annual soil loss rates rising from 27.34 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹ in 1990 to 52.94 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹ in 2019, well above the Ethiopian tolerance threshold of 2–18 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹. Agricultural lands, now covering over half the catchment, showed the highest erosion rates (31.27 to 64.88 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹), largely due to cultivation on steep slopes and lack of conservation. Degraded lands also saw severe increases, while forests, despite shrinking by 295.74&#xa0;km², retained the lowest erosion rates. Areas under very high erosion risk (&gt; 100 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹) tripled, while low-risk zones (&lt; 10 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹) declined by nearly 7%. The maximum soil loss surged from 609.81 to 1919.57 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹, indicating intensifying localized degradation. LULC changes, driven by population growth, have replaced forests and grasslands with agriculture and settlements. The results highlight the need for integrated catchment management and erosion mitigation strategies, prioritizing high-risk zones for intervention and promoting ecosystem restoration for sustainable, climate-resilient land use planning.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Spatio-temporal modeling of soil erosion dynamics under land use and land cover changes in the bilate river catchment, Ethiopia

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月8日

查看全文
  • Melku D. Alemu,
  • Ashenafi Aweke,
  • Johan Van Tol,
  • Achamyeleh G. Mengistu

摘要

Water-induced soil erosion remains a major constraint to sustainable land management (SLM) and long-term agricultural productivity, especially in landscapes experiencing rapid land use and land cover (LULC) changes. This study assesses the spatiotemporal dynamics of LULC changes and its impacts on soil erosion in the Bilate River Catchment (BRC) of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Lakes Basin (RVLB) using integrated remote sensing and geospatial soil erosion modelling for the years 1990, 2003, and 2019. Multispectral Landsat images (30 m), edaphic data, fluviometric records, and a 30 m DEM were processed using supervised classification with the Maximum Likelihood Algorithm in ERDAS Imagine 2015. Classification accuracy was high, with overall accuracies of 86.72%, 91.41%, and 92.19%, and Kappa coefficients of 0.8290, 0.8902, and 0.8998, respectively. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), implemented in ArcGIS 10.7.1, estimated mean annual soil loss rates rising from 27.34 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹ in 1990 to 52.94 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹ in 2019, well above the Ethiopian tolerance threshold of 2–18 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹. Agricultural lands, now covering over half the catchment, showed the highest erosion rates (31.27 to 64.88 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹), largely due to cultivation on steep slopes and lack of conservation. Degraded lands also saw severe increases, while forests, despite shrinking by 295.74 km², retained the lowest erosion rates. Areas under very high erosion risk (> 100 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹) tripled, while low-risk zones (< 10 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹) declined by nearly 7%. The maximum soil loss surged from 609.81 to 1919.57 t.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹, indicating intensifying localized degradation. LULC changes, driven by population growth, have replaced forests and grasslands with agriculture and settlements. The results highlight the need for integrated catchment management and erosion mitigation strategies, prioritizing high-risk zones for intervention and promoting ecosystem restoration for sustainable, climate-resilient land use planning.