Gully erosion is an important environmental problem worldwide and the main process by which water and soil losses occur in the Black Soil Region (BSR) of Northeast China. At the end of 2012, 295,663 gullies were present in this region. However, few studies have examined the gullies of the Black Soil Region as a whole. Studying the distribution of recent gullies can reveal the pattern of gully distribution and can help predict their spatial development according to the soil and water conservation regionalization of China. This study examines the recorded gullies in the BSR of Northeast China, which is included in the first census of water resources in China and in six sub-regions of the soil and water conservation regionalization of China. Specifically, digital elevation model (DEM) data are combined with data on gullies occurring on hillslopes with different slopes and aspects to study the distribution of these features. The results illustrate that gully density, developing gully density, and the proportion of cutting land initially increase with increasing slope up to some threshold value, then decrease as the slope increases further. The patterns of stable gullies are divided into unimodal and bimodal types. Three patterns of gully intensity are identified. The areas and lengths of gullies are larger on sunny slopes, but larger numbers of gullies are present on shaded slopes. In addition, more space is available for gully development in the Hulun Buir hilly and plain sub-region and the Changbai Mountain-Wanda Mountain sub-region than in the other sub-regions.
The widespread hillslope- and gully-erosion in Liaoning Province of Northeast China, pose serious challenges to the local agricultural production. Hillslope- and gully-erosion have typically been studied separately; however, there has been little investigation on the relationship of these two types of erosion. In this study, the coupling relationship of the hillslope- and gully-erosion from the perspectives of erosion intensity and land use, as well as the slope gradient, aspect, and shape, was analysed. The study employed remote sensing and geographic information system techniques, and the universal soil loss equation and kriging were used to perform a macroscopic analysis. The results showed that gully-erosion was more severe compared with hillslope-erosion in the study area. The cultivated land has the highest level of human activities, therefore, the most intense hillslope- and gully-erosion. The threshold slope gradients for the hillslope- and gully-erosion are 14° and 6°, respectively. Above the threshold of 6°, the slope gradient is no longer the primary factor affecting the gully-erosion. Sunny slopes have observably more hillslope-erosion than shady slopes, and the highest hillslope-erosion is observed on the south-southeast-facing slopes. The effect of the slope aspect on the gully-erosion should not be ignored, as evidenced by the considerable gully density of the east-northeast-facing slopes which is obviously higher than for slopes with other slope aspects. The highest hillslope-erosion amount and gully density occur on concave slopes, followed by convex and straight slopes, and straight slopes have little effect on the hillslope-erosion, but have a marked impact on the gully-erosion. The results of this work may serve as a scientific reference for the comprehensive control of soil erosion across a slope-gully system in Northeast China.
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