Effectiveness of Contour Farming and Filter Strips on Ecosystem Services

Gathagu, John Ng’ang’a; Mourad, Khaldoon A.; Sang, Joseph

doi:10.3390/w10101312

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The study by Mosbahi and Benabdallah [54] reported that SWAT model was capable of identifying the optimal management practice under a specific land use in a Tunisian semi-arid catchment. The SWAT model was used to evaluate the effectiveness of contour farming and filter strips on ecosystem services in the Thika-Chania catchment, Kenya [55]. Similarly, Gharibdousti et al [45] showed that SWAT model can be used to prioritize feasible BMPs on fields in agriculture-pasture intensive watersheds, Southwestern Oklahoma, USA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prioritization of Sub-Watersheds to Sediment Yield and Evaluation of Best Management Practices in Highland Ethiopia, Finchaa Catchment

Dibaba

Demissie

Miegel

2021

Land

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Excessive soil loss and sediment yield in the highlands of Ethiopia are the primary factors that accelerate the decline of land productivity, water resources, operation and function of existing water infrastructure, as well as soil and water management practices. This study was conducted at Finchaa catchment in the Upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia to estimate the rate of soil erosion and sediment loss and prioritize the most sensitive sub-watersheds using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using the observed streamflow and sediment data. The average annual sediment yield (SY) in Finchaa catchment for the period 1990–2015 was 36.47 ton ha−1 yr−1 with the annual yield varying from negligible to about 107.2 ton ha−1 yr−1. Five sub-basins which account for about 24.83% of the area were predicted to suffer severely from soil erosion risks, with SY in excess of 50 ton ha−1 yr−1. Only 15.05% of the area within the tolerable rate of loss (below 11 ton ha−1yr−1) was considered as the least prioritized areas for maintenance of crop production. Despite the reasonable reduction of sediment yields by the management scenarios, the reduction by contour farming, slope terracing, zero free grazing and reforestation were still above the tolerable soil loss. Vegetative contour strips and soil bund were significant in reducing SY below the tolerable soil loss, which is equivalent to 63.9% and 64.8% reduction, respectively. In general, effective and sustainable soil erosion management requires not only prioritizations of the erosion hotspots but also prioritizations of the most effective management practices. We believe that the results provided new and updated insights that enable a proactive approach to preserve the soil and reduce land degradation risks that could allow resource regeneration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prioritization of Sub-Watersheds to Sediment Yield and Evaluation of Best Management Practices in Highland Ethiopia, Finchaa Catchment

Dibaba

Demissie

Miegel

2021

Land

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“…Similar results were reported by Ayele et al [25] in the Upper Blue Nile Basin. Gathagu et al [52] used the SWAT model in the Thika-Chania catchment in Kenya to evaluate soil and conservation practices to control sediment yield, and found satisfactory results. Licciardello et al [53] also evaluated the SWAT model in simulating sediment deposition in a Sicilian reservoir by comparing with different bathymetric measurements.…”

Section: Assessment Of Swat Model Performance Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Climate Change on Loss of Lake Volume: Case of Sedimentation in Central Rift Valley Basin, Ethiopia

et al. 2018

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Evaluating the impact of climate change on sediment yield has become one of the major topics in climate research. The purpose of this study was to investigate sediment yield contribution to lake volume change under changing climatic conditions in the Central Rift Valley Basin. The ensemble mean of five regional climate models (RCMs) in the coordinated regional climate downscaling experiment (CORDEX)-Africa was considered for the purpose of this study. The climate variables (precipitation, minimum and maximum temperatures) in RCMs were bias corrected against observed data using linear scaling (LS), power transformation (PT), variance of scaling (VS), and quantile mapping (QM). Two emission scenarios, the Representative Concentration Pathways, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, were considered for the future scenario period . Better results were obtained when the ensemble values of the bias correction methods were used. Hence, the projected values of climate variables after bias correction were used in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model to estimate the sediment yield contribution to lake volume change due to climate change. The results show that the average projected precipitation will decrease by 7.97% and 2.55% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. On average, the maximum temperature will increase by 1.73 • C and 2.36 • C under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively, while the minimum temperature will increase by 2.16 • C and 3.07 • C under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. The average annual sediment yield contributions to Lake Ziway were 431.05 ton/km 2 and 322.82 ton/km 2 for the Meki and Ketar rivers, respectively, in the historical period . The study also reveals that the annual sediment yield that was estimated for the Meki River was 323 ton/km 2 and 382 ton/km 2 under RCP4.5 and under RCP8.5, respectively. The sediment estimations for the Ketar River were 157 ton/km 2 and 211 ton/km 2 under RCP4.5 under RCP8.5, respectively. This will decrease the rate of volume change in Lake Ziway by 38% under RCP4.5 and by 23% under RCP8.5. The results show that the life expectancy of the lake is likely to increase under climate change scenarios. This will help water resources managers make informed decisions regarding the planning, management, and mitigation of the river basins.Hydrology 2018, 5, 67 2 of 18 reservoirs, ponds, and rivers. The sedimentation of the water bodies reduces their capacity and the useful lifespan of the reservoir. Sediment yield can be described as the amount of sediment that would enter into a reservoir located at the outlet of the basin [1]. It is the net result of soil erosion and processes of sediment accumulation, so it depends on variables that control water and sediment discharge to reservoirs [2]. Sediment yield is influenced by many factors, which include topography, soil, climate, land use, and drainage characteristics [3][4][5][6]. The problem of sedimentation is aggravated by human activities and climate change. A study conducted by Belete [7] on Lake Hawasa showed that sediment...

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“…Soil erosion not only causes the loss of water and soil resources and the destruction of land productivity, but also the harm to human survival 47–49 . Due to soil erosion, ecological problems such as soil fertility decline have exacerbated the fragility of ecosystems and will affect human production and life (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable use zoning of land resources considering ecological and geological problems in Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, China

Gao

Wang

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone is one of the fastest growing areas of China’s social and economic development. However, the contradiction between people and land, the deterioration of ecological environment and the damage of urban ecological security have become more serious problems. In previous studies there was single land utilization type in small-area and the evaluation method was not suitable to large areas, this study proposes a new method. Firstly, the study implements ecological land zoning from assessing the importance of ecosystem services functional in four aspects: biodiversity, water conservation, soil conservation and coastal protected zone. Then, the suitability evaluation index system of agricultural and construction land is established from the geological environment perspective, and introduces variable weight-analytical hierarchy process-comprehensive index model to evaluate the suitability of agricultural land and construction land. Re-zoning the type of land that has a special effect on the socio-economic, the mining land, protected area of geological relics and groundwater resources, respectively. Finally, considering the actual condition use status and suitability distribution of land, the results of comprehensive zoning of land utilization is got. The results of this study can provide some geological basis for the future land utilization zoning.

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Effectiveness of Contour Farming and Filter Strips on Ecosystem Services

Cited by 27 publications

References 33 publications

Prioritization of Sub-Watersheds to Sediment Yield and Evaluation of Best Management Practices in Highland Ethiopia, Finchaa Catchment

Prioritization of Sub-Watersheds to Sediment Yield and Evaluation of Best Management Practices in Highland Ethiopia, Finchaa Catchment

The Effect of Climate Change on Loss of Lake Volume: Case of Sedimentation in Central Rift Valley Basin, Ethiopia

Sustainable use zoning of land resources considering ecological and geological problems in Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, China

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