Estimating Human Impacts on Soil Erosion Considering Different Hillslope Inclinations and Land Uses in the Coastal Region of Syria

Abstract

Soils in the coastal region of Syria (CRoS) are one of the most fragile components of natural ecosystems. However, they are adversely affected by water erosion processes after extreme land cover modifications such as wildfires or intensive agricultural activities. The main goal of this research was to clarify the dynamic interaction between erosion processes and different ecosystem components (inclination, land cover/land use, and rainy storms) along with the vulnerable territory of the CRoS. Experiments were carried out in five different locations using a total of 15 erosion plots. Soil loss and runoff were quantified in each experimental plot, considering different inclinations and land uses (agricultural land (AG), burnt forest (BF), forest/control plot (F)). Observed runoff and soil loss varied greatly according to both inclination and land cover after 750 mm of rainfall (26 events). In the cultivated areas, the average soil water erosion ranged between 0.14 ± 0.07 and 0.74 ± 0.33 kg/m2; in the BF plots, mean soil erosion ranged between 0.03 ± 0.01 and 0.24 ± 0.10 kg/m2. The lowest amount of erosion was recorded in the F plots where the erosion ranged between 0.1 ± 0.001 and 0.07 ± 0.03 kg/m2. Interestingly, the General Linear Model revealed that all factors (i.e., inclination, rainfall and land use) had a significant (p < 0.001) effect on the soil loss. We concluded that human activities greatly influenced soil erosion rates, being higher in the AG lands, followed by BF and F. Therefore, the current study could be very useful to policymakers and planners for proposing immediate conservation or restoration plans in a less studied area which has been shown to be vulnerable to soil erosion processes.

An Assessment of Forest Cover Change and Its Driving Forces in the Syrian Coastal Region during a Period of Conflict, 2010 to 2020

“…Depending on the values of the elevation and the slope (Figure 2), the region can be divided into three basic geomorphological units, namely, the coastal strip or the coastal area that is characterized by its narrow plains (elevation, 0-121 m, slope, 0-2%), plateaus (elevation, 121-589 m, slope, 2.1-10%), and mountains (elevation, 590-1550 m, slope, 10.1-29%) [46][47][48]. The disturbances caused by the tectonic movements that extended from the early Pleistocene to the Upper Holocene, which were represented by the rise and fall of the sea level notably during the Tyrrhenian period, in addition, many geomorphological processes which were mainly controlled by climatic factors, had a clear impact on the formation and development of the bedrock in the region [48,49]. The bedrock is mostly composed of clayey lime-stone, sandstone, and composition of the limestone and marl deposits on which different types of soils have developed [48,49].…”

“…The disturbances caused by the tectonic movements that extended from the early Pleistocene to the Upper Holocene, which were represented by the rise and fall of the sea level notably during the Tyrrhenian period, in addition, many geomorphological processes which were mainly controlled by climatic factors, had a clear impact on the formation and development of the bedrock in the region [48,49]. The bedrock is mostly composed of clayey lime-stone, sandstone, and composition of the limestone and marl deposits on which different types of soils have developed [48,49]. The main types of these soils are Entisols, Incepti-sols, Mollisols, and Vertisols [48,50].…”

“…The bedrock is mostly composed of clayey lime-stone, sandstone, and composition of the limestone and marl deposits on which different types of soils have developed [48,49]. The main types of these soils are Entisols, Incepti-sols, Mollisols, and Vertisols [48,50].…”

“…The Mediterranean climate is the prevailing climate in the region [51,52]. This climate is characterized by hot and dry summers, while winters are wet and relatively cold [48,51]. Rainfall is concentrated mainly in the winter season (between November and March) [48].…”

Impacts of rainstorms on soil erosion and organic matter for different cover crop systems in the western coast agricultural region of Syria

“…Even though most of the Syrian coastal area is affected by soil erosion, only a few studies were carried out for measuring, monitoring and managing this natural or induced human hazard (Mohammed, Abdo, et al., 2020; Mohammed, Alsafadi, et al., 2020). Unfortunately, it seems that this phenomenon cannot attract less attention from decision‐makers in contrast to other land degradation issues (i.e.…”