Grid-Scale Impact of Climate Change and Human Influence on Soil Erosion within East African Highlands (Kagera Basin)

Li, Chaodong; Li, Zhanbin; Yang, Mingyi; Ma, Bo; Wang, Baiqun

doi:10.3390/ijerph18052775

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…The GRA calls upon Deng's grey system theory [24], which is a multi-factor statistical analysis method for determining the correlation grade between factors [25]. In this study, the four steps of calculation are the same as in the study of Li et al [26]. We classified the eighteen indicators of social and economic development in the Yan River basin into three types: economic, social, and eco-environment, according to their characteristics.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Social and Economic Development on Sediment Load of the Yellow River

Guang-ming

Han

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Approximately 90% of the sediment yield of the Yellow River is derived from the Loess Plateau. In this paper, the Loess Plateau was used as the research object. To investigate the influence of economic and social development on reducing sediment load of the Yellow River, a mathematical method was employed with hydrological and sediment data from three hydrological stations (Toudaoguai and Sanmenxia at the Yellow River, and Ganguyi at the Yan River) as well as per capita GDP data from the Yan River basin. The results showed that the reduction in runoff in the reaches between the Toudaoguai and Sanmenxia stations accounted for 39.3% of the decrease in the sediment load of the Yellow River, and the other 60.7% of the decrease may have resulted from economic and social development. Using the Yan River basin as an example, there was an inverse relationship between per capita GDP and sediment delivery during the period from 1984 to 2018. Grey relational analysis revealed a relatively high relation between the sediment load of the Yan River and the number of rural laborers transferred from the area, the afforestation area, and the tertiary industry value of Yan’an city. Thus, economic development and social transformation are highly related to sediment delivery in the basin, which may result in a decrease in sediment delivery to some extent.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Social and Economic Development on Sediment Load of the Yellow River

Guang-ming

Han

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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“…The digital elevation model (DEM) downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) EarthExplorer [24] database has a 30 × 30 m 2 spatial resolution and was selected to derive the topographic factor. Precipitation data was taken from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), which has been successfully used for scientific research in East Africa [25,26]. CHIRPS data for the period 2000-2015 was used; the spatial resolution of the data was 0.05 × 0.05 • .…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Will Rwandan Land Use/Land Cover Change under High Population Pressure and Changing Climate?

Yang

et al. 2021

Applied Sciences

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In recent decades, population growth and economic development have greatly influenced the pattern of land use/land cover (LULC) in Rwanda. Nevertheless, LULC patterns and their underlying change mechanisms under future climate conditions are not well known. Therefore, it is particularly important to explore the direction of LULC transfer in the study area, identify the factors driving the transfer of different types of LULC and their changes, and simulate future LULC patterns under future climate conditions. Based on LULC analyses of Rwanda in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2015, the LULC pattern of Rwanda in the next 30 years was simulated using an LULC transition matrix, random forest sampling, the Markov chain model, and the PLUS model. The results showed that LULC change in the study area primarily comprised a decrease in forest area and expansion of cropland area, accompanied by a small increase in grassland area and an annual increase in urban land area. Prior to 2000, the LULC in Rwanda was mainly converted from forest and grassland to cropland, with the ratio being 0.72:0.28. After 2010, the LULC was mainly converted from forest to grassland and cropland, with the ratio being 0.83:0.17. Changes in forests, grasslands, and cropland are driven by multiple factors, whereas changes in wetlands, water, urban land, and unused land are more likely to be driven by a single factor. The existing trend of LULC change will continue for the next 30 years, and the future LULC pattern will exhibit a trend in which cropland area will increase in the west and grassland area will decrease, whereas grassland area will increase in the east and cropland area will decrease.

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“…For example, Ait M' Barek et al (2023) estimated the average annual soil loss of 4.71 t ha −1 year -1 in the El Grou watershed, located in north-central Morocco. In another study (Li et al, 2021), the authors show that the East African Highlands of Kagera Basin, located in Burundi (23% of the basin), Rwanda (34%), Tanzania (35%), and Uganda (8%), has an average soil erosion rate of 10.54 t ha −1 year −1 (Li et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

SWAT model-based quantification of the impact of land use land cover change on sediment yield in the Fincha watershed, Ethiopia

Regasa,

Nones

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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In recent years, Ethiopia is facing problems due to soil erosion, mainly because of the conversion of natural vegetation into cultivated land to answer to increasing human pressure. Such changes in coverage are fostering soil erosion, which is also affecting dam reservoirs, because of the increasing sediment yield entering the lake. The present study focuses on the Ethiopian Fincha watershed and takes advantage of the potentiality of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, to investigate how land use land cover changes impact soil erosion and the consequent sediment yield entering the Fincha Dam. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using time series data of stream flow and sediment covering the period 1986-2008, and its performance was evaluated by looking at the coefficient of determination, Nash-Sutcliffe simulation efficiency, and per cent bias. Once validated, the SWAT model was applied to derive sediment yield for the future 30 years, based on forecasted land use land cover conditions. The results show that the mean annual soil loss rate increased from 32.51 t ha−1 in 1989 to 34.05 t ha−1 in 2004, reaching 41.20 t ha−1 in 2019. For the future, a higher erosion risk should be expected, with the annual soil loss rate forecasted to be 46.20 t ha−1 in 2030, 51.19 t ha−1 in 2040, and 53.98 t ha−1 in 2050. This soil erosion means that sediments transported to the Fincha Dam, located at the watershed outlet, increased significantly in the last 30 years (from 1.44 in 1989 to 2.75 mil t in 2019) and will have the same trend in the future (3.08–4.42 mil t in 2020 and 2050, respectively), therefore highly affecting the Fincha reservoir services in terms of reduction of water volume for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. By providing possible medium/long-term scenarios, the present work can help land planners and decision-makers in developing future land management strategies based on actual projections, eventually aiming to reduce soil erosion at the watershed scale and guarantee the sustainable development of the Fincha region and its key hydraulic infrastructures.

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Grid-Scale Impact of Climate Change and Human Influence on Soil Erosion within East African Highlands (Kagera Basin)

Cited by 8 publications

References 67 publications

Impact of Social and Economic Development on Sediment Load of the Yellow River

Impact of Social and Economic Development on Sediment Load of the Yellow River

How Will Rwandan Land Use/Land Cover Change under High Population Pressure and Changing Climate?

SWAT model-based quantification of the impact of land use land cover change on sediment yield in the Fincha watershed, Ethiopia

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