Land Degradation Vulnerability Mapping in a Newly-Reclaimed Desert Oasis in a Hyper-Arid Agro-Ecosystem Using AHP and Geospatial Techniques

Abstract

Modelling land degradation vulnerability (LDV) in the newly-reclaimed desert oases is a key factor for sustainable agricultural production. In the present work, a trial for usingremote sensing data, GIS tools, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was conducted for modeling and evaluating LDV. The model was then applied within 144,566 ha in Farafra, an inland hyper-arid Western Desert Oases in Egypt. Data collected from climate conditions, geological maps, remote sensing imageries, field observations, and laboratory analyses were conducted and subjected to AHP to develop six indices. They included geology index (GI), topographic quality index (TQI), physical soil quality index (PSQI), chemical soil quality index (CSQI), wind erosion quality index (WEQI), and vegetation quality index (VQI). Weights derived from the AHP showed that the effective drivers of LDV in the studied area were as follows: CSQI (0.30) > PSQI (0.29) > VQI (0.17) > TQI (0.12) > GI (0.07) > WEQI (0.05). The LDV map indicated that nearly 85% of the total area was prone to moderate degradation risks, 11% was prone to high risks, while less than 1% was prone to low risks. The consistency ratio (CR) for all studied parameters and indices were less than 0.1, demonstrating the high accuracy of the AHP. The results of the cross-validation demonstrated that the performance of ordinary kriging models (spherical, exponential, and Gaussian) was suitable and reliable for predicting and mapping soil properties. Integrated use of remote sensing data, GIS, and AHP would provide an effective methodology for predicting LDV in desert oases, by which proper management strategies could be adopted to achieve sustainable food security.

Optimized Land Use through Integrated Land Suitability and GIS Approach in West El-Minia Governorate, Upper Egypt

“…In this study, while selecting this practice for the agricultural cycle, it was necessary to pay attention to the following matters: (1) It is preferable not to reuse a particular site to grow the same type of plants that were planted on it in the previous season or in recent seasons, especially when growing seasonal plants, such as vegetables and medicinal herbs, or when replanting perennial trees, such as fruit trees and shrubs [56,[59][60][61]. (2) The ideal practice is to plant different types and varieties of seasonal crops in different locations and basins, and not to replant the same crop in the same location or basin until after a few years, as this practice helps in controlling harmful and vascular insects.…”

“…(2) The ideal practice is to plant different types and varieties of seasonal crops in different locations and basins, and not to replant the same crop in the same location or basin until after a few years, as this practice helps in controlling harmful and vascular insects. Crop rotation also eliminates weeds and maintains soil fertility and good levels of organic matter [55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. Crops that are similar in their predisposition to the same diseases, and in their susceptibility to harmful insects, should be planted at spaced intervals [62][63][64][65].…”

“…(5) If it is not possible to practice crop rotation, for practical reasons, it should partially compensate for it through interlacing and intercropping, provided that healthy soils are maintained [62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. (6) In the framework of a crop rotation system, before replanting plants of the same species in the same site, it must be ensured that the soil is free of germs and associated parasitic plants [56,[59][60][61]. The agricultural pattern of growing the same family of vegetables annually on the same plot of land to meet market demands is a good example of poor or non-successive crops rotations.…”

Assessment of Soil Capability and Crop Suitability Using Integrated Multivariate and GIS Approaches toward Agricultural Sustainability

“…Similarly, about 1.6-7 reduction units are necessary to improve calcium carbonate content to the optimum <2% level. The best practice in the study area is to cultivate different seasonal crops and to avoid replanting the same plants in the same sites in order to maintain soil fertility and increase the SOM level [68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76]. This helps to maintain soil quality over the long run, which leads to an increased degree of crop yield and soil sustainability for different varieties of crops [68].…”

An Alternative Process for Determining Erosion Risk: The Fuzzy Method

“…For these purposes, geographical information systems (GISs) and remote sensing methods (Mitasova et al, 2013;Ganasri & Ramesh, 2016;Jabbar, 2003;Parlak, 2010;Chowdhury & Tripathi, 2013;Arabameri et al, 2018) have been prosperous in studies carried out on erosion in different continents of the world. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is one of the multi-criteria decision making techniques that uses parameters such as slope, precipitation, lithological structure, and vegetation and, with its proven reliability (Vulević et al, 2015;Chakraborty et al, 2016;Abuzaid et al, 2021;Belloula et al, 2020;Tairi et al, 2019;Kabo-bah et al, 2021), has been used extensively in recent years. It is one of the most reliable frequently used methods, especially for producing erosion risk maps.…”