Modelling soil erosion response to sustainable landscape management scenarios in the Mo River Basin (Togo, West Africa)

Abstract

The rural landscapes in Central Togo are experiencing severe land degradation, including soil erosion. However, spatially distributed information has scarcely been produced to identify the effects of landscape pattern dynamics on ecosystem services, especially the soil erosion control. In addition, relevant information for sustainable land and soil conservation is still lacking at watershed level. On this basis, using the LAndscape Management and Planning Tool for the Mo River basin (LAMPT_Mo), we (1) modelled soil erosion patterns in relation with land use/cover change (LUCC), land protection regime, and landforms, and (2) examined the efficiency of landscape redesign options on soil erosion amounts at basin scale. We found that Simulated historical net soil loss (NSL) for the Mo basin were approximately 26, 23, 27, and 44t/ha/yr, for 1972, 1987, 2000, and 2014, respectively. These simulated NSLs were higher than the tolerable soil loss limits for the Tropics. Steep slopes (≥15°), poorly covered lands (croplands and savannas), and riversides (distances ≤100m) are critical areas of sediment sources. The local appraisal of soil loss was in line with the simulated outputs even though quantification was not accounted for when dealing with rural illiterate people. Furthermore, results showed that the examined management measures, such as controlling the identified erosion hotspots through land protective measures, could help reduce the NSL up to 70%, to values closer to the tolerable limits for the Tropics. The model implementation in the basin showed insights for identifying erosion hotspots and targeting soil conservation planning and landscape restoration measures.

Soil erosion risk and sediment yield assessment with universal soil loss equation and GIS: in Dijo watershed, Rift valley Basin of Ethiopia

“…Soil erosion could accurately be estimated if and only if the extent and distribution of gullies should be measured. Additionally, the most sensitivity parameters that contributed for soil erosion should be selected for better conservation interventions (Diwediga et al 2018). Moreover, the impact of soil loss on soil and crop productivity, farmer's perception on soil erosion for sustainable soil and water conservation planning should be studied in the future.…”

Revised SEDD (RSEDD) Model for Sediment Delivery Processes at the Basin Scale

“…Note that there might be additional studies that have not been included in the literature review of this study because these papers utilized the SEDD model but did not reference the original study of the SEDD model [9]. For example, Diwediga et al [130] utilized the SEDD model to study soil erosion response to sustainable land management in the Mo River Basin, Togo, Africa, but referenced the Di Stefano et al [36] equation instead. Finally, the great influence the original paper on sediment delivery research over the past 25 years gives rise to an innumerable number of references.…”

Climate and Land Use Change Effects on Sediment Production in a Dry Tropical Forest Catchment

“…Di Stefano et al [51], tested it in 7 Sicilian basins, up to 213 km 2 . Diwediga et al [52] used SEDD to model erosion dynamics in the 1485 km 2 large Mo river in the central part of Togo. Similarly, Liu et al [53] applied it to study the sediment contribution process in a basin with an area of 130 km 2 located in Germany.…”