The Impact of Land Use Changes on Soil Erosion in the River Basin of Miocki Potok, Montenegro

Abstract

Land use change in all river basins leads to changes in hydrologic response, soil erosion, and sediment dynamics characteristics. Those changes are often viewed as the main cause of accelerated erosion rates. We studied the impact of land use changes on soil erosion processes in one of the watersheds in Montenegro: the Miocki Potok, using this watershed as a pilot river basin for this area. We simulated responses of soil erosion processes by using a process-oriented soil erosion Intensity of Erosion and Outflow (IntErO) model, with different settings of land use for the years 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. The model provides fast, effective, and affordable insight into the effects of land use change on soil erosion processes. Testing of the applied procedures was important for the further establishment of watershed management methodologies at the national level, for the other 300 river basins of Montenegro. For the current state of land use, calculated peak discharge for the Miocki Potok was 364 m3 s−1 (2020)–372 m3 s−1 (1970) for the incidence of 100 years, and there is a possibility for large flood waves to appear in the studied basin. Real soil losses, Gyear, were calculated at 13680 m3 year−1 (2020) and specific 333 m3 km−2 year−1 (2020). A Z coefficient value of 0.439 (2020) indicated that the river basin belongs to destruction category III. The strength of the erosion process was medium, and according to the erosion type, it was mixed erosion. According to our analysis, the land use changes in the last 50 years influenced a decrease in the soil erosion intensity for 14% in the Miocki Potok River Basin. Further studies should be focused on the detailed analysis of the land use changes trends with the other river basins at the national level, closely following responses of soil erosion to the changed land use structure, and effects of plant-and-soil interaction on soil erosion and sediment dynamics.

Geodetic and UAV Monitoring in the Sustainable Management of Shallow Landslides and Erosion of a Susceptible Urban Environment

“…As an overall perspective of the triggering factors in this study, the slope of the land can be included, with a slope of over 30 • , relatively poor vegetation, as well as other factors, of which anthropogenic intervention has obviously become more pronounced [8,38]. The growing real estate interest in the area and the development of the new neighborhood, the beltway that has been heavily circulated in recent years, the continuous vibrations due to traffic, the heavy equipment used in the local development of buildings, etc., are the main elements of anthropogenic intervention with unfavorable consequences on land stability [43,[62][63][64][65]. To these can be added factors related to the exploitation of the land from an agricultural point of view, the grazing of the sheep contributing to the drastic restriction of the shrubby and even grassy vegetation that increase the risk of soil erosion [63,66].…”

“…The process identified in the experiment is the most common form of erosion and depends on several factors: precipitation, soil characteristics, slope, land use category, and the condition of the vegetation. The presence of water has a double effect, as it facilitates the reduction of shear strength and also increases the unit weight of the soil [38,62].…”

Evaluation of Ecological Environment Effect of Villages Land Use and Cover Change: A Case Study of Some Villages in Yudian Town, Guangshui City, Hubei Province

“…Overall, the current evaluation of the ecological environmental effect of land-use change has focused more on the influence of single environmental factors [24][25][26][27]; however, social and economic pressures have been less considered, the research scales have been mainly concentrated in regions and places, and the research has been mostly based on a single land-use type change, area change, center of gravity change, ecological environmental quality index, and ecological risk [28][29][30]. Few people combine these factors to analyze and predict the ecological environmental effect of land-use change on a small scale.…”

A GIS-Based Spatial Analysis Model Approach for Identification of Optimal Hydrotechnical Solutions for Gully Erosion Stabilization. Case Study

“…The issue raised by the assessment and management of degraded lands caused by deep erosion processes is of current importance considering the impact on the field due to changes in the precipitation regime influenced by global climate change [1][2][3] and the lack of hydro-ameliorative works after the transfer of ownership from state property (specific to the pre-1989 communist regime in Romania) to private ownership (population or economic agents) [4]. The erosion processes that induce vulnerability and territorial risk, having the greatest effects on degraded land, are represented by surface erosion and develop deep processes, gullies, ravines and torrents, as a result of precarious intervention [5] or total disinterest in mitigating or diminishing the development of the mentioned processes due to the small profit that can be obtained as a result of the exploitation of these lands [6][7][8][9][10].…”