Effect of vegetation cover on soil erosion in a mountainous watershed

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

ZHOU, P.

College of Resources and Environment, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry Univ., Shaanxi, Chine

LUUKKANEN, O.

Viikki Tropical Resources Inst., Dept. of Forest Ecology, Univ., Helsinki, Suede

TOKOLA, T.

Dept. of Forest Resource Management, Univ., Helsinki, Suede

Fac. of Forestry, Univ., Joensuu, Finlande

NIEMINEN, J.

Dept. of Forest Resource Management, Univ., Helsinki, Suede

Description :
The study area is located in the Upper Min River (UMR) watershed, in Sichuan province, Southwest China. The AA. applied the Revised Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to assess levels of soil loss in a Geographic Information System (GIS). They used the k-NN technique to estimate vegetation cover by integrating Landsat ETM+ scenes and field data with optimal parameters. They evaluated the root mean square errors and significance of biases at the pixel level in order to determine the optimal parameters. The AA. used a regression equation to calculate the cover management (C) factor of the RUSLE from vegetation cover data. On the basis of the quantitative model of soil erosion, they explored the relationship between soil loss and its influencing factors, and identified areas at high erosion risk. The k-NN technique provides a new method to estimate the C-factor for RUSLE erosion mapping. The quantitative model of different vegetation cover scenario provides information on how vegetation restoration could reduce erosion.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Catena (Giessen), issn : 0341-8162, 2008, vol. 75, n°. 3, p. 319-325, nombre de pages : 7, Références bibliographiques : 35 ref.

Date :
2008

Editeur :
Pays édition : Allemagne, Cremlingen-Destedt, Catena

Langue :
Anglais