The effects of rainfall regimes and land use changes on runoff and soil loss in a small mountainous watershed

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

FANG, N.-F.

State Key Lab. of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Northwest Univ. Shaanxi, Yangling, Chine

Inst. of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Science and Ministry of Water Resources, Shaanxi, Yangling, Chine

SHI, Z.-H.

State Key Lab. of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Northwest Univ. Shaanxi, Yangling, Chine

Inst. of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Science and Ministry of Water Resources, Shaanxi, Yangling, Chine

College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural Univ., Wuhan, Chine

LI, L.

Hubei Water Resources Research Inst., Hubei Province, Chine

GUO, Z.-L.

College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural Univ., Wuhan, Chine

LIU, Q.-J.

College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural Univ., Wuhan, Chine

AI, L.

College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural Univ., Wuhan, Chine

Description :
This paper analyzes runoff and soil loss in relation to the rainfall regimes and land use changes in a small mountainous watershed in the Three Gorges Area (TGA) of China. Based on 10 years of rainfall measurements and K-means clustering, 152 rainfall events were classified into 3 rainfall regimes. The mean statistical features of different rainfall regimes display a marked difference. Each rainfall regime results in differing levels of runoff and erosion. The study was conducted in the Wangjiaqiao watershed, in Zigui County of Hubei Province, where a shift from paddy fields and cropland to forest and orchards is the most important land use change between the years 1995 and 2004. These land use changes caused significant decreasing trends in runoff and sediment load.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Catena (Giessen), issn : 0341-8162, 2012, vol. 99, p. 1-8, nombre de pages : 8, Références bibliographiques : 1 p.

Date :
2012

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

Langue :
Anglais