Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate

Anthropogenic activities have dramatically changed land uses over the last century, which has considerably increased soil disturbance. Despite considerable attention paid to the effects of land use on soil erosion, it remains controversial as to how much land use and climate contribute to erosion. I...

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Main Authors: YaMin Chen, XiaoDong Song, Feng Liu, Yue Dong, Chu Zhang, MingLiang Ye, GanLin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2023-01-01
Series:Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
Online Access:https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0070
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author YaMin Chen
XiaoDong Song
Feng Liu
Yue Dong
Chu Zhang
MingLiang Ye
GanLin Zhang
author_facet YaMin Chen
XiaoDong Song
Feng Liu
Yue Dong
Chu Zhang
MingLiang Ye
GanLin Zhang
author_sort YaMin Chen
collection DOAJ
description Anthropogenic activities have dramatically changed land uses over the last century, which has considerably increased soil disturbance. Despite considerable attention paid to the effects of land use on soil erosion, it remains controversial as to how much land use and climate contribute to erosion. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of 1,380 measurements from published studies using the 137Cs method to examine the responses of erosion to land uses and climatic variables across terrestrial ecosystems in China. Our results showed that land use had significant impacts on the rate of erosion, with the lowest rates on natural and bamboo forests and the highest rates on farmland. Land use change of forest and grassland to farmland significantly increased erosion. Erosion rates respond significantly but differently to climatic variables in varying land use types. Correlations of erosion rates with mean annual temperature and precipitation were negative in forest ecosystems, positive in farmland, and nonsignificant in grassland. Variance partition analysis showed that land use types explained more of the variation in erosion rates than did environmental variables at a broad geographic scale, such as climate. This study highlights the importance of land use in affecting erosion rate. Incorporating these evidences into global erosion models may improve the simulation of long-term soil dynamics.
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spelling doaj.art-136f98db54ee49b9bf0541972301c4692023-05-18T19:15:47ZengAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Ecosystem Health and Sustainability2332-88782023-01-01910.34133/ehs.0070Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with ClimateYaMin Chen0XiaoDong Song1Feng Liu2Yue Dong3Chu Zhang4MingLiang Ye5GanLin Zhang6State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.Anthropogenic activities have dramatically changed land uses over the last century, which has considerably increased soil disturbance. Despite considerable attention paid to the effects of land use on soil erosion, it remains controversial as to how much land use and climate contribute to erosion. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of 1,380 measurements from published studies using the 137Cs method to examine the responses of erosion to land uses and climatic variables across terrestrial ecosystems in China. Our results showed that land use had significant impacts on the rate of erosion, with the lowest rates on natural and bamboo forests and the highest rates on farmland. Land use change of forest and grassland to farmland significantly increased erosion. Erosion rates respond significantly but differently to climatic variables in varying land use types. Correlations of erosion rates with mean annual temperature and precipitation were negative in forest ecosystems, positive in farmland, and nonsignificant in grassland. Variance partition analysis showed that land use types explained more of the variation in erosion rates than did environmental variables at a broad geographic scale, such as climate. This study highlights the importance of land use in affecting erosion rate. Incorporating these evidences into global erosion models may improve the simulation of long-term soil dynamics.https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0070
spellingShingle YaMin Chen
XiaoDong Song
Feng Liu
Yue Dong
Chu Zhang
MingLiang Ye
GanLin Zhang
Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate
Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
title Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate
title_full Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate
title_fullStr Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate
title_short Effect of Land Use on Water Erosion Override Impacts Associated with Climate
title_sort effect of land use on water erosion override impacts associated with climate
url https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0070
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