Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia

ABSTRACTSoil erosion and subsequent land degradation undermine efforts to ensure food security and environmental sustainability in Ethiopia. The government of Ethiopia has implemented extensive soil and water conservation (SWC) programs in severely degraded and food-insecure areas of the country, in...

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Main Authors: Yared Bayissa, Yihun Dile, Raghavan Srinivasan, Claudia Ringler, Nicole Lefore, A. W. Worqlul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:All Earth
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27669645.2023.2202968
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author Yared Bayissa
Yihun Dile
Raghavan Srinivasan
Claudia Ringler
Nicole Lefore
A. W. Worqlul
author_facet Yared Bayissa
Yihun Dile
Raghavan Srinivasan
Claudia Ringler
Nicole Lefore
A. W. Worqlul
author_sort Yared Bayissa
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACTSoil erosion and subsequent land degradation undermine efforts to ensure food security and environmental sustainability in Ethiopia. The government of Ethiopia has implemented extensive soil and water conservation (SWC) programs in severely degraded and food-insecure areas of the country, in some cases integrated with subsequent or parallel irrigation development. However, the effectiveness of these interventions has not been extensively evaluated. This study, therefore, evaluates the performance and impacts of SWC practices in terms of improving vegetation greenness and reducing soil erosion in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia. Long-term Landsat-based Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were used for change-detection analysis before and after the implementation of various SWC interventions. The results revealed the positive impacts of SWC interventions in improving the vegetation greenness and soil erosion reduction although the outcome varied by intervention. Increased vegetation greenness was observed largely in areas where area closure with catchment treatment (ACCT) and impacts of irrigation (IRR) interventions are dominant, while relatively little impact was observed at the watershed level analysis. Although these interventions helped to reduce soil loss, the results highlighted the need for more SWC interventions to minimise further soil loss.
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spelling doaj.art-803d50d939224c029828ecff88e7bf712023-11-30T12:23:43ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAll Earth2766-96452023-12-0135111213110.1080/27669645.2023.2202968Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in EthiopiaYared Bayissa0Yihun Dile1Raghavan Srinivasan2Claudia Ringler3Nicole Lefore4A. W. Worqlul5Ecology and conservation biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USAEcology and conservation biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USAEcology and conservation biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USAEnvironment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, VA, USAEcology and conservation biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USATexas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, Temple, TX, USAABSTRACTSoil erosion and subsequent land degradation undermine efforts to ensure food security and environmental sustainability in Ethiopia. The government of Ethiopia has implemented extensive soil and water conservation (SWC) programs in severely degraded and food-insecure areas of the country, in some cases integrated with subsequent or parallel irrigation development. However, the effectiveness of these interventions has not been extensively evaluated. This study, therefore, evaluates the performance and impacts of SWC practices in terms of improving vegetation greenness and reducing soil erosion in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia. Long-term Landsat-based Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were used for change-detection analysis before and after the implementation of various SWC interventions. The results revealed the positive impacts of SWC interventions in improving the vegetation greenness and soil erosion reduction although the outcome varied by intervention. Increased vegetation greenness was observed largely in areas where area closure with catchment treatment (ACCT) and impacts of irrigation (IRR) interventions are dominant, while relatively little impact was observed at the watershed level analysis. Although these interventions helped to reduce soil loss, the results highlighted the need for more SWC interventions to minimise further soil loss.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27669645.2023.2202968Feresmaysoil lossevaluationvegetation greennesssoil water conservation
spellingShingle Yared Bayissa
Yihun Dile
Raghavan Srinivasan
Claudia Ringler
Nicole Lefore
A. W. Worqlul
Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia
All Earth
Feresmay
soil loss
evaluation
vegetation greenness
soil water conservation
title Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia
title_full Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia
title_short Evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in Feresmay watershed in Ethiopia
title_sort evaluating the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and irrigation interventions on vegetation greenness and soil erosion using remote sensing and biophysical modelling in feresmay watershed in ethiopia
topic Feresmay
soil loss
evaluation
vegetation greenness
soil water conservation
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27669645.2023.2202968
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