Developing land-use planning scenarios in Türkiye to reduce water-induced soil erosion

Abstract

Summary Because soil erosion constrains agricultural productivity and overuse of soils exacerbates erosion, land use can only be sustained through the implementation of land evaluation. We studied five land-use scenarios including erosion-reducing land terracing and contour farming using ILSEN modelling. These scenarios’ rates of soil loss were determined using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) method. We found that all the erosion-reducing scenarios reduced soil loss compared to the current land use of the study area; in the non-agricultural land use, soil erosion was reduced 4.25 times. The model is expected to inform reduction of soil erosion in geographies characterized by rugged topography.