Effects of watershed management practices on the relationships among rainfall, runoff, and sediment delivery in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau in China

Yan, Qinghong; Lei, Tingwu; Cui, Yuan; Lei, Qixiang; Yang, Xin; Zhang, Manliang; Su, Guangxu; An, Leping

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.10.015

Cited by 45 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…and wheat ( Triticum aestivum L .). By 2004, vegetation coverage in the QE and QW was valued at 39.86% and 21.79%, respectively, and 19 check dams were constructed in the QE (Yan et al, ). Moreover, the stream channels always exhibited dry conditions with no surface ponding.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 90%

“…In comparison, no soil conservation practices have been applied in the QW. A combination of land uses are found within the catchment, and the land uses have not changed significantly in the two watershed over the last decade ( (Yan et al, 2015). Moreover, the stream channels always exhibited dry conditions with no surface ponding.…”

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Sustainable soil erosion management practices have received strong support around the world over the last decades, including those of revegetation, afforestation, terracing, and check‐dam construction, and so on and especially in the hilly‐gully regions of the Loess Plateau in China (Liu, Li, Dong, Chang et al, ). Through the implementation of soil conservation measures, land uses, vegetation types, geomorphological features, and a series of related diverse effects on soil microbial activities and hydrological process have changed significantly (Yan et al, ). Over time, the characteristics of SOM and stream DOM have been heavily affected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Dissolved organic matter in surface runoff in the Loess Plateau of China: The role of rainfall events and land‐use

Hao

Xie

et al. 2020

Hydrological Processes

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Exploring the chemical characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is important for understanding the fate of laterally transported organic matter in watersheds. We hypothesized that differences in water‐extractable organic matter (WEOM) in soils of varying land uses and rainfall events may significantly affect the quality and the quantity of stream DOM. To test our hypotheses, characteristics of rainfall‐runoff DOM and WEOM of source materials (topsoil from different land uses and gullies, as well as typical vegetation) were investigated at two adjacent catchments in the Loess Plateau of China, using ultraviolet–visible absorbance and excitation emission matrix fluorescence with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Results indicated that land‐use types may significantly affect the chemical composition of soil WEOM, including its aromaticity, molecular weight, and degree of humification. The PARAFAC analysis demonstrated that the soils and stream water were dominated by terrestrial/allochthonous humic‐like substances and microbial transformable humic‐like fluorophores. Shifts in the fluorescence properties of stream DOM suggested a pronounced change in the relative proportion of allochthonous versus autochthonous material under different rainfall patterns and land uses. For example, high proportions of forestland could provide more allochthonous DOM input. This study highlights the relevance of soils and hydrological dynamics on the composition and fluxes of DOM issuing from watersheds. The composition of DOM in soils was influenced by land‐use type. Precipitation patterns influenced the proportion of terrestrial versus microbial origins of DOM in surface runoff. Contributions of allochthonous, terrestrially derived DOM inputs were highest from forested landscapes.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dissolved organic matter in surface runoff in the Loess Plateau of China: The role of rainfall events and land‐use

Hao

Xie

et al. 2020

Hydrological Processes

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“…However, an overestimation of the soil conservation effects may also exist as the model cannot simulate gully and gravitational erosion. Observations in the small hilly catchments of the Loess Plateau found that revegetation can reduce hillslope erosion but cannot effectively control gully erosion and gravitational erosion; thus, this strategy is incapable of lowering the sediment concentrations in streams and has the same efficiency in reducing storm runoff and sediment yield (Yan et al, ; Zheng, Cai, & Chen, ). Modification of soil erosion estimation method for regions where gully and gravitational erosion prevailed is required.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of land‐use change effects on runoff and soil erosion of a hilly basin — the Yanhe River in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Yang

2018

Land Degrad Dev

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Starting in 1999, the Grain‐for‐Green Programme has been implemented in the Loess Plateau to alleviate the severe soil erosion by converting steeply sloping croplands to forestlands or grasslands. To quantify the effects of these conservation efforts, this study identified the land‐use changes between 2000 and 2015 and quantified their impacts on runoff and erosion using the Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) and a typical hilly basin, the Yanhe River basin as a case‐study. To heighten the applicability of SWAT to the region, major model parameters were localized and calibrated for the period of 1975–1980 and were then validated for 1981–1987. The R2 and NS validation indices were 0.70 and 0.65 for the monthly runoff and 0.67 and 0.61 for the sediment load, indicating that the model performance was acceptable. Between 2000 and 2015, the slope croplands were reduced by 39.9%, the forestlands increased by 90.2%, and the grasslands increased by 12.9%. These land‐use changes were simulated using SWAT to reduce the basin runoff by 13.8% and the sediment load by 50.7%. Spatial analyses using ArcGIS indicated that the simulated reduction in water yield due to cropland conversion to forestland was more obvious than that due to the conversion to grassland, but the reductions in the sediment yields were similar. The results suggest that the Grain‐for‐Green practice during this period was effective for preventing soil and water losses.

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“…Meanwhile, the effectiveness of check-dams in trapping sediment is associated with the remaining capacity of the check-dams, while the variation in the sediment yield in small watersheds is associated with large differences in the erosive rainfall, catchment area, vegetation cover, slope steepness, soil erodibility factor, and other factors (Vaezi et al, 2017). Therefore, to decrease catchment sediment yield, the combination of vegetation measures and check-dams engineering measures can be used to control gully erosion and sediment transport effectively in areas with high erodibility, particularly in the semi-arid hilly-gully regions of the Loess Plateau (Yan et al, 2015). Furthermore, our results are more likely to accurately estimate erosion rates and sediment yields in small watersheds under different soil erosion conditions, thus leading to a better understanding of the effects of check-dams on fragile ecological environment restoration in the semi-arid hilly-gully regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in the sediment deposition behind check‐dams under different soil erosion conditions on the Loess Plateau, China

Wei

Jiao

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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To maintain a reasonable sediment regulation system in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, it is critical to determine the variation in sediment deposition behind check‐dams for different soil erosion conditions. Sediment samples were collected by using a drilling machine in the Fangta watershed of the loess hilly–gully region and the Manhonggou watershed of the weathered sandstone hilly–gully (pisha) region. On the basis of the check‐dam capacity curves, the soil bulk densities and the couplet thickness in these two small watersheds, the sediment yields were deduced at the watershed scale. The annual average sediment deposition rate in the Manhonggou watershed (702.0 mm/(km2·a)) from 1976 to 2009 was much higher than that in the Fangta watershed (171.6 mm/(km2·a)) from 1975 to 2013. The soil particle size distributions in these two small watersheds were generally centred on the silt and sand fractions, which were 42.4% and 50.7% in the Fangta watershed and 60.6% and 32.9% in the Manhonggou watershed, respectively. The annual sediment deposition yield exhibited a decreasing trend; the transition years were 1991 in the Fangta watershed and 1996 in the Manhonggou watershed (P < 0.05). In contrast, the annual average sediment deposition yield was much higher in the Manhonggou watershed (14011.1 t/(km2·a)) than in the Fangta watershed (3149.6 t/(km2·a)). In addition, the rainfalls that induced sediment deposition at the check‐dams were greater than 30 mm in the Fangta watershed and 20 mm in the Manhonggou watershed. The rainfall was not the main reason for the difference in the sediment yield between the two small watersheds. The conversion of farmland to forestland or grassland was the main reason for the decrease in the soil erosion in the Fangta watershed, while the weathered sandstone and bare land were the main factors driving the high sediment yield in the Manhonggou watershed. Knowledge of the sediment deposition process of check‐dams and the variation in the catchment sediment yield under different soil erosion conditions can serve as a basis for the implementation of improved soil erosion and sediment control strategies, particularly in semi‐arid hilly–gully regions. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Effects of watershed management practices on the relationships among rainfall, runoff, and sediment delivery in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau in China

Cited by 45 publications

References 48 publications

Dissolved organic matter in surface runoff in the Loess Plateau of China: The role of rainfall events and land‐use

Dissolved organic matter in surface runoff in the Loess Plateau of China: The role of rainfall events and land‐use

Evaluation of land‐use change effects on runoff and soil erosion of a hilly basin — the Yanhe River in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Variation in the sediment deposition behind check‐dams under different soil erosion conditions on the Loess Plateau, China

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