Evaluating the flow and sediment effects of gully land consolidation on the Loess Plateau, China

Kang, Youcai; Gao, Jianen; Shao, Hui; Zhang, Yuanyuan; Li, Juan; Gao, Zhe

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126535

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In this study, the accuracy of SWAT simulation was one of the important key factors because many results, such as blue water, green water, and hydrological elements (green water flow, green water storage, SURQ, GWQ and LATQ), were all outputs of the model. The R 2 and NSE values in this study were within the accuracy requirement of model establishment, and the accuracy was close to the results of other studies in this river basin [ 87 – 89 ]. During the SWAT simulation, land use was classified into six types that cannot actually represent the land use type, and the land use module should be improved.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Impact of the Grain for Green Project on water resources and ecological water stress in the Yanhe River Basin

et al. 2022

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The Grain for Green project (GGP), initialized by the Chinese government in 1999, has achieved substantial achievements accompanied by a decrease in surface runoff on the Loess Plateau, but the impacts of large-scale afforestation on regional water resources are uncertain. Hence, the objective of this study was to explore the impact of land use change on generalized water resources and ecological water stress using the blue and green water concepts, taking the Yanhe River Basin as the case study. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to quantify the green water and blue water, which are defined as generalized water resources. The ecological water requirement of vegetation (forest and grass), agricultural water footprint and virtual water flow are considered regional water requirements. The land use types of 1980 (Scenario I) and 2017 (Scenario II) were entered into the SWAT model while keeping the other parameters constant to isolate the influence of land use changes. The results show that the average annual differences in blue, green and generalized water resources were -72.08 million m3, 24.34 million m3, and -47.74 million m3, respectively, when the simulation results of Scenario II were subtracted from those of Scenario I, which shows that land use change caused by the GGP led to a decrease in blue and generalized water resources and an increase in green water resources. Surface runoff in Scenario I was more than that in Scenario II in all of the years of the study period from 1980–2017, and green water storage in Scenario I was more than that in Scenario II in all of the years of the study period except in 1998; although lateral flow in Scenario I was less than that in Scenario II except in 2000 and 2015, as was groundwater runoff in 1992, 2000 and 2015, and green water flow in 1998. Blue water flow, green water storage and green water flow in Scenario II were less than those in Scenario I in the whole basin, 12.89 percent of the basin and 99.21 percent of the basin, respectively. The total water footprint increased from 1995 to 2010 because the forest water footprint increased significantly in this period, although the agricultural water footprint and grass water footprint decreased. The ecological water stress index values had no obvious temporal change trends in either land use scenario, but the ecological water stress index in Scenario II was greater than that in Scenario I, which illustrates that the GGP led to an increase in ecological water stress from the perspective of generalized water resources.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Impact of the Grain for Green Project on water resources and ecological water stress in the Yanhe River Basin

et al. 2022

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“…If LAI diff attempts to show the difference in LAI due to land use change (e.g., from arable land to grassland or from grassland to forest in Figure S5 in Supporting Information S1), LAI 1 can be regarded as the mean value before the abrupt change point and LAI 2 can be regarded as the mean value after the abrupt change point. The abrupt change point was detected using the Pettitt test (Kang et al., 2021; J. Liu et al., 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Vegetation Changes and Multiple Environmental Factors on Evapotranspiration Across China Over the Past 34 Years

Zheng

Miao

et al. 2022

Earth's Future

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Documenting the spatiotemporal changes in vegetation cover and hydrological cycle of the Earth system and understanding how they interact are important especially under climate warming. In this research, we quantified the changes in vegetation and evapotranspiration (E) across China during 1982–2015 and then revealed the complex relationships in climate–vegetation–evapotranspiration system. Results show that the upward trend in vegetation leaf area index (LAI) during 2000–2015 (an increase of 0.95% per year) was almost 8 times the trend during 1982–1999. The zones of the Loess Plateau and the Three‐North Shelter Forest Program are the most notable areas for LAI increases between these two periods, with increases of 11.65% and 2.87%, respectively. Increased LAI, along with the warming climate, has accelerated E across China in the past several decades, and the annual increase in the E rate was 0.34% (1.34 mm year−1) during 1982–1999 and 0.40% (1.62 mm year−1) during 2000–2015. The zones of the Loess Plateau and the karst landform are the most notable areas for transpiration increases, with individual increases of 10% and 5%, respectively. In general, the dominant causes for evaporation changes across all of China are temperature and precipitation, while the main reasons for transpiration changes include temperature, LAI, and sunshine duration. This study improves our understanding of the relationships within the climate–vegetation–evapotranspiration system and provides important support for future ecological policies across China.

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“…Therefore, the V-Lmodel can be used to assess ephemeral gully volume in the hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau. (2) the gully land consolidation project (implemented in 2011 to increase arable land by excavating soil from the slopes on both sides of gullies, combined with simultaneous comprehensive gully prevention and control measures); despite reducing watershed erosion to a certain extent (Chen et al , 2020;Han et al , 2018;Jin, 2014;Jin et al , 2019;Kang et al , 2021), its associated engineering involving topsoil stripping and ridge construction damaged the slope vegetation (increased slope) and soil environment (loosened soil structure), forming new ephemeral gullies on the slope.…”

Section: Modeling and Applying The V-l Relationshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We found that the ephemeral gully numbers in the watershed decreased from 4,495 in 1999 to 1,153 in 2009 due to the 'Grain for Green Project' significantly improving vegetation coverage on the Loess Plateau, reducing slope soil erosion and inhibiting the formation and development of slope ephemeral gullies(Chen et al , 2019;Dou et al , 2020;Liang et al , 2019). However, ephemeral gully numbers changed after 2009 due to (1) the frequent occurrence of extreme rainfall on the Loess Plateau increasing soil erosion(Hu et al , 2019;Li et al , 2022; Wanget al , 2020b;Zhao et al , 2021); (2) the gully land consolidation project (implemented in 2011 to increase arable land by excavating soil from the slopes on both sides of gullies, combined with simultaneous comprehensive gully prevention and control measures); despite reducing watershed erosion to a certain extent(Chen et al , 2020;Han et al , 2018;Jin, 2014;Jin et al , 2019;Kang et al , 2021), its associated engineering involving topsoil stripping and ridge construction damaged the slope vegetation (increased slope) and soil environment (loosened soil structure), forming new ephemeral gullies on the slope.…”

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confidence: 99%

Evolution and Development of Ephemeral Gully Erosion in Hilly and Gully Region of the Loess Plateau in China

Liu

Zhang

Yin

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Ephemeral gully erosion is a primary mode of soil erosion that is highly visible, affecting soil productivity and restricting land use. Watershed is the basic unit of soil erosion control; existing research has focused on several typical ephemeral gullies or slopes, which do not fully display changes in ephemeral gullies at a watershed scale. This study analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution and development rate of ephemeral gully erosion at the watershed scale on the Loess Plateau from 2009 to 2021 using remote sensing images (0.5 m resolution), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and field investigations. The results revealed that: (1) most ephemeral gullies occurred in southwestern parts of the watershed, with many hills and large slope gradients; (2) average growth rates of each ephemeral gully frequency, length, density, dissection degree, and width were 2.87 km y , 1.66 m y , 0.12 km km y , 0.0125% y , and 0.04 m y , respectively; (3) ephemeral gully erosion volume ( V) and length ( L) had a good power function relationship: V = 0 . 0842 L 1 . 1932 ( R 2 = 0 . 80 ) . The root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R ) between the measured and predicted ephemeral gully volumes suggest that the V–L relationship has a good predictive ability for ephemeral gully volume. Thus, the V–L model was used to evaluate the development rate of ephemeral gully erosion volume in small watersheds from 2009 to 2021, revealing an average value of 743.20 m y . This study proposed a feasible model for assessing ephemeral gully volume and volume changes at a watershed scale using high-resolution remote sensing images, providing a reference for understanding the development of ephemeral gully erosion in small watersheds over time.

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Evaluating the flow and sediment effects of gully land consolidation on the Loess Plateau, China

Cited by 20 publications

References 49 publications

Impact of the Grain for Green Project on water resources and ecological water stress in the Yanhe River Basin

Impact of the Grain for Green Project on water resources and ecological water stress in the Yanhe River Basin

Effects of Vegetation Changes and Multiple Environmental Factors on Evapotranspiration Across China Over the Past 34 Years

Evolution and Development of Ephemeral Gully Erosion in Hilly and Gully Region of the Loess Plateau in China

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