Modelling Phosphorus Losses from Tropical Agricultural Soils in Gilgel Gibe Watershed, Ethiopia

Adela, Yalemsew; Behn, Christian

doi:10.4172/2157-7587.1000214

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Sediment is one of the most prevalent and significant pollutants of streams in southwestern Ethiopia (Adela 2015). Buffer strips are considered to be the best method for improving stream water quality by reducing sediment and the nutrient load in runoff (Mander et al 1997;Weller et al 2011;Guo et al 2015).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Runoff from agricultural fields results in the transport of excess sediments and nutrients to receiving streams (Guo et al 2015;Valle Junior et al 2015), and this has been indicated as a major source of nutrients, causing eutrophication and sedimentation of streams (Adela 2015). Buffer strips, which are permanently vegetated areas adjacent to rivers or streams, can provide an efficient and economical way to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution (Mander et al 1997;Weller et al 2011;Guo et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the southwest Ethiopian highlands, where this study was conducted, land degradation and soil erosion are the main factors that affect streams (Keddi & Moges 2016). Accordingly, agricultural runoff is considered to be the main source of pollution, sedimentation and eutrophication of streams (Adela 2015). In East Africa, where sheet and rill flow represent a major part of the runoff from agricultural fields (Haregeweyn et al 2012), the implementation of natural buffer strips has been suggested as an effective management tool against pollution, sedimentation and eutrophication (Ambelu et al 2010;Demissie et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural sediment reduction using natural herbaceous buffer strips: a case study of the east African highland

Alemu

Bahrndorff

Alemayehu

et al. 2017

Water & Environment J

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Buffer strips are permanently vegetated areas situated immediately adjacent to streams and provide an efficient and economical way to reduce nutrient loads from agricultural areas, but no studies exist of their effectiveness from the East African highlands. We thus evaluated the sediment filtering capabilities of natural herbaceous buffer strips under tropical highland climatic conditions. Overland flow samples were collected at field edges and at various positions in herbaceous buffers and tested for total suspended sediment, nitrate‐nitrogen and total phosphorus. There was a significant effect (P < 0.05) of distance from field edge on the mean values of nutrients. On average, a 10.0 m herbaceous buffer reduced the total phosphorus by 99%, total suspended sediment by 94% and nitrate‐nitrogen by 85%. Altogether, the results suggest that herbaceous buffer strips are important to include in watershed management in agriculturally dominated tropical highlands in order to control sediment loss, stream siltation and the washout of nutrients.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural sediment reduction using natural herbaceous buffer strips: a case study of the east African highland

Alemu

Bahrndorff

Alemayehu

et al. 2017

Water & Environment J

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“…Such linkages can be systematically assessed using metric based on diversity (Junyan, Cheng, Runguo, & Yi, ; Pourbabaei, Ebrahimi, Torkaman, & Pothier, ; Řepka, Šebesta, Maděra, & Vahalík, ) and metric based on indicator species (Johnston, ; Jovan & Mccune, ). As such, some studies have addressed the impact of surrounding land use on the Gilgel Gibe catchment in detail (Abate & Lemenih, ; Adela, ; Ambelu, Lock, & Goethals, ; Demissie, Saathoff, Seleshi, & Gebissa, , ; Mertens, ). However, the ecological aspect of riparian plant diversity, biological indicator values of riparian plant and their relation to the water quality of these streams, has not been addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such linkages can be systematically assessed using metric based on diversity (Junyan, Cheng, Runguo, & Yi, 2014;Pourbabaei, Ebrahimi, Torkaman, & Pothier, 2014;Řepka, Šebesta, Maděra, & Vahalík, 2015) and metric based on indicator species (Johnston, 2003;Jovan & Mccune, 2006). As such, some studies have addressed the impact of surrounding land use on the Gilgel Gibe catchment in detail (Abate & Lemenih, 2014;Adela, 2015;Ambelu, Lock, & Goethals, 2010;Demissie, Saathoff, Seleshi, & Gebissa, 2013a, 2013bMertens, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Identifying riparian vegetation as indicator of stream water quality in the Gilgel Gibe catchment, southwestern Ethiopia

et al. 2017

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Riparian land use has substantial effects on aquatic habitats and biological communities resulting in a dramatic loss of natural riparian vegetation and affecting the physicochemical properties of streams. The study investigates the relationships among indigenous riparian plants and water quality in the upper Gilgel Gibe catchment in southwestern Ethiopia. The floristic composition of the riparian vegetation and the water quality of streams were studied at selected sites, ranging from first‐ to third‐order streams. We quantified relationships between disturbance level and both physicochemical characters and traits of riparian plant species during two sampling periods (December 2013 and April 2014). Data were collected from a priori designated three land use types (forest, plantation, and agriculture) and ranked along nine streams. Ranks were based on surrounding land use characteristics and deforestation categories. We used analysis of variance and the Tukey's post‐hoc test to conduct pair‐wise comparisons among different land use types. Both species richness and diversity values of forest sites were significantly (p < 0.001) higher than agricultural sites. Whereas, stream water quality deterioration indicator gradient such as total suspended solid, water turbidity, and orthophosphate was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in agricultural sites than forest sites. We identified species such as Croton macrostachyus, Ficus sur, Maytenus arbutifolia, and Millettia ferruginea as indicator species of water quality (p < 0.05). Our study is the first assessment of the role of indigenous plant species as indicator of highland stream water quality in the tropical area. The study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the assessment and monitoring of stream ecosystems and for following stream restoration projects in tropical regions around the globe.

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Modelling Phosphorus Losses from Tropical Agricultural Soils in Gilgel Gibe Watershed, Ethiopia

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Agricultural sediment reduction using natural herbaceous buffer strips: a case study of the east African highland

Agricultural sediment reduction using natural herbaceous buffer strips: a case study of the east African highland

Identifying riparian vegetation as indicator of stream water quality in the Gilgel Gibe catchment, southwestern Ethiopia

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