The effects of land use change on environmental quality in the red soil hilly region, China: A case study in Xianning County

Shi, Zhihua; Chen, Liding; Hao, Jun-Ping; Wang, Tianwei; Cai, Chang

doi:10.1007/s10661-008-0231-8

Cited by 30 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Changes in land use can greatly shift landscape patterns and actual vegetation cover, thus altering the partitioning of rainwater through vegetation and soil into the critical hydrological components of interception, infiltration, total evaporation, surface runoff, and groundwater recharge (Symeonakis et al 2007;Wang et al 2008;Yu et al 2010;Shi et al 2012). The surface hydrology and soil erosion responses of an integrated catchment, on the other hand, are dependent on the whole landscape pattern, which is also sensitive to changes in land cover (Shi et al 2009). For example, Zhang et al (2010) found that sediment yields in four loess hilly watersheds all decreased following the implementation of reforestation and sloping-farmland terracing projects, even when the precipitation amount increased from 350 to 650 mm in the same period.…”

Section: Contribution Of Rainfall Features To Outlet Soil Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From a systematic point of view, the coupling role of human-induced landscape change and natural variation in rainfall in water erosion becomes uncertain and complex within a catchment (Descroix and Gautier 2002;Shi et al 2009). In most cases, however, it is difficult to quantify the specific role of each factor in determining surface runoff and sediment transport (Chaplot et al 2005;Zhang et al 2010).…”

Section: Effect Of Check-dam Construction On Runoff and Sediment Redumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Human civilization was established in the Loess Plateau of China for thousands of years and has greatly reshaped the local landscape and influenced the local environment. Accelerated soil erosion is mostly attributed to human activities such as overgrazing, deforestation, and sloping cultivation, which are often associated with vegetation withdrawal and land cover reduction (Shi et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of rainfall variation and landscape change on runoff and sediment yield from a loess hilly catchment in China

et al. 2014

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The semiarid Chinese Loess Plateau is notorious for severe drought, water erosion, and environmental degradation. Changes in landscape patterns and rainfall are key drivers that determine the dynamics of runoff loss and sediment yield from catchments. These factors have crucial implications for management of other fragile ecosystems around the globe. In this study, responses of surface runoff and sediment yield to land use and rainfall in a typical loess hilly catchment in 1997, 2005, and 2010 were analyzed. Several major findings are highlighted. First, most rainfall occurred in the growing season from June to September and increased only slightly during the observation years. Second, runoff and soil transport rates at the catchment outlet from June to August were far greater than in other months. A similar trend was observed for seasonal rainfall occurrence, indicating that the intra-annual water erosion patterns were largely dominated by monthly rainfall distribution. Third, compared with the time period 1997-2005, mean runoff and sediment transport modulus in 2005-2010 declined significantly. This can be attributed mainly to changes in land use/land cover, i.e., increases in forests, shrubs, and grasses, and decreases in sloping farmlands. Dam construction is also key in controlling runoff and sediment yield, but more attention must be paid to its possible negative environmental effects. In general, our study indicates that marked changes in landscape patterns and vegetation coverage may contribute to long-term soil loss dynamics, and intra-annual rainfall variation mainly contributes to monthly variation in runoff and sediment yield.

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Section: Contribution Of Rainfall Features To Outlet Soil Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effect Of Check-dam Construction On Runoff and Sediment Redumentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of rainfall variation and landscape change on runoff and sediment yield from a loess hilly catchment in China

et al. 2014

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“…Since land use in the HRB has accelerated since 2000 (Li and Yan 2013), in this study we selected land use maps from after 2000 with relative short time intervals. These maps were all derived from Landsat remote sensing images with a ground resolution of 30 m, which are widely used across China for land use change detection and pertinent environmental impact assessment (Shi et al 2009(Shi et al , 2011. The land use mapping data used in this study were compiled through computer-aided visual interpretation (Liao et al 2012), and mapping accuracy was evaluated based on sub-pixel fractional error matrices (Latifovic and Olthof 2004).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

Lü

Zhao

et al. 2014

Environmental Management

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Land use and ecosystem services need to be assessed simultaneously to better understand the relevant factors in sustainable land management. This paper analyzed land use changes in the middle reach of the arid Heihe River Basin in northwest China over the last two decades and their impacts on water resources and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. The results indicated that from 1986 to 2007: (1) cropland and human settlements expanded by 45.0 and 17.6 %, respectively, at the expense of 70.1, 35.7, and 4.1 % shrinkage on woodland, grassland, and semi-shrubby desert; (2) irrigation water use was dominant and increased (with fluctuations) at an average rate of 8.2 %, while basic human water consumption increased monotonically over a longer period from 1981 to 2011 at a rate of 58 %; and (3) cropland expansion or continuous cultivation led to a significant reduction of SOC, while the land use transition from grassland to semishrubby desert and the progressive succession of natural ecosystems such as semi-shrubby desert and grassland, in contrast, can bring about significant carbon sequestration benefits. The increased water consumption and decreased SOC pool associated with some observed land use changes may induce and aggravate potential ecological risks for both local and downstream ecosystems, including water resource shortages, soil quality declines, and degeneration of natural vegetation. Therefore, it is necessary to balance socioeconomic wellbeing and ecosystem services in land use planning and management for the sustainability of socio-ecological systems across spatiotemporal scales, especially in resource-poor arid environments.

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“…The serious erosion condition is mainly a result of traditional agriculture, which involves cultivation on sloped land and low vegetation cover (Chen et al, 2007b;Wei et al, 2010). Vegetation restoration (by means of land use conversion) associated with afforestation that is designed to control serious soil erosion has been initiated by China's central government over the past three decades Shi et al, 2009). Most of the traditional farmlands on steep slopes were converted to pasture grasslands, shrublands, and forestlands during this process (Liu et al, 2008a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of deep soil moisture to land use and afforestation in the semi-arid Loess Plateau, China

Yang

Wei

Chen

et al. 2012

Journal of Hydrology

215

126

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s u m m a r ySoil moisture is an effective water source for plant growth in the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China. Characterizing the response of deep soil moisture to land use and afforestation is important for the sustainability of vegetation restoration in this region. In this paper, the dynamics of soil moisture were quantified to evaluate the effect of land use on soil moisture at a depth of 2 m. Specifically, the gravimetric soil moisture content was measured in the soil layer between 0 and 8 m for five land use types in the Longtan catchment of the western Loess Plateau. The land use types included traditional farmland, native grassland, and lands converted from traditional farmland (pasture grassland, shrubland and forestland). Results indicate that the deep soil moisture content decreased more than 35% after land use conversion, and a soil moisture deficit appeared in all types of land with introduced vegetation. The introduced vegetation decreased the soil moisture content to levels lower than the reference value representing no human impact in the entire 0-8 m soil profile. No significant differences appeared between different land use types and introduced vegetation covers, especially in deeper soil layers, regardless of which plant species were introduced. High planting density was found to be the main reason for the severe deficit of soil moisture. Landscape management activities such as tillage activities, micro-topography reconstruction, and fallowed farmland affected soil moisture in both shallow and deep soil layers. Tillage and micro-topography reconstruction can be used as effective countermeasures to reduce the soil moisture deficit due to their ability to increase soil moisture content. For sustainable vegetation restoration in a vulnerable semi-arid region, the plant density should be optimized with local soil moisture conditions and appropriate landscape management practices.

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The effects of land use change on environmental quality in the red soil hilly region, China: A case study in Xianning County

Abstract: Land use and land cover change is gaining recognition as a key driver of environmental change.

Cited by 30 publications

References 17 publications

Effect of rainfall variation and landscape change on runoff and sediment yield from a loess hilly catchment in China

Effect of rainfall variation and landscape change on runoff and sediment yield from a loess hilly catchment in China

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

Response of deep soil moisture to land use and afforestation in the semi-arid Loess Plateau, China

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