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| Spatial distribution assessment of the soil conservation capacity of land cover pattern in catchments dominated by rainfall-triggered erosion |
| Liu Yu |
| Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China |
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Abstract Taking upper Han River basin as case region, the soil conservation capacity of land cover pattern was assessed. Two indictors integrating fraction of vegetation cover ( fc ) and slope (S) were developed and applied in the assessment. One indicator is the spatial distribution pattern of upper effective catchment area weighted by fc and S, and the other is the spatial distribution pattern of the coupling of driven force and resistance relevant to soil erosion. The efficiency of the two indicators was tested using the sediment delivery data of 14 gauged stations in the study area. The results imply that the adjacent sub-watersheds of the river trunk are the main direct source areas of sediment. This situation can be attributed to the low soil conservation capacity of land cover pattern resulted from the low vegetation cover and short flow path length to the river trunks. The two indicators are confirmed effective to indicate the sediment yield at watershed level, and reliable tools for evaluating soil conservation capacity of a given land cover pattern. The approach developed in this study is based on the mechanism of the interaction between land cover pattern and soil erosion, and highly feasible. It provides an easy-to-use avenue for assessing the soil conservation capacity, and the impacts of land cover pattern change on soil erosion.
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Received: 26 August 2013
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