Runoff, Sediment Loss and the Attenuating Effectiveness of Vegetation Parameters in the Rainforest Zone of Southeastern Nigeria

Moses Adah Abua, Anthony Inah Iwara, Violet Bassey Eneyo, Nsikan Anthony Akpan, Anim Obongha Ajake, Saad S. Alarifi, David Gómez-Ortiz and Ahmed M. Eldosouky ()
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Moses Adah Abua: Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Calabar, Calabar 540242, Nigeria
Anthony Inah Iwara: Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics, University of Calabar, Calabar 540242, Nigeria
Violet Bassey Eneyo: Department of Tourism Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar 540242, Nigeria
Nsikan Anthony Akpan: Department of Environmental Education, University of Calabar, Calabar 540242, Nigeria
Anim Obongha Ajake: Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Calabar, Calabar 540242, Nigeria
Saad S. Alarifi: Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
David Gómez-Ortiz: Department of Biology and Geology, Physics and Inorganic Chemistry, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, 28933 Madrid, Spain
Ahmed M. Eldosouky: Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, Suez 43518, Egypt

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: The research was conducted to assess the pace of sediment loss in deserted 3-, 5- and 10-year-fallow traditional farmlands, as well as cultivated farmlands, in a remote forested zone in southern Nigeria. During the 2012 rainy and cropping season, field measurements of sediment and runoff caused by rainfall were carried out. Pearson’s correlation revealed that crown cover positively and significantly correlated with runoff on the cultivated farmland (r = 0.652, p < 0.01). The results showed that the vegetation characteristics assessed on the different fallows explained 73.1%, 89.9%, 53.7% and 86.7% of the runoff variations. In addition, Pearson’s correlation demonstrated that girth explained sediment loss on the 5-year fallow (r = 0.807, p < 0.01), while a strong positive and significant association existed between sediment loss and crown cover on the farmland plot (r = 0.835, p < 0.01). The vegetation components were mutually responsible for 48.4%, 84.3%, 95.1% and 85.9% of the changes in sediment enrichment on the 5-year-, 10-year-, 3-year-fallow and cultivated farmland, respectively. The study found that mature/older fallows had a more substantial attenuating impact on soil erosion control than younger fallows.

Keywords: fallow vegetation; soil erosion; sediment enrichment; vegetation characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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