Dynamic Evolution and Quantitative Attribution of Soil Erosion Based on Slope Units: A Case Study of a Karst Plateau-Gorge Area in SW China

Chuhong Shen, Kangning Xiong and Tian Shu
Additional contact information
Chuhong Shen: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
Kangning Xiong: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
Tian Shu: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Exploring the dynamics of soil erosion and identifying its driving mechanisms is key to understanding soil erosion processes, particularly in karst areas. In this study, the RUSLE model, optimized on the basis of rocky desertification factors, was used to estimate soil erosion in a karst plateau gorge area in SW China. The spatial and temporal dynamics of soil erosion in the region over the past 20 years were analyzed on the basis of slope units, while the relationship between soil erosion and elevation, slope, fractional vegetation cover (FVC), karst rocky desertification (KRD), rainfall, and land use cover/change (LUCC) was identified quantitatively by the geographical detector on the basis of spatial heterogeneity. The results showed that: (1) The no erosion area decreased from 2000 to 2020, with the highest proportion of light to medium erosion and an increasing trend of soil erosion. (2) Soil erosion conversion mainly occurred between no erosion, slight erosion, and light erosion. (3) The hotspots of erosion occurred in high slope–low elevation and high slope–high elevation units, while the coldspots of erosion occurred in low slope–low elevation units. (4) Soil erosion was positively correlated with FVC and slope, and negatively correlated with KRD. (5) The dominant factor of soil erosion changed from KRD-slope to LUCC-slope and finally to elevation-slope, while the q value of rainfall-elevation had the most significant increase throughout the study period. This study will help to advance the goal of sustainable development of soil and water conservation in karst areas.

Keywords: karst soil erosion; topographical units; RUSLE; geographical detector; influencing factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1134/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1134/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:1134-:d:870340

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().