Human and Natural Activities Effects on Soil Erosion in Karst Plateau Based on QAM Model: A Case Study of Bijie City, Guizhou Province, China

Xiong Gao, Pingping Yang (), Zhongfa Zhou, Jinqi Zhu and Changxin Yang
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Xiong Gao: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
Pingping Yang: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
Zhongfa Zhou: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
Jinqi Zhu: Engineering Research Center of Watershed Carbon Neutralization, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi Institute of Ecological Civilization, School of Resources and Environment, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China
Changxin Yang: School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-25

Abstract: The Karst plateau region has a unique natural erosion environment and sharp human–land conflicts. This study selected Bijie City, Northwest Guizhou, as the study area. To quantitatively analyze the human and natural impacts on soil erosion in this area, this paper evaluated the anthropogenic and natural soil erosion based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) coupled with the Quantitative Analytical Model (QAM). The results showed the following: (1) the total soil erosion modulus in the study area showed an increasing trend: 37.86 t/(ha·a) in 2010, 42.12 t/(ha·a) in 2015, and 48.67 t/(ha·a) in 2020; (2) human activities reduced soil erosion, with an anthropogenic soil erosion modulus of −13.79 t/(ha·a) in 2015 and −17.36 t/(ha·a) in 2020, indicating that human activities, such as projects of returning farmland to forests and rocky desertification control, played a key role in decreasing soil erosion in the study area.; and (3) the percentage of the area of soil erosion deterioration dominated by natural factors (AGN) is gradually decreasing, 89.47% in 2015 and 81.85% in 2020; the percentage of the area of soil erosion deterioration dominated by human activities (AGH) is increasing from 6.17% in 2015 to 13.80% in 2020; and the percentage of the area of soil erosion mitigation caused by human activities (ALH) and the area of soil erosion not affected by natural and human activities (NNH) showed no significant change. This result suggests more attention should be paid to the area of AGH to control soil erosion. This study analyzed the roles of natural factors as well as human activities in the Karst plateau, enriched the application scope of the QAM, and provided new ideas for theoretical research in this field.

Keywords: Revision of the Generalized Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE); Quantitative Analytical Model (QAM); Karst plateau; anthropogenic soil erosion; Bijie City (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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