Evaluation of the Risk Induced by Soil Erosion on Land Use. Case Study: Guruslău Depression

Andreea Costea, Stefan Bilasco, Ioan-Aurel Irimus, Sanda Rosca, Iuliu Vescan, Ioan Fodorean and Paul Sestras
Additional contact information
Andreea Costea: Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Stefan Bilasco: Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ioan-Aurel Irimus: Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sanda Rosca: Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Iuliu Vescan: Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ioan Fodorean: Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Paul Sestras: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: Changes in land use, increasing of agricultural areas to the detriment of wooded ones, and poor management of agricultural land, along with the impact of current changes in the climate (reflected in the increase of the climate aggression index) makes soil erosion one of the main risks associated with improper land use, with a direct impact on its productivity and an indirect impact on human beings. The aim of this study is to assess the risk induced by surface soil erosion on land use, using as our main method of investigation the development of two models of integrated spatial analysis of the territory: a derived model of the universal soil loss equation (USLE) and a qualitative model that integrates the result of soil erosion assessment with the database representing the land use. This was carried out in order to highlight the impact on the territory. The spatial analysis models were developed on a structure of vector spatial databases, through which the soil type, soil texture, climate aggression coefficient, and land use were mapped, and alphanumeric databases, representing the market cost of land, in EUROs, that highlight the quality of cultivated land (in terms of productive economic potential). The induced risk estimation is based on a qualitative rating of soil erosion vulnerability on a scale from 1 to 5 (1-low vulnerability; 5-high vulnerability) and of the reduction of the economic value of the land (according to the vulnerability rating). The implemented methodology highlights the quantitative risk, with a maximum value of about 46.000 EUROs, spatially identified on large surfaces on the outskirts of the Jibou municipality. It is mainly caused by the impact of soil erosion on large areas of orchards, which provide necessary products for human consumption. The present methodology can be implemented on similar areas and can be used as a model of good practices in risk assessment based on financial losses by local public authorities.

Keywords: soil erosion; USLE; land degradation; risk evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (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/2071-1050/14/2/652/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/652/ (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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:652-:d:719792

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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