Impact of Land Use/Cover Changes on Soil Erosion in Western Kenya
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Methodology
- A = computed amount of the average annual soil loss per unit area (t/ha/y),
- R = Rainfall erosivity factor (MJ mm/ha/h/year),
- K = soil erodibility factor (ton h/MJ/mm),
- LS = Slope length and slope steepness factor (dimensionless),
- C = ground cover factor (dimensionless),
- P = soil conservation supporting practice factor (dimensionless).
2.2.1. Determination of Rainfall-Runoff Erosivity Factor (R)
2.2.2. Determination of Soil Erodibility Factor (K)
2.2.3. Determination of Topographic Factor (LS)
2.2.4. Determination of Conservation Practice Factor (P)
2.2.5. Determination of Cover Management Factor (C)
2.2.6. Spatial Distribution of Soil Loss
3. Results
3.1. RUSLE Factors
3.2. Spatial and Temporal Soil Losses
3.3. Effect of Elevation and Slope on Soil Erosion
3.4. Contribution of Land Use/Cover Types and Conversions to Soil Erosion
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Sub-Basin | Surface Area (104 ha) | Temperature (°C) | Rainfall (mm) | Average Slope (Degrees) | Altitude (m a.m.s.l) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sio | 3.3 | 10–30 | 400–1800 | 5.5 | 1.543–4.093 |
Upper Nzoia | 36.6 | 10–29 | 600–2214 | 7.2 | 1.561–3.202 |
Yala | 54.9 | 15–29 | 624–1560 | 4.6 | 1.300–2.803 |
Land Use Type | Slope (%) | P-factor |
---|---|---|
Farms | 0–5 | 0.1 |
5–10 | 0.12 | |
10–20 | 0.14 | |
20–30 | 0.19 | |
30–50 | 0.25 | |
50–100 | 0.33 | |
Others (built-up, forest, water, grass/shrub land) | All | 1.0 |
Sub-Basin | Soil Loss (1995) | Soil Loss (2017) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
t/y | Percent | t/y | Percent | |
Yala | 6.4 | 38.3 | 12.3 | 38.4 |
Sio | 4.7 | 28.4 | 7.5 | 23.5 |
Upper Nzoia | 5.6 | 33.4 | 12.2 | 38.1 |
Total for the region | 16.8 | 32.0 |
Class of Severity | Soil Loss (t/ha/y) | Year 1995 | Year 2017 | Net Change (t/ha/y) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Area (ha) | Soil Loss (t/ha/y) | Area (ha) | Soil Loss (t/ha/y) | |||
Low | <5 | 614,756 | 0.2 | 611,581 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
Moderate | 5–10 | 2788 | 6.8 | 5188 | 6.7 | −0.1 |
High | 10–20 | 1031 | 13.5 | 1697 | 13.4 | −0.1 |
Very High | >20 | 385 | 31.5 | 493 | 35.8 | 4.3 |
Elevation | Area (104 ha) | Erosion (t/ha/y) | Net Change (t/ha/y) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | 2017 | |||
<2000 | 28.50 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
2000–2500 | 26.43 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
2500–3000 | 6.02 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
3000–3500 | 0.78 | 0.8 | 0.5 | −0.3 |
>3500 | 0.16 | 4.4 | 0.9 | −3.5 |
Slope | Area (104 ha) | Erosion (t/ha/y) | Net Change (t/ha/y) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | 2017 | |||
<5° | 38.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
5–10° | 13.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
10–20° | 7.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
20–30° | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 1.0 |
>30° | 0.3 | 3.2 | 4.9 | 1.7 |
LULC Conversion | Area Conversions under Different Slopes | Total Area (ha) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<5° | 5–10° | 10–20° | 20–30° | >30° | ||
Grass/Shrub to farms | 82,526 | 18,830 | 6242 | 723 | 82 | 108,321 |
Grass/Shrub to forest | 3398 | 1030 | 750 | 145 | 25 | 5322 |
Farms to forests | 6956 | 4546 | 2367 | 505 | 246 | 14,374 |
Farms to Grass/Shrub | 21,873 | 9378 | 5550 | 796 | 152 | 37,597 |
Forest to farms | 20,049 | 14,478 | 11,157 | 2582 | 463 | 48,266 |
Forest to Grass/Shrub | 4662 | 3742 | 3918 | 1010 | 173 | 13,332 |
LULC Conversion | Soil Erosion (Tons) | Total (Tons) | Rate (t/ha) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<5° | 5–10° | 10–20° | 20–30° | >30° | |||
Grass/Shrub to farms | 42,831 | 9772 | 3239 | 375 | 43 | 56,260 | 0.52 |
Grass/Shrub to forest | 1402 | 425 | 309 | 60 | 10 | 2207 | 0.41 |
Farms to forests | 2964 | 1937 | 1008 | 215 | 105 | 6229 | 0.43 |
Farms to Grass/Shrub | 9602 | 4117 | 2436 | 350 | 67 | 16,572 | 0.44 |
Forest to farms | 16,744 | 12,091 | 9318 | 2156 | 387 | 40,696 | 0.84 |
Forest to Grass/Shrub | 2211 | 1775 | 1858 | 479 | 82 | 6405 | 0.47 |
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Kogo, B.K.; Kumar, L.; Koech, R. Impact of Land Use/Cover Changes on Soil Erosion in Western Kenya. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9740. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229740
Kogo BK, Kumar L, Koech R. Impact of Land Use/Cover Changes on Soil Erosion in Western Kenya. Sustainability. 2020; 12(22):9740. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229740
Chicago/Turabian StyleKogo, Benjamin Kipkemboi, Lalit Kumar, and Richard Koech. 2020. "Impact of Land Use/Cover Changes on Soil Erosion in Western Kenya" Sustainability 12, no. 22: 9740. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229740