Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control

Höfler, Sarah; Ringler, Gerald; Gumpinger, Clemens; Reebs, Felix; Schnell, Johannes; Hauer, Christoph

doi:10.3390/w16030417

Open AccessArticle

Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control

by

Sarah Höfler

^1,*,

Gerald Ringler

¹,

Clemens Gumpinger

¹,

Felix Reebs

²,

Johannes Schnell

² and

Christoph Hauer

³

¹

Blattfisch e.U., 4600 Wels, Austria

²

Fisheries Association Bavaria, 85764 Munich, Germany

³

Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1200 Vienna, Austria

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Water 2024, 16(3), 417; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030417

Submission received: 12 December 2023 / Revised: 8 January 2024 / Accepted: 24 January 2024 / Published: 27 January 2024

(This article belongs to the Special Issue River Science: Integrated Management of Water Resources in the Anthropocene)

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Abstract

Socio-economic changes, technical progress, and a variety of funding and planning interventions have significantly changed land use in Central Europe since World War II. The aim of this study was to illustrate these changes in the Alpine foothills in Bavaria and to calculate the effects of these changes on soil erosion. This was performed in a two-step procedure: a GIS-based orthophoto evaluation and a cause–effect model using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE). Key findings were that field sizes (+370%) and lengths (+35%) have changed significantly since the 1960s. Moreover, the uninterrupted runoff paths on arable land have increased in length by about 70% on average, with corresponding effects on soil erosion. The discussion shows that the possibilities for erosion control measures in the field are already severely limited due to the effects of the climate crisis and structural changes in agriculture. Furthermore, the often-assumed rule, according to which only a small part of the arable land causes a large share of the eroded material, was largely confirmed. The findings underline the overlapping impacts of land use change and climate crisis on agriculture erosions rates with the need for integrative and adaptive management.

Keywords: soil erosion; RUSLE; land use changes; climate change; multi-stressed systems

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MDPI and ACS Style

Höfler, S.; Ringler, G.; Gumpinger, C.; Reebs, F.; Schnell, J.; Hauer, C. Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control. Water 2024, 16, 417. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030417

AMA Style

Höfler S, Ringler G, Gumpinger C, Reebs F, Schnell J, Hauer C. Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control. Water. 2024; 16(3):417. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030417

Chicago/Turabian Style

Höfler, Sarah, Gerald Ringler, Clemens Gumpinger, Felix Reebs, Johannes Schnell, and Christoph Hauer. 2024. "Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control" Water 16, no. 3: 417. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030417

APA Style

Höfler, S., Ringler, G., Gumpinger, C., Reebs, F., Schnell, J., & Hauer, C. (2024). Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control. Water, 16(3), 417. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030417

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Landscape Changes in the Bavarian Foothills since the 1960s and the Effects on Predicted Erosion Processes and Control

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