Abstract
Soil erosion is a serious environmental problem impacting soil and water resources of the Himalayan region. To sustain food and fibres requirements of ever increasing population, there is need to rehabilitate erosion affected areas. In the present study, risk of soil erosion was assessed in the Soan river basin of sub-Himalayan region of Pakistan using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation coupled with geo-informatic techniques. The influential factors leading to higher erosion rates were studied under variable scenarios of environmental change. The study revealed an average soil loss of about 8.4 tons/ha/year in the study area. The intensity of erosion was predicted around 15 tons/ha/year in the open soil and 10.3 tons/ha/year in the agriculture land. The rate of erosion was found maximum over 5°–15° slope, i.e., about 19 tons/ha/year. At steeper slopes (i.e., > 15°), the lower values of erosion rates were observed likely because of presence of exposed rocks lacking extensive soil cover. High risk of erosion was predicted in scenarios of increase in rainfall and conversion of rangeland and scrub forest into agriculture land in the basin. The menace of soil erosion can be controlled through adopting integrated land use planning and soil conservation approach at micro to macro level in this part of the Himalayan region.
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Ashraf, A. Risk modeling of soil erosion under different land use and rainfall conditions in Soan river basin, sub-Himalayan region and mitigation options. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. 6, 417–428 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-019-00689-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-019-00689-6