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Assessment of deforestation impact on soil erosion in loess formation using 137Cs method (case study: Golestan Province, Iran)
- Source :
- International Soil and Water Conservation Research, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 393-405 (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- KeAi Communications Co., Ltd., 2020.
-
Abstract
- Golestan, a province in the North-East of Iran, is characterized by high coverage of loess deposits. Since 1963, the area has experienced approximately 200,000 ha deforestation due to land-use changes in agriculture and increasing demand for wood. Approximately, 110,000 ha of the clear-cut lands are under dry-farming, mainly for wheat cropping, and about 86,000 ha have been reforested. This IAEA funded project is the first attempt to use nuclear techniques in the East of Hircanian Forest for determination of on-site impacts of deforestation due to two land-use changes (i.e. dry farming and reforestation). Practicing long-term dry-farming led to 60% soil losses with a mean rate of 2 mm per year. The net erosion rate of croplands on loess deposits in the study area was 32.27 t ha−1 yr−1. Reforestation, cultivation of even-aged Cypress trees since 1993, showed 13 to 60 percent effectiveness in soil conservation. Dry-farming land use resulted in the loss of 95 t ha−1 soil organic carbon (SOC) stock at a mean rate of 1.7 t ha−1 over 54 years. Cultivating Cypress trees successfully restored the SOC content by 100% compared with the SOC in original forests. The conversion of dry-farming lands to orchards of olive trees since 2004, brought more income for farmers but were less effective in soil conservation because of low canopy cover of olive trees. Our data provide key information and guidance for land users and decision-makers about implementing strategic and sustainable conservation practices to restore degraded land.
- Subjects :
- 0208 environmental biotechnology
Soil Science
02 engineering and technology
Afforestation
Loess
Deforestation
Cypress
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Water Science and Technology
Land use
business.industry
Golestan province
Reforestation
Forestry
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Soil carbon
Nuclear technique
Hircanian forests
020801 environmental engineering
Olive trees
Agriculture
lcsh:TA1-2040
040103 agronomy & agriculture
Soil erosion
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
Soil conservation
business
lcsh:Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Agronomy and Crop Science
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20956339
- Volume :
- 8
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Soil and Water Conservation Research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....257b76f05dfaa26863bfc688241892aa