Hu, J, Lü, Y, Fu, B et al. (2 more authors) (2017) Quantifying the effect of ecological restoration on runoff and sediment yields: A meta-analysis for the Loess Plateau of China. Progress in Physical Geography, 41 (6). pp. 753-774. ISSN 0309-1333
Abstract
Ecological restoration can result in extensive land use transitions which may directly impact on water runoff and sediment loss and thus influence tradeoffs between multiple hydrological and soil ecosystem services. However, quantifying the effect of these transitions on runoff and sediment yields has been a challenge over large spatial scales. This study integrated and synthesized 43 articles and 331 runoff experimental plots in the Loess Plateau of China under natural rainfall to quantify the impacts of land use transitions on (a) runoff and sediment production, (b) runoff and soil loss reduction effectiveness, and (c) the tradeoffs between runoff and soil erosion. The effects of ecological restoration on runoff and sediment yields were quantified using a general mixed linear meta-regression model with a restricted maximum likelihood estimator on overall and individual ecological restoration types. The results showed that artificial grassland, forest, natural grassland, and shrubland had higher runoff and sediment reduction effectiveness. The annual runoff reduction effectiveness of the ecological restoration overall was 72.18% with the effects of artificial grassland, natural grassland, shrubland, and forest at 71.89%, 50.60%, 73.18%, and 73.08%, respectively. The annual sediment reduction effectiveness of the overall ecological restoration was 99.9% without a significant difference among the four land uses associated with ecological recovery. In addition, shrubland and forest significantly reduced sediment yields with relatively high runoff costs. Natural grassland was optimal for balancing water provisioning and soil conservation, and artificial grassland was second to natural grassland in this respect. Meanwhile, newly unmanaged abandoned land and cropland had relative weak functionality with regard to soil and water conservation. The implications of this study’s findings are discussed along with their potential to contribute to an improved understanding of the effects of ecological restoration on water supply and soil retention for the water-limited terrestrial ecosystem at a regional scale.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2017. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Progress in Physical Geography. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Soil erosion, land degradation, land use, plot scale, vegetation recovery |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Centre for Spatial Analysis & Policy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Jan 2018 15:22 |
Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2018 19:21 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0309133317738710 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:125726 |