Modeling of Soil Erosion Risk in a Typical Tropical Savannah Landscape
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Date
2023-12-17
Authors
Asempah, Mawuli
Shisanya, Christopher Allan
Schütt, Brigitta
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier B.V
Abstract
Tropical savannah landscapes are faced with high soil degradation due to climate change and
variability coupled with anthropogenic factors. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of this is
not sufficiently understood particularly, in the tropical savannah contexts. Using the Wa municipality of Ghana as a case, we applied the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model
to predict the potential and actual soil erosion risk for 1990 and 2020. Rainfall, soil, topography
and land cover data were used as the input parameters. The rate of predicted potential erosion
was in the range of 0–111 t ha− 1
yr− 1 and 0–83 t ha− 1
yr− 1 for the years 1990 and 2020,
respectively. The prediction for the rate of potential soil erosion risk was generally higher than
the actual estimated soil erosion risk which ranges from 0 to 59 t ha− 1
yr− 1 in 1990 and 0 to 58 t
ha− 1
yr− 1 in 2020. The open savannah areas accounted for 75.8 % and 73.2 % of the total soil loss
in 1990 and 2020, respectively. The validity of the result was tested using in situ data from a 2
km2 each of closed savannah, open savannah and settlement area. By statistical correlation, the
predicted soil erosion risk by the model corresponds to the spatial extent of erosion damages
measured in the selected area for the validation. Primarily, areas with steep slopes, particularly
within settlement, were identified to have the highest erosion risk. These findings underscore the
importance of vegetation cover and effective management practices in preventing soil erosion.
The results are useful for inferences towards the development and implementation of sustainable
soil conservation practice in landscapes with similar attributes.
Description
Article
Keywords
Erosion risk prediction, Potential erosion risk, RUSLE model, Soil degradation, Soil erosion damage
Citation
Asempah, M., Shisanya, C. A., & Schütt, B. (2024). Modeling of soil erosion risk in a typical tropical savannah landscape. Scientific African, 23, e02042.