Responses Of Soil Erosion To Vegetation Restoration On The Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau is a region with the most serious soil erosion and fragile ecological environment in the world.Preventing soil erosion and improving the ecological environment on the Loess Plateau have become major environmental problems to be solved urgently.In order to control serious soil erosion,the state has implemented a series of vegetation and engineering measures in the region,such as returning farmland to forest(grass),changing slopes and ladders,and controlling ditches and check-dams.These measures have brought about significant changes in the land use/land cover pattern in the Loess Plateau.At the same time,after the large-scale vegetation restoration,especially after the project of returning farmland to forest(grass)was implemented in 1999,the vegetation coverage on the Loess Plateau showed a significant upward trend,the sediment inflow decreased,and the soil erosion intensity decreased sharply.Soil erosion is a dynamic process under the joint action of natural and human activities,and it is one of the global environmental problems that threaten the survival of human beings and the development of natural environment.Therefore,it is of great significance for soil and water conservation and ecological restoration construction of the Loess Plateau to clarify the current soil erosion status and predict its potential vegetation restoration in the future.This study of remote sensing images in different periods for the Loess Plateau and the data of land use,land use/cover change analysis of the Loess Plateau characteristics,using RUSLE model to calculate the intensity of soil erosion of the Loess Plateau in different periods,and analyze the contribution rate,terrace for corrosion loss in habitat similar method to predict the maximum potential of the Loess Plateau vegetation restoration.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)the main land use types in the Loess Plateau in 2010 were grassland(38.74%)and cultivated land(31.38%).In the past 20 years,the area of cultivated land has changed the most,and the total area has decreased by 1,221,400 hm2.The change rate of residential and construction land was the highest,with a 45.25%increase.(2)terrace measures can significantly reduce the intensity of soil erosion in the region.Based on the land use data of the Loess Plateau in 2010,it was found that the average annual soil erosion intensity of the Loess Plateau in 2010 was 27.58 t/ha/a,and the erosion reduction contribution rate of the terraced fields reached 13.81%.(3)vegetation conditions in the western,eastern and southeastern regions of the Loess Plateau have approached or reached their maximum recovery potential.In the northern hilly and gully region and wind-sand region,only part of the region has certain vegetation recovery potential,and the recovery potential index is between 0.25 and 0.5.