Assessing soil and land health across two landscapes in eastern Rwanda to inform restoration activities
<p>Land degradation negatively impacts water, food, and nutrition security and is leading to increased competition for resources. While landscape restoration has the potential to restore ecosystem function, understanding the drivers of degradation is critical for prioritizing and tracking inte...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
Copernicus Publications
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/47d15a1040fb4fd78f3e884a33d34e3f |
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| Sumario: | <p>Land degradation negatively impacts water, food, and nutrition security and is leading to increased competition for resources. While landscape
restoration has the potential to restore ecosystem function, understanding
the drivers of degradation is critical for prioritizing and tracking
interventions. We sampled 300–1000 m<span class="inline-formula"><sup>2</sup></span> plots using the Land Degradation
Surveillance Framework across Nyagatare and Kayonza districts in Rwanda to
assess key soil and land health indicators, including soil organic carbon
(SOC), erosion prevalence, vegetation structure and infiltration capacity,
and their interactions. SOC content decreased with increasing sand content
across both sites and sampling depths and was lowest in croplands and
grasslands compared to shrublands and woodlands. Stable carbon isotope values (<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>13</sup></span>C) ranged from <span class="inline-formula">−</span>15.35 ‰ to <span class="inline-formula">−</span>21.34 ‰, indicating a wide range of historic and current plant
communities with both C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways. Field-saturated
hydraulic conductivity (<span class="inline-formula"><i>K</i><sub>fs</sub></span>) was modeled, with a median of 76 mm h<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> in Kayonza and 62 mm h<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> in Nyagatare, respectively. Topsoil OC had a positive effect on <span class="inline-formula"><i>K</i><sub>fs</sub></span>, whereas pH, sand, and erosion had negative effects. Soil erosion was highest in plots classified as woodland and shrubland. Maps of soil erosion and SOC at 30 m resolution were produced with
high accuracy and showed strong variability across the study landscapes.
These data demonstrate the importance of assessing multiple biophysical
properties in order to assess land degradation, including the spatial
patterns of soil and land health indicators across the landscape. By
understanding the dynamics of land degradation and interactions between
biophysical indicators, we can better prioritize interventions that result
in multiple benefits as well as assess the impacts of restoration options.</p> |
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