Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)
The Peruvian Amazon faces an increasing threat of soil erosion, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and accelerated deforestation. In Neshuya (Ucayali region), agricultural activity has intensified since 2014, but the effect on soil erosion is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Moises Ascencio-Sanchez Cesar Padilla-Castro Christian Riveros-Lizana Rosa María Hermoza-Espezúa Dayan Atalluz-Ganoza Richard Solórzano-Acosta |
| author_facet | Moises Ascencio-Sanchez Cesar Padilla-Castro Christian Riveros-Lizana Rosa María Hermoza-Espezúa Dayan Atalluz-Ganoza Richard Solórzano-Acosta |
| author_sort | Moises Ascencio-Sanchez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Peruvian Amazon faces an increasing threat of soil erosion, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and accelerated deforestation. In Neshuya (Ucayali region), agricultural activity has intensified since 2014, but the effect on soil erosion is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the increase in erosion levels, at a sub-basin of the central–eastern Amazon of Peru, in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model was used for assessing the effect of vegetation cover change from 2016 to 2022. In the Neshuya sub-basin (973.4 km<sup>2</sup>), the average erosion increased from 3.87 to 4.55 t ha<sup>−1</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>, on average. In addition, there is great spatial variability in the values. In addition, 7.65% of the study area (74.52 km<sup>2</sup>) exceeds the soil loss tolerance limit (15 t ha<sup>−1</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>). The deforestation rate was 17.99 km<sup>2</sup> year<sup>−1</sup> and by 2022 the forested area reached 237.65 km<sup>2</sup>. In conclusion, the transition from forest to farmland was related to the most critical erosion values. Unsustainable soil management practices can be the underlying explanation of changes in soil chemical and physical properties. Also, social dynamic changes and differences in landscape patterns play a role. |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-84e9e94dc9f04a179470f21485c87d942025-01-24T13:34:10ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632025-01-011511510.3390/geosciences15010015Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022)Moises Ascencio-Sanchez0Cesar Padilla-Castro1Christian Riveros-Lizana2Rosa María Hermoza-Espezúa3Dayan Atalluz-Ganoza4Richard Solórzano-Acosta5Directorate of Supervision and Control of the Agrarian Experimental Stations (Dirección de Supervisión y Monitoreo en las Estaciones Experimentales Agrarias), National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria—INIA), Av. Centenario km 4.00, Pucallpa 25002, PeruDirectorate of Supervision and Control of the Agrarian Experimental Stations (Dirección de Supervisión y Monitoreo en las Estaciones Experimentales Agrarias), National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria—INIA), Av. Centenario km 4.00, Pucallpa 25002, PeruDirectorate of Supervision and Control of the Agrarian Experimental Stations (Dirección de Supervisión y Monitoreo en las Estaciones Experimentales Agrarias), National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria—INIA), Av. Centenario km 4.00, Pucallpa 25002, PeruFaculty of Forestry, La Molina National Agrarian University (Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina), Av. La Molina s/n, Lima 15024, PeruDirectorate of Supervision and Control of the Agrarian Experimental Stations (Dirección de Supervisión y Monitoreo en las Estaciones Experimentales Agrarias), National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria—INIA), Av. Centenario km 4.00, Pucallpa 25002, PeruDirectorate of Supervision and Control of the Agrarian Experimental Stations (Dirección de Supervisión y Monitoreo en las Estaciones Experimentales Agrarias), National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria—INIA), Av. La Molina 1981, Lima 15024, PeruThe Peruvian Amazon faces an increasing threat of soil erosion, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and accelerated deforestation. In Neshuya (Ucayali region), agricultural activity has intensified since 2014, but the effect on soil erosion is unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the increase in erosion levels, at a sub-basin of the central–eastern Amazon of Peru, in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model was used for assessing the effect of vegetation cover change from 2016 to 2022. In the Neshuya sub-basin (973.4 km<sup>2</sup>), the average erosion increased from 3.87 to 4.55 t ha<sup>−1</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>, on average. In addition, there is great spatial variability in the values. In addition, 7.65% of the study area (74.52 km<sup>2</sup>) exceeds the soil loss tolerance limit (15 t ha<sup>−1</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>). The deforestation rate was 17.99 km<sup>2</sup> year<sup>−1</sup> and by 2022 the forested area reached 237.65 km<sup>2</sup>. In conclusion, the transition from forest to farmland was related to the most critical erosion values. Unsustainable soil management practices can be the underlying explanation of changes in soil chemical and physical properties. Also, social dynamic changes and differences in landscape patterns play a role.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/15/1/15degraded tropical soilsAmazonian biomeremote sensingPISCO SENAMHIMapBiomass Peru |
| spellingShingle | Moises Ascencio-Sanchez Cesar Padilla-Castro Christian Riveros-Lizana Rosa María Hermoza-Espezúa Dayan Atalluz-Ganoza Richard Solórzano-Acosta Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) Geosciences degraded tropical soils Amazonian biome remote sensing PISCO SENAMHI MapBiomass Peru |
| title | Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) |
| title_full | Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) |
| title_short | Impacts of Land Use on Soil Erosion: RUSLE Analysis in a Sub-Basin of the Peruvian Amazon (2016–2022) |
| title_sort | impacts of land use on soil erosion rusle analysis in a sub basin of the peruvian amazon 2016 2022 |
| topic | degraded tropical soils Amazonian biome remote sensing PISCO SENAMHI MapBiomass Peru |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/15/1/15 |
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